Aha, you’d think from the name that this was a lunch truck making Vietnamese sandwiches, but it is in fact an actual store, jammed (sandwiched?) into a space small enough to fit into a truck. And cleverly named for its product. No tom-foolery here, no-siree. The most encouraging thing about it is the bread ovens. I […]
Other treats
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 […]
Sasaki, Kagurazaka (神楽坂 ささ木)
It is hard, my friends, to find really good kaiseki places in Tokyo that don’t break the bank. After this visit to Sasaki, I would say I know four (Onodera, Uemura, Sasahana…actually I could stretch to include Yuwaeru even though it’s absurdly cheap and high quality. And probably Fukahama. I suppose six is probably enough […]
Alpage, Kagurazaka
Have I mentioned this before? Along with Fermier (in Tokyu Food Show in Shibuya, or else the main store in Atago), these are the best cheese shops I know. (In a pinch, go to Cheese Kingdom in the basement of Matsuya Ginza, or Kita Senju or Tama Plaza or many points west. Or mail order.) […]
Izumiya, Jimbocho (神田和泉屋)
Remember a while ago I went to this tolerable-but-expensive izakaya in a really small alley in the fun part of Jimbocho? Since I was in the area for an afternoon’s vacation, I went back to see the store. They’ve been doing it since 1936, and it kinda shows, but not in a bad way. What […]
Rimshot Guitars, Ochanomizu
This one’s a little out of completeness, but bear with me. Along with Woodman and Hobo’s, Rimshot forms the trio of extraordinary acoustic guitar stores in Ochanu (only Woodman has banjos, etc.). Any of the three could fairly be described as world-class in the slightly different spaces they inhabit. Rimshot is basically the Martin store […]
Isshin ramen, Ochanomizu (とんこつらーめん 一心)
Confession time. I took Friday afternoon off. Because I could. And the early Spring perfect weather made it perfect to cruise to Ochanu by bike, ringing the bell from time to time out of sheer happiness. Dining in Ochanu has always disappointed me, and I think I’ve pretty well been to the places that looked […]
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 […]