Fooo, a long day to cap a long weekend; this one ended with some of the best Thai food I’ve had in Tokyo. I guess it’s not such a surprise when the staff is all Thai, the weather is humid and sticky, and the table is outside. Despite only one visit, this seems like a […]
cheap
- izakaya
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Manaita, Kanda (まないた)
Kanda…where magic happens. I like to call this ‘Still Life With Koala’, but she’s not that still. Manaita (cutting board) is the kind of place whose quality is screamingly obvious to me. Gently-flapping noren, hand-written sign and menus, immaculately clean, freshly-sanded counter…you’d be silly to not like this place. A lot. I definitely recommend it […]
Yamato Tonkatsu, Kanda (大和)
This whole 大和 thing, I don’t quite get it. It means something like ‘Japanese spirit’, that’s clear, but is there a difference between reading it ‘daiwa’ and ‘yamato’? One amusing thing is that my company has a direct competitor that uses the first reading. In what I presume was a bid to show national pride, […]
- Kanda
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Isohana, Kanda (磯はな、司町)
Kanda…where magic happens. Went up to the same little alley I mentioned in the linked post – there were two very worthwhile places there. The better looking, whose offering I don’t really understand (language issues) but whose style I admire…is closed on Wednesdays. That means that after the requisite walk-around-to-confirm, I ended up back across […]
- Kanda
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Genraku ramen, Kanda (元楽)
Kanda…where magic happens. Mondays always produce disgruntlage and a desire to forget the office for an hour. Today I was thinking of trying to find a particular ramen shop that I loved in the past but isn’t on any map, Yokohama-style in Kanda; found it but didn’t go. As usual , I couldn’t resist the […]
- izakaya
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Kurumaya, Nezu (車屋)
McNoonan and I were kinda onna roll after going to Koyu – we had eaten through what we wanted on their menu, but were far from done talking. Fortunately the streets of Nezu are filled with funny little places, and I picked this one. Not a great pick, I’m sorry to say, but we ended […]
Sicilia, Roppongi (シシリア)
With Baggio fully reserved, we found ourselves strangely stuck in Roppongi on a rainy Wednesday. This place Sicilia was recommended from a bit back, when they were in a grubbier and cooler space where people used to scribble on the walls (as pictured on Tabelog). Now they’re on the hill down toward Akasaka, in a […]
- izakaya
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Otsukiya, Kanda (おつき屋)
Much in the same way that Alvin Lucier famously once got wicked stoned and recorded himself sitting in a room for several hours, today I came up with the idea of mangling meaning through recursive translation. Of course if this were done by a good human translator, it could come out sensibly. So let’s leave […]
Hakata Tenjin, Ochanomizu （博多天神）
Good lord and butter, this was the first shop that I’ve needed an Ochanomizu tag for?! Ah, I see, it’s because I wasn’t as good about location tagging when I was but a pup, and when I visited the Go! Go! Curry outlet right next door to this ramen chain in Ochanu, I just said […]
Usataro, Monzennakacho （うさたろう）
Usataro is quite close to Monnaka crossing, on one of the southside streets. It has an appealing facade with big windows, lots of bottles, and red paint on most of the exposed surfaces. Looks like the kind of place that could be good even if it’s a bit formulaic. Why did it take me almost […]