I wasn’t overjoyed about how I came to know Gugan – a colleague I was drinking with insisted that we had to hit another spot after I thought we were finished dinner and drinking, and his favorite was right around the corner. It’s straightforward and a nice enough place (which I don’t mean in a […]
Yosuko Saikan, Jimbocho (揚子江菜館)
As I keep saying, the heat makes me want to eat cold noodles, and I finally put into effect my standard methodology of using the googles to find some likely new venues. Searching out “Hiyashi Chuka Ranking” produced a few weird sites (there’s no hiyashichukadb yet, sadly), and one of them listed at the top […]
Shoujou, Monzen Nakachou (猩猩)
Sometimes I have an existential crisis, a dark night of the soul where I wonder if there’s a point to all this looking for great restaurants – because lately it just seems so easy to find them, you know? There’s an expression in Japan if you like the taste of something, it ‘meets your tongue’. […]
Farsi Largo!, Nihonbashi
Farsi Largo is Italian for ‘big joke’ (large farce, get it?) but there’s no joke about the cooking here. Good ingredients and good preparation, very professional. The worst thing about the place is this sign on the street, and the crummy old stairwell that leads down to it. Inside is clean and modern; it could […]
Osakaya, Monzennakacho (大阪屋)
Ahhhhh, Osakaya. When people say ‘Monzennakacho’, they’re always thinking of bargain fish specialist Uosan or else they’re thinking of Osakaya. This is probably because it features in various guide books (including the Gauntner sake book, which is in English). It’s not what it used to be, which doesn’t mean it’s not nice. Just…different. The […]
Ryouma Ramen, Jimbocho (竜馬)
A monotonous statement, this one, but I passed this place on a scouting mission several weeks ago. I think it was actually the night that I finally went to Fukumen, which was a happy night that will stay in my memory for a long time. I was struck by the dissheveled small-ramen-shop aspect it presented, […]
Kanda Haus, Kanda
You don’t expect to visit a Japanese ‘hambagu’ place and come away thinking ‘That was good!’ I don’t, at least. But this place, picked out by Zoner on a random walk around Jinbocho, was a winner in my book. The inside is minimal to the point of feeling like they didn’t want to pay for […]
- Other treats
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Chabuton, Minami Funabashi
Went to Ikea this weekend, which is way out in God’s country, following the curve of Tokyo Bay towards Chiba City. Turns out I went the wrong way when I went before, and with a little extra walking on the home end of the trip, the train only takes 30 minutes (not 60). When you […]
- bistro
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Strasbourg, Yokohama
Let’s say life hands you lemons. What do you do? I know, bitch about it! But in this case the lemons were relatively sweet (not like ‘just chewed a miracle fruit’ sweet, but not so bad) because they were just a trip to Yokohama. I dialed up my good friend Tabelog to see where we […]
- Chinese
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456 Saikan, Yokohama (四五六菜館本館)
Yeah, yeah, another visit to Yokohama. Y’know, I’m getting to like it. This was such a great day despite the rain, and it all started at the 456 Saikan. But first, a word from our sponsor…if we’re sponsored by walking-around-taking-stealth-shots-of-people-and-cats. Now back to our regularly-scheduled programming. This was very near the last place I had […]