I almost missed Zen, several times. First, the location on the googlemapz is wrong – the owner has moved it four times since it opened, and one of those was recently (from Gion, as shown on the map, to Oike; he said something like he’s ‘following the foot traffic’). Second, the building is obscure. I knew […]
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New York Bar, Park Hyatt, Shinjuku
Darkness envelopes me as I exit from the medicinally quiet stillness of the Oedo line’s City Hall terminus. This is a dead part of town at night, with no walkers and only the occasional filming session for a TV police procedural to break the womblike, tomblike silencium. Walking south along Shinjuku Central Park, the menacing […]
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Never Never Land, Shimo Kitazawa
Big Bird has some funny connections in Japan – like the former world champion of backgammon. And a pediatric orthodontist who also plays backgammon but has a good side-line in being a generally upstanding citizen of Shimokitazawa. If I were a daft travel writer, I’d spin you a good line about how he came to […]
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Ushitora, Shimo Kitazawa (うしとら)
Heading out to Shimokita to meet Big Bird, I had all sorts of clever quips planned about how Ushitora is Tokyo’s second-best beer bar. Living near Popeye, I have a specific view of these things. But y’know, I’d actually have to say this is better. That means you’re reading about Tokyo’s best beer bar right […]
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Rose and Crown, Otemachi
Somehow I had planned my schedule weeks ago so as to have lunch with Zoner on this, my first day back at work. To compound the insult of being back in the office, he suggested walking or to Yaesu and trying RosandCrown and Goldmansachs Are Dead, or something to that effect. These guys run a […]
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Swede’s Inn, Swedesboro
Well, this is it. The whole reason I went on this trip in September instead of May was to play this show. We had been working on a CD for the prior year+, and having completed it a few months before,scheduled a rockin’ good time for ourselves at the Swede’s – 4 bands featuring various […]
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Deep Tin, Kachidoki
Cubic neighborhood bar with a dash of style, good selection of whisky and rum, Guiness and Heartland on tap, Chimay in bottles, interesting conversation, Big Bird. If you lived in one of the tremendous high-rise buildings near here, what else could you ask for? ‘Not a lot’ would be the appropriate answer, I think. In […]
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Country House, Akasaka
After repeated success and enjoyment at Rocky Top, and really quite serious letdown at Nashville, I’ve been gun-shy about trying more country music live venues in Tokyo. Part of the problem is that, in so many ways, my economic mentality is mired in the 90’s (or so). I think a concert ticket should cost about […]
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Antwerp Port, Akasaka
I’ve ruminated at length before on chain shops in Japan; in summary, if it’s a chain, but it’s a small chain, and it’s consistently good, is there a problem? Only mental, I think, because we feel disappointed that there’s no discovery element, and certainly no chef ‘cooking just for me’. The Antwerp chain has 6 […]
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Trees Lounge, Aoyama
While I usually refer to Aoyama Dori as a dead or at least quiet zone, there are some pretty good places hiding in plain sight. This is one of them, although you should go in with the right expectation price-wise. This being Tokyo, you probably know which end you’ll be surprised on. The main difficulty […]