For a couple of weeks, I’ve been mentally turning over the idea of a publishable profile of late-night Ginza. I, of course, have barely scratched the area’s surface, but I think that’s true for almost everyone except those who own bars there. With my limited surface-scratching, the two words that keep turning over in my […]
Ginza
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Hageten Tempura, Ginza (ハゲ天)
A bit of offbeat inspiration to work on some artsy projects made me run down to Ginza and the stationery-art megastore Itoya during lunch. While I would have been slightly under an hour getting back, I figured I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to eat in a different neighborhood and just went back a little […]
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Vinorio, Ginza
Dinner with the Swans was supposed to be a fairly quick one, followed by live music. Instead it stretched out a bit and became the main event of the evening – partly our inability to order decisively, partly the speed of service. If you were doing nothing of an evening except dining, I would say […]
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Vinoteca Wagon, Ginza
Ginza is hard. If you’re at all price-sensitive, you’re likely to be disappointed by the quality level of places. Italian is the same way for me. But The Wagon is largely a winner, and it has an associated restaurant in Azabu Juban that’s open just as late as the Ginza branch (well after midnight). My […]
Brasserie Yoshi, Ginza
Ginza is a hard neighborhood for the casual diner or eager bar hopper who’s not on an expense account. It’s easy to wander into a place (well, easy if you’re not scared to see what’s behind Door Number 3) and find that they have a solid seating charge plus healthy drink and service fees. Still, […]
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Gustoso, Ginza
I’ve always had a fear of the mid-priced places on the main streets of Ginza, the ones with the big, colorful signs at street level. That’s why I never went to one until now – I expected them to be adequate but dull and overpriced for the quality level. Now I’ve been to one, but […]
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Mardi Gras, Ginza
Once in a while everyone comes to a point in their life where they visit a famous restaurant. Mardi Gras is a famous restaurant in Tokyo, being as the chef left another famous restaurant, Grape Gumbo, to set out on his own. I’ve seen it featured in various ‘celebrity chef’ features in Tokyo Calendar et […]
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Rocky Top, Ginza
Japan is a strange and wonderful place. Hidden subcultures about – usually these only peek out for a moment when some intrepid foreign journalist comes to town and writes a story about a colorful character in one of them. You read it, you think it’s interesting, and you forget about it. I started playing music […]
Le Nougat, Ginza
It seems to me like Da Nugget has been open for years. It hasn’t though – it’s going on two. It’s probably something about the classicist bistro decor that makes it hard to determine how long it’s been there. There are several floors though, so the bright, somewhat hard aspect of the ground floor may […]
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Murase, Ginza (村瀬)
Ginza is an entertaining area. Really, it’s kind of known for being entertaining. I like to think that it’s more adult in style though, or even middle-aged. The two main things are brand shops and hostess clubs, so there are plenty of things for affluent 50-year old Japanese couples to do. Just not together. I’ve […]