Another Monday, another trip to Kagurazaka. This time it was a place you’ve all seen before – if you leave Exit 1 and double back to the left, toward Akagi Jinja, it’ll be just down the hill to the left when you get to the crossing. Wedged onto the corner like this, it’s awkward getting […]
Other treats
Tuna
This is the first time I’ve thawed and served my own tuna, and since I got such precise directions from Hikuzo, who works at Tsukiji, I thought I might as well share them. Unwrap the several layers of paper. The vertical lines might be artifacts of band-sawing, which I think is how frozen tuna is […]
Aeschbach, Shiroganedai
Really, Shirogane has a nice feel. Very genteel. There are copper-covered spaceships everywhere, and up the streets on the northeast side of the main street, big, fancy buildings abound. And cat-themed delivery trucks. Aeschbach’s Japan store seems to be a franchise operation – and if I remember correctly, the woman working there was the same […]
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Ozawa, Shiroganedai
Like me, you may have an impression of Shirogane as stylish and packed with stylish shopping and dining. It’s not. I think the apartments are the most stylish thing; there are certainly plenty of cool-looking ones. The restaurants are sparse, but one that stands out on the main street is Ozawa, which lives in a […]
Torinoichi, Monzennakacho (酉の市)
Friday (11/19/2010) was the second and final day of the torinoichi in Monnaka. I got an OK video of walking from my usual station exit all the way through the market. I also got some interesting information when I stopped to talk to one proprietor. I always wondered what these guys do in the ‘off […]
Brasserie Saint Martin, Kagurazaka
Today’s trip to Kagurazaka with You let us inspect this ‘American beef’ themed subway train. Every one of the posters hanging down the center aisle showed an ‘American steak’. This is the ‘New York steak’ – looks to me like a piece of seared wagyu with chopped tomatoes and onions. This has nothing to do with New […]
Uemura, Arakicho (四谷 うえ村)
This became a really long post, so I’ll spare lazy readers and say up front “Excellent. Good value if you’re an enthusiast for this style. Book 3-7 days ahead.” Arakicho is a neat place, tucked in between Shinjuku and Yotsuya, full of back streets and dark stairs and clubs and Japanese and French and everything else. […]
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All That Jazz, Arakicho (オール・ザット・ジャズ)
You have to admire courage and conviction. If you were a regular salaryman who liked drinking sake, would you get off the treadmill around age 40 to open a little bar in Arakicho with a focus on southern sake and a mild theme of 50’s memorabilia and pinup girls? No, you would not. But if […]
A Ma Terrasse, Kagurazaka (ア マ テラス)
Many times I’ve lied and many times I’ve listened, many times I’ve wandered around Kagurazaka’s bistros. This included a lot of mid-to-late-night rambles, and it’s hard to find places that are open. One that’s reliably so is Hap, and one that’s reliably closed is organic vegetable-specialist A Ma Terrasse. Today I ate lunch there. It was […]
Brasserie Gus, Kagurazaka
If you can’t handle some self-satisfaction in a post, now’s a good time to stop reading. Today’s lunch, both format and destination, is so amusing that there’s sure to be smugness in the offing. After last Friday’s disastrous lunch in Iidabashi followed by a tantalizing walk in Kagurazaka, my longstanding regret at not being an […]