For a sizable segment of the Japanese population, the definition of ‘heaven’ would be ‘cheap drinks and cheaper fish’. Quality doesn’t necessarily enter into it, and standing up is fine too. So if you can offer decent produce across the board like Shukuzu, that’s a winner. Standing isn’t really my thing, but I was here […]
Nihonbashi
Mameya, Shintomicho (小料理 まめや)
Shintomi is a funny little neighborhood, and I like it. It’s not obviously charming – the main thing is small office buildings, but there are some nondescript modern apartments mixed in. And here and there, a shop or restaurant scratching out a living. Mameya’s building, an old townhouse built sometime early in Showa, reminds me […]
Pizzeria Il Tamburello, Kodenmacho (日本橋堀留町)
DISCLOSURE: I was comped Y300 on the bill for this meal. ANOTHER DISCLOSURE: I wish people would give me free meals. What am I doing wrong? Willing to write for food, OK? While I took this picture on a different day, it’s something I’ve been seeing a lot lately on the way over to Nihonbashi […]
Katsu Hey!, Nihonbashi (かつ平)
Hey! What’s up! I’m sure the staff at Katsu Hey! would be surprised to see the store name written that way too, but I think it’s cheerful. There’s not much else cheery here, just a kinda old-style building that’s now squeezed in between taller office buildings that are already old and tired in their own […]
Muromachi Toriya, Nihonbashi (むろまち鳥や)
Woo hoo, this weird-looking chicken place does some great lunch specials. I almost want to go back to try their chicken ramen set. It looks like it should be yoshoku, or maybe a coffee shop. But inside is smoky as hell, with this guy manning a seemingly-unventilated grill and churning out an endless series of […]
Bouya, Nihonbashi (和牛一頭焼肉 手打冷麺 房家)
Another day of this week, another visit to Muromachi Coredo. Today, working clockwise brought us to Bou-ya (and I say ‘us’ because I was pleasantly accompanied by Ponkan). I was super-pleased to realize that this is a branch of the well-rated yakiniku-ya I wanted to try during the Hongo project, but found them closed and […]
Russia-tei, Nihonbashi (ろしあ亭)
Shock and surprise filled my mind when I figured out that this was a Russian restaurant. It’s a branch of a place in Jimbocho, but who looks for Russian restaurants? Russians, I suppose. Incidentally, the only Russian I currently know in Tokyo strongly recommends this place in Shinjuku as tasting just like Mom used to […]
Nana, Nihonbashi ()
Muromachi Coredo explorations continue; for a couple days I actually went to adjacent places on the 3rd floor – gotta get to ’em all eventually, so it’s actually better not to go to all the good-looking ones first. This place is nondescript from outside, but inside a long, wooded hallway leads back to the restaurant […]
Kushitei, Nihonbashi (串亭 日本橋三越前)
Oh look, another place in the newer Coredo building. Get used to it folks. How many have you read about so far? I think I’ve been 6 as of today. Have to be focused and completist, that’s what I always sayist. Kushitei is up on the fourth floor, which is a bit classier (like the […]
Bikini Picar, Nihonbashi (ビキニ ピカール)
Mmmmm hmmmmm, Coredo Muromachi is definitely the new project. There’s more on the way. For now, content yourself with the pleasant view of cheese and tapas at the counter of Bikini Picar, the pleasantly open and airy Spanish contender on the main restaurant floor of the building. The black-and-red decor outside is pretty enticing, as […]