You can’t go wrong with this as an introduction. You’re walking down a perfectly normal, maybe even a little grubby, street in Nishi Azabu after getting off the train at the quiet end of Nogizaka and walking through the tunnel by the museum, and suddenly you see something that looks a British aristocrat’s house. This […]
Roppongi
Trattoria RYUDO, Roppongi (トラットリア リュウド)
My opinion of Roppongi dining isn’t great. You say ‘Roppongi’, I think ‘bad cost performance’. This place is the exception that proves the rule, as I like to say. Straight-up great cooking at great prices, only a few minutes from Nogizaka station or Roppongi crossing, at the end of a quiet street. Perfect. The maitre […]
Aile Blanche, Azabu Juban (エルブランシュ)
Juban, damn your branded hide. The last time I was this disappointed in a well-hyped restaurant was at Piatto Suzuki, just around the corner from Aile Blanche. In this case I at least had Tabelog on my side, saying AB is 25th best out of Tokyo’s 1700 French restaurants, but for once even the rating […]
Botanica, Roppongi
It’s a rare day that I have lunch at 11:30. It’s even rarer that I go to Roppongi for it, and rarer still that I enter the rarefied air of the Midtown restaurant floors. Always seemed like they were a bit too fancy, but for a family lunch with someone, it’s just the ticket. Botanica […]
l’Effervescence, Nishi Azabu
Several months ago I noticed this frightening place way up in the back streets northwest of Nizhi Azabu crossing. It just looked too good. But when I started doing my research for the ‘degenerate ladies who brunch instead of work’ series recently, l’Effervescence turned out to hugely-rated and yet strangely reasonable for lunch. Like a […]
Ohara et CIE
Many years ago I visited the confusingly Irish/Japanese-named Ohara (and who knows what the CIA means either?) as one of the very last lunches I ever ate as a Roppongi-based worker. Reading that review gives me more confidence in my much-derided one-visit policy – it was mainly the same when we went for dinner, although […]
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Ant & Bee, Roppongi (アントンビー)
Years of my life, I spent here, years. Seeing Mori Tower gives me a peculiar feeling; not like the dread I used to get when I would catch a glimpse of Chifley Tower across Sydney Harbor on a Sunday, but a little twinge. Fortunately it’s been years in arrears since I felt the certain intensity […]
Oggi dal Matto, Nishi Azabu
Hmmm, you know what happens if you continue walking up the restaurant street that curves away from the northeast corner of Nishiazabu crossing? All the expensive places go away and it turns into a nice neighborhood. With a big temple. But you have to come back to modern Japan sometime, especially if you managed to […]
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Abbey Road, Roppongi
Seemed like months ago that Swannie and I planned this; in fact it was 6 weeks, which is a pretty good lead time. He’s an important guy though. Anyhoo, Abbey Road is Tokyo’s best Beatles live bar. I say this with no knowledge of what the other(s) are like; the only one I know is […]
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Krung Siam, Roppongi
Fooo, a long day to cap a long weekend; this one ended with some of the best Thai food I’ve had in Tokyo. I guess it’s not such a surprise when the staff is all Thai, the weather is humid and sticky, and the table is outside. Despite only one visit, this seems like a […]