This is a big chain that recently opened a store in the rotating ramen shop slot in the eastern extent of Eitai Dori, Tomioka 1 or so. Seriously, I think this is at least the 4th ramen shop to open in that same storefront in the years I’ve lived in Monnaka – once it’s set […]
Monzen Nakacho
Carne, Monzen Nakacho
If you count the previous two posts, this was the third place in Monnaka that I’ve been thinking of going to for years and finally made it to all on the same evening. Like the other two, it was pretty disappointing. As a self-appointed restaurant-picking expert and all-around Monnaka booster, I don’t feel good about […]
Miyoshi, Monzen Nakacho (みよし)
Have you heard of Tatsumi Shindo, the odd little bricked pedestrian street near Monzennakacho crossing that holds a solid 20 counter-only izakayas and drinking holes? It should be fun, but it’s not, not so much. It’s the kind of place you want to love, but doesn’t feel at all welcoming. Still, I have a constant […]
Echizenya, Kiyosumi Shirakawa
Heavens, how many times have I bemoaned the lack of availability of 720ml bottles of really excellent sake? Yes, far too many times (internally if not in writing or verbally). Well, look no further. It turns out the alley-like space squeezed in next to a Sankus a few blocks from my apartment has an astounding […]
Marukin, Monzennakacho (丸金)
Why is it that some places sit right near my apartment and never get ‘the nod’? In the case of Marukin, it’s because it looks so spartan from the outside, or that’s what I thought. Why was I opposed to that? I’m not usually. And it was more clean and spacious than spartan, and I […]
Monzennnnnakacho
The weather is lousy again this year, but seriously – is this not a nice setta trees on the river just south of Eitai Dori in Monnaka? All you haters…you know what you can do. Iitokodayo.
Tokiwayu Spa, Morishita (ときわ湯、森下？常盤？)
After an extraordinarily productive day, I dithered a lot but eventually went for a late dip to round things off and encourage a good night’s sleep. Mixed experience at this place. It’s on the edge of really great, but I was a touch let down – in ways that are somewhat my fault. If you […]
Yamahei, Monzennakacho (酒蔵 や満平)
Documented fact – Don Henley’s Building the Perfect Beast is a great album. In addition to being a veritable catalog of 80’s effects (the constant use of FM synthesizers, one would imagine DX-7’s?; the gating on the snares (or at least the quick release times on the envelopes of the snare samples!); the washy reverb), […]
Koto, Monzennakacho ( 古都 魚河岸料理)
Back when I was young and first started coming to Japan, it was always for winter vacations. Because of that, Japan felt like the country of freedom, the place where I didn’t have responsibilities (an odd twist, wouldn’t you say?), and that made me love it here. To this day, certain things give me the […]
Hiyoshiya, Morishita (日吉屋)
This place has always been on my radar to some extent, and after 5 years I finally made it in. Great experience, decent food. Hiyoshiya looks like it’s been doing the same thing forever. In fact it’s since Showa 5 (1931), although you could easily be mistaken and think it was Taisho 5. Somehow I […]