Tokyo needs more brunch places. This is manifestly true. Fujimama’s closed recently, and while Suji’s remains open, I think the food and cost performance is kinda cynical (as in, “We dare you to find another place that will serve you American-style brunch, and until you do we’re not making much effort.”). Hotels are not an […]
cafe
Mori no Panya, Takasaki (森のパン屋)
Takasaki, it must be said, is not a city of delights. There was just about enough to keep it interesting for a day. But not quite. To stretch it out, I was forced to do some things like visiting a temple in the countryside (and a local bath-house, but that’s another story). Now, this isn’t a […]
- curry
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M&C Cafe, Tokyo (Oazo 4th)
Ever have hayshi rice? It’s sorta like curry rice, except that the sauce is more like a super-thick meat reduction, with more fruit and veg in it, and there’s next to no actual meat or veg included. Just mix it up and eat. Supposedly it was invented by the founder of the Maruzen book store […]
Pinky Cafe, Akihabara
What’s a guy to do when friends come to visit? Show off Japanese culture, that’s what. For various reasons, our tour started in Akiba, and due to the slowness of the morning, it was lunch time when we got there. Pinky Cafe had maids on the street soliciting business, and I figured it was as […]
- Asakusa
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Waffle Cafe Y, Asakusa
Waffles and wine, wine and waffles. Sign of the times – by day we serve waffles, at night we convert to a Spanish restaurant. Y has the advantage of being one of only a few restaurants just off the Kappabashi restaurant-supply strip, in addition to the obvious advantages of being new (18 months), pleasant and […]
- Kyoto
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Very Berry Cafe, Kyoto
A few curious things here. One is that the neighborhood of Kyoto behind the city hall has an abnormal number of modern, foreign restaurants and cafes mixed in with the old vegetable shops and paper stores. It’s quite nice, especially ‘Gokomachi street’ where we stayed. Another curious thing is the trend toward hyper-American cafes in […]
- Otemachi
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Tatsutano, Otemachi (立田野)
Man, I’ve been thinking of going to this place for weeks now and it turned out to be lame. Actually that’s not true – the food was every bit as lame as expected, while the retro atmosphere was about as cool as expected (marginally). That leaves us right around expectations, and strangely unfulfilled. The attraction […]
Compound Cafe, Sangenjaya
Some cafes are so hip that you feel better just sitting in them. And some are so far beyond that, they just make you feel old. I felt old here, but in a weird inside-out sort of way since the interior was old too. In college, I had a house with 3 other guys. It […]
Cafe Mobo Moga, Shibuya
What the heck is a Mobo Moga? All African tribal jokes aside, this is a pleasant place to drink and dine. It was just late-afternoon snacks for us, which is not its best use. This dark stairway is also not its best side…but at least it gets you prepared for the dark, rustic woodiness that […]
Flaneur Cafe, Gaienmae
After learning that there IS one decent Mexican restaurant in Japan, it was still early. We elected to find a cafe and/or bar, and started walking in the general direction of Gaienmae. Somewhere along the way we ran across Cafe Flaneur, which is the kind of place that makes city living so nice. Tokyo style. […]