Fattay, fattay, fattay. It had been a while since I ‘challenged’ the abura soba. I say ‘challenge’ in the Japanese way, meaning to try something new or perhaps distasteful. There’s nothing distasteful about this shop (except perhaps the pained expression of the guy looking at my camera), but I generally don’t see the need for […]
Akasaka
- Italian
- ...
Rusticanella, Akasaka (ルスティカネラ)
Many times I’ve scoured Tabelog for dinner places in Akasaka and come away disappointed. One that was always on the cusp but never got picked was Rusticanella; here it is. (Incidentally, if I was looking now and had the money, I’d try this Uoshin place. It’s almost across the street from Rusticanella, which is why […]
- izakaya
- ...
Kuroza Akatsukirou, Akasaka (赤坂馳走屋 黒座暁樓)
So here we are, all moved out of the apartment and into the last few days of life in Tokyo. In a really weird twist of mind, we stayed at the New Otani, which left us in Akasaka once someone got back from work. The walk around to pick a restaurant for dinner was protracted […]
- izakaya
- ...
Uoshin, Akasaka (赤坂とゝや 魚新)
It’s a task, folks, picking restaurants all the time. When someone visits from out of town as has time for lunch, it’s not such a burden. Chewy lives in Singapore and was staying in Aoyama, so Japanese in that area was required, and Tabelog came up trumps as usual. Uoshin is a quite expensive kappo […]
- Other treats
- ...
Sushi Hashiguchi, Akasaka (はしぐち)
Hmmm, here we go – Victorious came to Japan for his first ever visit, and this was the first time in over 10 years that we had spoken in person. What did he want to eat? Sushi, and Kobe, in that order (Americans love to call Japanese beef ‘Kobe’; I tried to delve into some […]
- bar
- ...
Country House, Akasaka
After repeated success and enjoyment at Rocky Top, and really quite serious letdown at Nashville, I’ve been gun-shy about trying more country music live venues in Tokyo. Part of the problem is that, in so many ways, my economic mentality is mired in the 90’s (or so). I think a concert ticket should cost about […]
- bar
- ...
Antwerp Port, Akasaka
I’ve ruminated at length before on chain shops in Japan; in summary, if it’s a chain, but it’s a small chain, and it’s consistently good, is there a problem? Only mental, I think, because we feel disappointed that there’s no discovery element, and certainly no chef ‘cooking just for me’. The Antwerp chain has 6 […]
- Other treats
- ...
Yasube ramen, Akasaka (やすべえ)
Dieting is hard. You tell yourself that you’re going to be all Japanese – just a few drinks, some nibbles to go with, then home to bed – but in reality you end up acting more Japanese – a few drinks, some nibbles to go with, then a bowl of noodles with fatty pork soup […]
- izakaya
- ...
Dajare, Akasaka (駄洒落)
Seemingly ages ago, I went to Akasaka for dinner. If you’re an overly-careful reader, you might remember that I scouted the neighborhood before dinner and found a place that looked likely – their shtick being ‘comparing pure-rice sake’. If you’re a reader who actually uses the site as god intended it, to find places to […]
- bistro
- ...
Asterix, Akasaka
Asterix has been around for positively yonks. Even after going, I’m not sure if I’ve been before or not – it’s very possible that I went once, back in that halcyon month known as September 2004 when I had just moved to Japan and everything was fresh and exciting (except for work, which was a […]