The happy couple. Big Bird and I are discussing wedding venues as our Thursday-romantic-lunch series continues, and La Rochelle bills its chapel as Tokyo’s Most Romantic. Not many restaurants have chapels at all, of course, so it’s awfully convenient. Also convenient is being expected, and they were nice enough to thank us for our coming. […]
Aoyama
- bar
- ...
Trees Lounge, Aoyama
While I usually refer to Aoyama Dori as a dead or at least quiet zone, there are some pretty good places hiding in plain sight. This is one of them, although you should go in with the right expectation price-wise. This being Tokyo, you probably know which end you’ll be surprised on. The main difficulty […]
- Italian
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Ristorante Frick, Aoyama
August brings hard times for big men in Tokyo. When colleagues go to Hong Kong or Hawaii and come back talking about how the weather is worse in Tokyo, all we want to do is retreat to our air-conditioned rooms and laze on the couch. Or maybe go out for a touch of elegance. As […]
- bar
- ...
Citrus, Aoyama
Happy hour is something I’ve never been aware of in Japan, but the Peafowl are adept at finding them. In this case we were walking randomly through Aoyama and same the sign for Citrus. There’s nothing particular in the way of food at happy-hour time (including a distinct lack of mixed nuts; we had to […]
- Italian
- ...
Pizzeria Ghitaro, Gaienmae
What could be more American than eating pizza and going to a baseball game? I guess doing it IN America would be a bit better, but let’s not pick nits. This place sits out in plain view in a big brick plaza off Aoyama Dori between Bell Commons and the entrance to Gaien; it was […]
- bistro
- ...
Figaro, Aoyama
Bit of a dissapointment here – looking for a cafe to kill some time between lunch, shopping and dinner, this seemed like the obvious choice in Aoyama (since, for example, the Henri Le Roux cafe was packed to the rafters, and has nothing to do with him beyond the name anyway). For those few readers […]
Aquavit, Gaienmae
Lest anyone think that EOITwJ is strictly an OL-style lunch blog liberally peppered with snarky comments and random musical asides, here’s some genuine fine dining. Aquavit hit my radar through the glossy pages of Tokyo Calendar, where it featured in one of the ‘style’ posts – models lounging around the restaurant, little to no food […]
Pierre Herme, Shinjuku (Isetan)
Good question, isn’t it? Could things really taste better at the Paris headquarters of the various places whose macarons I regularly consume? This is the subject of obsessive debate in some quarters, but not here. We just eat. I suppose Pierre Herme is famous for all sorts of things. Evidently chief among them is the […]
- Indian
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Nataraj, Aoyama
I’m afraid it’s Rude About Food time again. Vegetarian Indian in an Aoyama basement. I have no problem with vegetarian food – I often order dhal even if other things are available. What I DO have a problem with is bland vegetarian food made with mediocre ingredients. It should be a good indication of flavors […]
- Italian
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Beccaccia, Minami Aoyama
I still remember the first time I felt really abused at a restaurant in Tokyo. It was at Stefano’s in Kagurazaka, a few years ago. I loved the food – hearty, delicious Northern Italian from the Veneto region – but hated the bread charge, service charge, non-included tax, and the fact that we were refused […]