Last year when I went to Sunny Spot in Ikebukuro, I left my camera on the bar. In fairness to myself, I was away from my seat for an extended period playing guitar, and during that time other people crowded around the spot where I had been sitting, which helped me forget the camera. But […]
Author: Jon
- Kanda
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Daiichian, Kanda （更科大一案）
Hmm, somehow I expected this place to be a touch better than it was. It’s on the main drag of Kanda’s east side, and has just been sitting there for over a year, daring me to come in for lunch. Today I did, along with my colleague Felt from London. They were out of two […]
Jiyugaoka Grill, Tokyo (新丸７階)
For the usual reasons, I had an inclination toward meat, fat, grease, whatever at lunch today. Not in a bad way, but it seemed like something substantial was indicated. 鈴寺 was fortunately amenable to this, and off we went to a yoshoku place. Out of habit, I steered toward a place that I hadn’t tried […]
- Kanda
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Atami Ramen, Kanda (あたみ)
This is one of the higher-rated places for ramen in Kanda (Tabelog-wise; I accept your criticism that Tabelog is more of an authority on the high end and in particular foreign food). As such, I’ve been meaning to go there for a while. Every time I wondered by [sic], I was overcome by an overwhelming […]
- bistro
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Brasserie Bec, Yoyogi
There are a couple places I went years ago with my friend Naoko. They were all bistros – he was really good at picking bistros in outer suburbs – and after the visits I remained confused about where they were, ignorant as I was about geography in the year after I moved to Japan. In […]
- bar
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Fireking Cafe, Yoyogi
Arrrrr, the King of Fire. No idea what this has to do with fire and kings, but a comprehensive walk around Yoyogi Uehara has led me to believe that this is the coolest place going. I want to say this is like being in hip parts of Brooklyn, only I’ve never been there. Somehow I […]
Ciappucino, Yoyogi
A funny little place that looks like a bistro but in fact specializes in…tea and pancakes. Like 20 varieties of tea, which you can get all afternoon as a set with a cupcake, and a large number of pancake varieties, for example the daily special of Caprese – pancakes with mozarella, basil and tomato. Ooooo-kei. […]
- bar
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Medusa, Ebisu
‘Sparkly’ was the order of the day, and that means ‘dining bar’ to me. This place practically jumped off the map, being almost new and also right behind Ebisu’s west exit. The atmosphere was all that, and oddly enough, the food was quite good. As with most big dining bars, there are quite a few […]
- bistro
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Le Cafe du Coin, Kanda
Full of odd contrivances, but I liked this place quite a bit. I think if you’re in the area it’s a good lunch; at night it could be good and would certainly be cheap. Foodologically, they concentrate on simple bistro dishes, and winistically, the focus is on les biodynamiques (shizenba?) at normal prices. The coffee […]
- Kanda
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Kisaku, Kanda (吉作)
Still plenty of things hiding in plain sight in Kanda…this place is across the street from the chirashidon place of 2 weeks ago; somehow I never looked at it before. They have half a dozen lunch sets, all of which are normal and yet diverse. For example, I had the sashimi set, which came with […]