Must have been over 2 years ago I saw this place and mentally marked it as something worth trying. I don’t get to KSJ a lot, OK? On this trip, as soon as I saw it I remembered, and more rolling around didn’t produce any other place we wanted to go to as much. The […]
dinner
- izakaya
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Kaeru, Kitasenju (居酒屋 かえる)
‘Puerile’ is the word you’re looking for here. No, in fact, while we were eyeing this spot, the master of the shop was taking out some trash, saw us, and said “Oh, go ahead and park there.” As usual in Japan, flexible enforcement. After stumbling (rolling?) upon an entire kilometer of previously unexplored shotengai, it was an […]
- izakaya
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Edoichi, Otsuka ( 江戸一)
After mixed feelings at Konakara, Woodchips and I were keen to try another venue. I attracted a lot of laughter for my preparedness (when I went to Otsuka before by myself, I made a map showing the 5 likeliest places, and I had it with me tonight too), but I also knew exactly how […]
- izakaya
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Konakara, Otsuka (こなから)
Well well, we check another off the list of ‘Tokyo’s greatest sake pubs’. This was decent, just uninspiring and a bit expensive. Having been to a good sampling now, I can safely say that the ‘Gauntner list’ was written around 10 years ago, and that the 10 recommended drinking outlets on there no longer apply […]
- izakaya
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Sakagawa, Kyoto (阪川)
Ahhh, Sakagawa. How do I feel about you? Bruised, perhaps. Not cheated, but worked hard… Gion at night is absolute magic. You should see it. The cobbled streets, unremitting stretches of old buildings, lanterns marking places you’re never going to be allowed in to, and odd twists that leave you confused as soon as you […]
- Kyoto
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Sakurada, Kyoto (桜田)
Sakurada is really one of the best restaurants I’ve been to. Since I posted a long and loving review of my initial lunch there, here’s a capsule view of dinner. Highlights from my perspective were: The daikon with the tsukuri (2nd row center, next to the tuna). Instead of cutting the daikon into a long […]
- izakaya
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Kyomachi, Kyoto (京町)
Pontocho. Part two for this evening. Better than part one. Contrary to all my protestations, this place faces the main alley and is bright and a little commercial-looking. Not too much though. And as soon as you get inside, it’s dauntingly old-fashioned, with a proper entrance leading up to a tatami area behind closed doors, […]
- izakaya
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Kyona, Kyoto (酒と味 京菜)
The Kamogawa, at night, looking north. Learned an interesting thing about orienting yourself within the (already very sensible) street grid of Kyoto: you always have mountains on three sides, and the ’empty’ side is south. The bright lights on the west bank are the outward-facing manifestation of the much-beloved and little-penetrated Pontocho district. Maybe it’s […]
Fukagawahama, Monzennakacho (深川浜)
Fukagawahama. It’s not Fukahama, although that’s not far away (and very worthwhile; in fact,if you just came back from Kyoto I think you’ll agree the cost performance at Fukahama is amazing). Fukagawahama is just a normal izakaya in a normal back alley of Monzennakacho. It’s always been there, at least within the approaching-7-years that I’ve been there. […]
Okanaga Club, Nihonbashi Bakurocho (岡永倶楽部)
Errrrr…..this statue in Kanda, up near Awajicho (we went to Katsuman and got rattled by a big earthquake in the old building there) depicts the youth of Japan confidently ascending toward the future. Too bad about the salute. Too bad about Okanaga Club too – it has all the makings of a terrific sake-focused, upscale […]