This was sort of a standout lunch – not really recommended, just all manner of surprises. Everyone has walked by the place since it’s right in the middle of the Kanda west-side shotengai. I’ve avoided it for years now because it looked like it would be cheap and tired. OMG, I’ve worked in Otemachi for yearS now. […]
Kanda
- Chinese
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Zuien, Kanda (四川厨房 髄苑)
While friendships and taxes may be forever, value is fleeting. Yesterday while walking deeply northward into Kanda to revisit Yamaichi, I passed this place and was impressed by the spread of gaudy crap outside. I resolved to visit. At 35% the price and probably 50% more calories, Zuien is never going to be as exciting […]
- Kanda
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Kitchen Yutaka, Kanda (キッチン ユタカ)
Admit it. Sometimes we go to places for the wrong reasons. Today involved a bit of disgruntle – there was an Italian place that’s been on the list for months, but my boss delayed and delayed a meeting before finally canceling it. I got to the place at 1:45 and thought, phew, they’re open until […]
- Kanda
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Kibi ramen, Kanda (支那そば きび)
On the radar for quite some time is this Shina Soba place in the northern reach of Kanda – the same area I always go on about, yes. It gets pretty good scores for the area. It’s dark and moody inside – not dirty, just dim and artfully-lit. Which is funny because the customers are […]
- Kanda
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Gochiso, Kanda (ご馳走)
Hunh, I’ve never seen the traditional meal closing ‘gochiso’ (‘treats’, as in ‘that sure was a treat!’) written in kanji. Now I have. Pity the food isn’t much of a treat, more a middling way to spend lunch hour. Unfortunately this is just down an alley by the much-beloved Bistro Marsanne (and when I say […]
- izakaya
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Koju, Kanda (かんだ光寿 )
We all have our biases, and in this case the thing that kept me from going to Koju much sooner was the web site. It’s spectacularly uninformative, and even confusing – the main picture shows a man in a firesuit, leaning against the front of a racecar. It does not contain the shop’s address. Nor […]
- Kanda
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Kotatsu ramen, Kanda (虎龍)
You could be forgiven for thinking that the name here had something to do with the blanket-covered tables that people are so delighted to slip their legs under in the winter. If you thought of the noodles as a table, and covered it with a warm, meaty blanket of mixed pork cuts, then imagined the […]
- Kanda
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Hamayoshi, Kanda (浜よし)
I have to say this at the beginning, just because I think it’s so funny – Hama-yoooooooosh! I know it’s not funny to anyone else, but I’ve gotten really into saying “yosh” in all manner of Japanese situations (long ‘o’ sound). It’s a sort of casual exhortation like “Here we go!” or “Let’s do this […]
- Kanda
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Menemon, Kanda (麺ヱ門 )
Street food in a restaurant? Sure, why not. Lots of places want to bring the street food of other countries to Japan. While plenty of restaurants have fried noodles on the menu, not so many specialize in it. These guys are carving a little niche for themselves, and in a pleasant way. Though I can’t […]
- Kanda
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Edokko sushi, Kanda (江戸っ子寿司)
Edokko is a chain born and bred in Kanda, with a good half-dozen stores all clustered around the west entrance to the JR station. You’ve probably seen the yellow signs. Oh, unless you never go to Kanda, which I imagine is most of you. Well, here’s the glamorous environment that they serve fine fish in. […]