Fukagawahama. It’s not Fukahama, although that’s not far away (and very worthwhile; in fact,if you just came back from Kyoto I think you’ll agree the cost performance at Fukahama is amazing). Fukagawahama is just a normal izakaya in a normal back alley of Monzennakacho. It’s always been there, at least within the approaching-7-years that I’ve been there. […]
Kaiun Yokocho, Bakuroyokocho (開運横丁)
One thing about Ant – he does like his drinks. Even after finishing a full schedule at Okanaga’s place, he was eager to have another sake in a smaller group. Well, let’s not cut it off at ‘another’, he’d probably say. We started walking toward his hotel in Ningyocho (it’s freezing now, by the way. […]
Okanaga Club, Nihonbashi Bakurocho (岡永倶楽部)
Errrrr…..this statue in Kanda, up near Awajicho (we went to Katsuman and got rattled by a big earthquake in the old building there) depicts the youth of Japan confidently ascending toward the future. Too bad about the salute. Too bad about Okanaga Club too – it has all the makings of a terrific sake-focused, upscale […]
- Other treats
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Suzuki Sushi, Hongo (鮨すず木)
Down near the end of Hongo Ginza, past the fancy cured-meat purveyors and extremely hearty ramen dispensatories, a quiet little house with a fading noren waits. With bamboo. And the sign says ‘sushi’, but there’s no menu. The ‘design aesthetic’, such as it is, is the timeless one that pervades Japanese restaurants of a certain […]
- bistro
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Bistro Abats, Hongo
Look, I know everyone’s upset about this whole nucular meltdown thing, but last Thursday everything was peachy. So peachy, in fact, that I wandered up to Hongo to try a place that appealed on previous research but closed too early for me to sample. It’s peeking out from behind the tropical foliage, down at the […]
- Kanda
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Beaver, Kanda (ビーバー)
Not too long ago, Big Bird and I walked by this place. I thought it might be unseemly for a big bird to enter a beaver – too obvious, not funny, old plastic food – so we let the sleeping beaver lie. But I wanted to get in there, for irony value if nothing else. […]
- Otemachi
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Bangkok Stand, Otemachi
Have you been to one of these places? I think they were emboldened by the success of Tinun in branching across Tokyo, and decided they would do their own thing. The difference is that they do it in convenient locations, like the basements of two buildings near my office. They’re serious about the ‘stand’ thing. […]
- Other treats
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Raku Raku, Kichijoji (楽々)
There’s no point just standing there and looking at it, folks. You have to go in if you want to get fed. RR, or R^2 to his friends, likes to bill as Kichijoji’s Best Ramen – #1 on Ramendb, Tabelog, Ramen Walker, and a few other resources that they list on their sign down the […]
Chez Check, Akasaka
Dinner at Check and Peel’s apartment, featuring scallops and shrimp with kumquats and cucumber salsa, mushrooms on garlic toast, seared tuna with agrodolce sauce, and strawberry granita. Not pictured: extraordinary amounts of extraordinary wine. Thank again guys!
Oggi dal Matto, Nishi Azabu
Hmmm, you know what happens if you continue walking up the restaurant street that curves away from the northeast corner of Nishiazabu crossing? All the expensive places go away and it turns into a nice neighborhood. With a big temple. But you have to come back to modern Japan sometime, especially if you managed to […]