I used to ride my bike along the Arakawa almost every morning, and at some point I read about this place. Then it started bugging me to know that it was just over the levee. And like so many of these places, I finally gave in and found the time to go. ‘Found the time’ […]
- Kanda
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Shishi Uo, Kanda (すし魚)
It’s kinda dumb, right? Here I am, not working, and what do I do for lunch? I ride the charinko over to Kanda and have donburi with Todd. It’s also not that smart that I cruised up alongside a rightwing nutjob van, banged on the window and gave them the finger, but that’s what I […]
- Other treats
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Sakari, Sumiyoshi (らーめん屋 盛)
I’ve had this thing for Ganko ramen…pretty much since I met the guy who started the style 20+ years ago. It’s sort of like meeting someone who started Nouvelle Cuisine or whatnot. Now every time I see a bone outside, and a black sign, I get all jazzed up. This one is funny because they […]
Kushiya, Kiyosumi Shirakawa (KUSHIYA こぬた)
Thassit baby, kinjo-jiman. I don’t give a good goddam if it’s lower-class, it’s my home. We rolled around a lot on this balmy summer night, speculating on whether we would be caught in the rain. Eventually we ended up back at the original intention, where they seemed to have been saving seats for us. This […]
Mignonette, Iriya
You’ve noticed that photo-taking is an increasing hobby for me, right? It’s temporary and very low-stress, but I still spent 8 hours today cruising around – from Monnaka to Otemachi, Kasumigaseki to Kappabashi, Asakusa. Getting around, you know? Tokyo by bike is the best possible way to see it. At left, the fauna of Asakusa. […]
- bar
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Sakaoto, Yotsuya (日本酒BAR 酒音)
Someone’s on the go. Part two of our Arakicho adventure…honestly, it was part 4 after we walked out of the first two places without ordering. Finicky we are. This ‘Sakaoto’ place caught my eye on the first walk around the half-dozen blocks that make up Arakicho. It looked small, cute, maybe friendly, and after all […]
- bistro
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Bistro 18-ku, Arakicho
Aaaaaaarakicho. We finally made it here, months and months after starting to think it was worth a return visit. This was really the first time I’ve explored it seriously, and it turns out to be a ‘difficult’ neighborhood. The places that look good also look scary in the no-menu-no-prices way. Believe it or not, we […]
- Other treats
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Obana, Minami Senju (尾花)
Tokyo is on the march. Walking through this old, beat little part of Minami Senju on dead hot, overcast August days. Riding bikes, converging from all directions. To wait in line. In the rain. In a LOT of rain. Actually, my fault entirely, we arrived only 25 minutes before opening time. That meant we were […]
- bistro
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Chez Andre du Sacre Coeur, Ningyocho (シェ・アンドレ・ドゥ・サクレクーレ)
Chez Andre, or Chez to his friends, has been making homey bistro fare ever since immigrating from his native Bangladesh following the poultry riots of ’89. He’s managed to put together a long-standing restaurant that captures a little bit of the magic of the Sacre Coeur, which is a Bangladeshi ritual involving chicken hearts and […]
Mazeru ramen, Akihabara (麺処 マゼル)
Mazeru? Yes, yes I will. With an offer like that, how could you not get excited? It means ‘stir’, and the implication of the name and the sign is that you’re going to get maze-soba (pronounced mah-zay), a lot like the junk from Junk Garage, for example. And that is a gooood thing. I’m fond […]