Shinjuku sanchome is a little odd. Some standing bars, some general washoku places, one really nice-looking Italian place that was full (boooooo!!!) and a TON of wine bars! That’s just not what I expect in a reputed salaryman hangout. Marugo may be cleverly named after Margaux; it wasn’t obvious to me until I read another […]
Italian
Ciao Bella, Roppongi
Faced with the upcoming decampment from Roppongi, the denouement of my Roppongi lunching career if you will, I feel a burning need to get around to as many restaurants as I can manage. And if I have to spend a bit to do it, well, them’s the breaks. We also need one more leisurely lunch […]
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Pizza Salvatore Cuomo, Nishi Azabu
I had to wait very very late for lunch (thanks chief), and it’s hard to find much that’s open at 2:30. Fortunately the Salvatore on Nizhi Azabu’s fabled ‘restaurant street’ was still open (last order at 2:30, closing at 3. They were pretty keen that we not dally.). My friend announced in advance that the […]
- Italian
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Bless / Shinanoya, Den-en Chofu
I must say, I’m feeling grumpier and grumpier about restaurants. There’s a certain price band where I’m happy, and outside it, I’m having trouble motivating. For reference, Y8000 for a course is just about OK, but I would get nervous when service is non compris. Wine should be available with a few selections around Y5000 […]
Burdigala, Roppongi
Wow, after all these years, who would’ve thought that I hadn’t posted about Burdigala yet? There used to be a time when Burdi’s was really a refuge for us – the place where we’d go on days where the morning had just exploded and we had crunched something out by 1 PM and said “Lunch?” […]
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Beccaccia, Minami Aoyama
I still remember the first time I felt really abused at a restaurant in Tokyo. It was at Stefano’s in Kagurazaka, a few years ago. I loved the food – hearty, delicious Northern Italian from the Veneto region – but hated the bread charge, service charge, non-included tax, and the fact that we were refused […]
Piatto Piatto, Roppongi
Being a pure-blooded American of variously mixed Russian, Irish and German heritage, and coming from the tropical southern regions of New Jersey, it makes perfect sense that my definition of comfort food should be red-sauce Italian (and miso soup, but that’s a different story). My home town is 2.3 square miles and 9,365 people, with […]
Del Sole, Roppongi
Del Sole is a pretty standard Italian place near the end of Imoraizaka (also near Asahi TV and the old Golden Burning). It has two nice points – the spacious patio with umbrellas, which is great on a nice day (like today!), and the store-made gelato, which comes included in the lunch sets. Mysteriously, the […]
The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo, Roppongi
There’s a whole raft of restaurants in Roppongi Hills that I haven’t been to recently and thus haven’t written about. Now that I’ve been to it recently, here’s one of ’em. Wait, didn’t I say this yesterday? Ah well, another day, another lunch. Let’s not debate this – The Kitchen Salvatore Cuomo is expensive. The […]
Il Pacioccone, Aoyama
A November 2009 update from my September 2008 post below: having gone for dinner in the company of others, I still recommend this place. While we had some mussels (fresh, plump), a caprese (cheese a little too solid, but still good), and a bagna cauda (very good balance of anchovies and garlic but somewhat limited supply of […]