We all have to make sacrifices. At the grave risk of minimizing those of others, one of my recent sacrifices has been to eat lunch at a bunch of mediocre-looking places under the rail tracks in Marunouchi just so I could say I’ve been to all of them. Bibinba is one of those places, or […]
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S&S, Monzennakacho
Deeeeeep. I’ve only gotten aware of the Japanization of this word in the last year or so, and in the context of something being sorta “way downtown”, i.e. really old-fashioned and authentic, and maybe a little grubby. So I’ve seen this izakaya reviewed as being pretty deep, although the same could be said about half […]
Izuro, Monzen Nakacho (いづろ)
Know what kind of restaurant I like best? The kind that’s simple, fun, cheap and yet still blows you away on taste. Despite any evidence to the contrary, I maintain that the flavor’s the thing, and the main reason why I go to higher-end restaurants is that the chances of tastiness are a bit better. […]
- Kanda
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Kamekichi, Kanda (亀吉)
I know what you’re thinking. OK, I actually don’t, because no one ever really knows what someone else is thinking. But what I’M thinking right now is “Why isn’t this place called Kameyoshi?” I’m not even sure about the name, but The Googles seem to think it’s Kamekichi (except for the sites who write the […]
Gabrier, Monzennakacho (ガブリエ)
Beer!!!!!!Yeah, definitely looking forward to tomorrow so I can let this motif go. Gabrier opened a couple months ago in the restaurant street north of Eitai dori – if you remember where there use to be a kinda long, narrow Italian place, with Ivy growing on the front, close to S&S izakaya and the main […]
Beer Chimney, Marunouchi
Go ahead, keep on-a hatin’. We’re going to continue going to the dodgy places under the railroad tracks until they’re exhausted (even if we’re exhausted first). And once in a while, they’re going to turn out to be pretty good! EOITwJ will never fully understand some things about Japan. Or possibly Japanese corporations will never […]
Vinchou, Marunouchi
Gaaarrrrh! Just when I thought it was safe to re-visit a place, circumstances conspire to extend the new-lunch-venue streak through yet another week! OK, that’s not really so frustrating. It’s a dorky point of pride. The good ship Wolf is soon bound for sunnier pastures and more mixilated metaphors after nearly 3 years in Japan. […]
Jokouen, Monzennakacho (叙香苑)
What’s that you say? EOITwJ never goes to Chinese? You’re right, it’s an awfully rare occurrence. Why is that? Well…it’s a bit samey, and they never have beef with broccoli. We have to have our American-style Chinese food, don’t we? No, seriously, we just don’t enjoy Chinese food that much. We don’t know what it […]
Cafe Hai, Kiyosumi Shirakawa (Modern Art Museum, Kiba Park)
An odd little sanitized slice of Vietnamese street life, transported to the second floor of the Tokyo Modern Art Museum in Kiyosumi Shirakawa (or Kiba, depending on your view). It’s mainly bright and pleasant and errr, authentic, with the wooden patio furniture and astroturf carpet only adding to the ambience created by the cute paintings […]
- Other treats
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Menya Kissou, Kiba (麺や吉左右)
EOITwJ is picky about a few things (no, really?). One of them is waiting in lines to eat. We’ve reached a point where we just don’t mind calling ahead to make sure we can walk in and sit down. But today we waited 40 minutes. For ramen. Why was that? One, the weather was nice. […]