Boy do the hits keep on coming. Coming a little too fast; I kept sitting back contentedly while eating and drinking with Woody, thinking “Phew, that was a hard week. Glad it’s Friday night!” It was Tuesday. What’s happening in Shinbashi around quitting time? I mean this semi-rhetorically, because if you have to ask, you […]
izakaya
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Za Sakana, Kitami (座酒菜,喜多見)
The night was young and so were we…well, at least one of us. But after not getting much food to speak of at Hanya, another destination was clearly indicated for all and sundry. For a small station, Kitami has a goodly number of likely spots – maybe something about the clean country air inspires good […]
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Hanya, Kitami (はん家,喜多見)
A funny thing about Tokyo – doesn’t matter where you are, no matter how small the station or how little you’ve previously known about it. There’s always a good chance that somebody has opened up their dream restaurant there, be it an izakaya, bistro, trattoria or food truck. But usually it’s an izakaya. Hanya occupies […]
Umejin, Kiyosumi Shirakawa (梅仁)
Mmmmmm, rollin’ around on a Friday night, after the sun goes down and after practicing guitar for an hour. Nothing particular in mind, but I took a book, so I was ready to settle in and read. After 20 or 30 minutes of aimless cycling, I passed Umejin, and remembered that it had looked sorta […]
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Dajare, Akasaka (駄洒落)
Seemingly ages ago, I went to Akasaka for dinner. If you’re an overly-careful reader, you might remember that I scouted the neighborhood before dinner and found a place that looked likely – their shtick being ‘comparing pure-rice sake’. If you’re a reader who actually uses the site as god intended it, to find places to […]
Itoigawa, Monzennakacho (糸魚川)
What can I tell you? Riding around the city on summer nights is a great pleasure. In this instance, it was just the cruise home from work, but the lighting seemed conducive to snapping a shot of the mothership for prosperity. And after changing, more cruising ensued…eventually ending up a bit south of the river […]
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Takaban, Awajicho
Tuesday night, I wanted…information. I figured if I got You drunk, then by hook or by crook I’d get some. He was already unstable as we were leaving the office – look how blurry he is here. We walked up to Takaban, which I visited some time ago alone, sans camera, while waiting for someone […]
Okamoto, Asakusa (岡本)
Full-screen If guts are your thing, this whole street is for you. It’s a string of little izakayas with tables on the street, cheap japanese bar food with a slight Korean slant, and a different special ‘beef stew’ at each location. The individual recipes feature varying degrees of nasty bits (if I was writing a […]
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Hanafusa, Tsukiji (はなふさ)
Try walking, or jogging, or cycling around this quiet part of Tsukiji – 7-chome, across Harumi Dori from the side entrance to the fish market. You’ll be struck by how old it is, with a village feel on the minor shopping street and a few dark alleys parallelling that. Each has a couple quaint old […]
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Nekoya, Tsukiji (ねこ屋)
How would you come up with this concept? “Stylish, private basement izakaya with homey food served by a youngish female master in kimono, with an outstanding sake selection. And everything cat-themed.” Everything. Well, it’s a good place, and the Woodsman deserves all credit for coming up with it when the rough plan was an evening around Tsukiji. Neko-san […]