Walking to work this morning I was reflecting on the near-miss of almost living in Kayabacho Tower when I moved to Japan 7 years ago. Never a big fan of moving, I’ve been in the same apartment in Mon-naka since I got here. And I still think Kayabacho would be a lousy place to live, […]
Mus-mus, Marunouchi
As you may have heard, I tend to go to a new restaurant for lunch every day. Working in the greater Otemachi area allows an incredible range of choice – for example the Shin Marunouchi Building is 5 minutes walk but has 45 dining options. I haven’t exhausted them all, especially the ones up on […]
- izakaya
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Tsuki Maru Umi, Koenji (旬の魚と炙り焼 月○海)
We were on the hike now, walking between Nakano and Koenji. The original plan was to start while it was light and get to Asagaya around dark, but there was the crap weather, with the wind and the rain and the darkness. Once we spent an hour in another izakaya, the whole walking-outside thing wasn’t […]
- izakaya
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Ajiyoshi, Nakano (酒道場 味吉)
Ahhhh, Japan. People always talk about how quirky it is, but they’re only focused on the maids and the Alice in Wonderland bars and the dancing rockabillies and costume kids in Harajuku. Actually, that’s more than enough. But the real quirks are sometimes beneath the surface. Take this place – it would be all too […]
- Other treats
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Kyokin soba, Morishita (手打そば 京金)
Years it’s been that I’ve been jogging by this soba place on Kiyosumi Dori thinking it looked good. I mean, it was there long before me – over 100 already, while I’ve only put in 7 – but it still looks good. Somehow I neglected a picture of the outside, which is much the best […]
Echigoya Wakasa, Morishita (越後屋若狭)
Some time ago, I was idly perusing the tabelogz as I like to do on many a quiet afternoon. Looking at the top 20-rated restaurants in Tokyo, I spotted an oddity. It was on my side of the river. One of Tokyo’s best 20 restaurants out of 160,000 listings? An easy walk from home? And […]
Mameya, Shintomicho (小料理 まめや)
Shintomi is a funny little neighborhood, and I like it. It’s not obviously charming – the main thing is small office buildings, but there are some nondescript modern apartments mixed in. And here and there, a shop or restaurant scratching out a living. Mameya’s building, an old townhouse built sometime early in Showa, reminds me […]
Pizzeria Il Tamburello, Kodenmacho (日本橋堀留町)
DISCLOSURE: I was comped Y300 on the bill for this meal. ANOTHER DISCLOSURE: I wish people would give me free meals. What am I doing wrong? Willing to write for food, OK? While I took this picture on a different day, it’s something I’ve been seeing a lot lately on the way over to Nihonbashi […]
Saburoku Juhachi Hanale (三冨魯久汁八 華れ)
Hey, for starters, I didn’t make up the name. The kanji are a jokey reinterpretation, but evidently the expression is a mnemonic for “three sixes are eighteen,” and it was described to me as “Japanese math”. Really. Strikes me as one of those things like “Wow, man, it’s so mystical – if you take 2, […]
Katsu Hey!, Nihonbashi (かつ平)
Hey! What’s up! I’m sure the staff at Katsu Hey! would be surprised to see the store name written that way too, but I think it’s cheerful. There’s not much else cheery here, just a kinda old-style building that’s now squeezed in between taller office buildings that are already old and tired in their own […]