Kamakura has a surprising concentration of Italian restaurants. The best looking ones are surprisingly full, even when the rest of town is fairly empty during the day and leaning toward ghostly at night. Il Silene is up near the big shrine, but seriously hidden in a basement. You could see their sign on the street, […]
dinner
- izakaya
- ...
Kudan, Gakugei Daigaku (件)
There’s a first for everything, and a slightly different personality to every neighborhood of Tokyo. This was my first time to visit Gakugei Daigaku, and I’d like to say its personality reflects a bit of its college roots. The few streets that I saw seemed cheaper and funkier than the average suburb, with a bit […]
- izakaya
- ...
Ippou, Ebisu (一歩)
Boy do the hits keep on coming. Coming a little too fast, but we have to soldier on in the name of fun, sociability, and education. Ippou is in a small street on the east side of Ebisu; depending on your proclivities, you may know it as the street also containing Aotea Rangi, the New […]
- izakaya
- ...
Ishii, Shinbashi (いし井)
Boy do the hits keep on coming. Coming a little too fast; I kept sitting back contentedly while eating and drinking with Woody, thinking “Phew, that was a hard week. Glad it’s Friday night!” It was Tuesday. What’s happening in Shinbashi around quitting time? I mean this semi-rhetorically, because if you have to ask, you […]
Sakaiya Food Hall, Hikifune (サカイ食堂,曳舟)
Hoodwinked, cruelly tricked, and disgusted. And maybe a little proud. If you’re a foreigner, and you like to say “I can eat anything”, there’s one hurdle that may be too far, and you may just have to be pressured into hurdling that hurdle with cheap booze and fast conversation. Unfortunately, all that’s on the other […]
- izakaya
- ...
Za Sakana, Kitami (座酒菜,喜多見)
The night was young and so were we…well, at least one of us. But after not getting much food to speak of at Hanya, another destination was clearly indicated for all and sundry. For a small station, Kitami has a goodly number of likely spots – maybe something about the clean country air inspires good […]
- izakaya
- ...
Hanya, Kitami (はん家,喜多見)
A funny thing about Tokyo – doesn’t matter where you are, no matter how small the station or how little you’ve previously known about it. There’s always a good chance that somebody has opened up their dream restaurant there, be it an izakaya, bistro, trattoria or food truck. But usually it’s an izakaya. Hanya occupies […]
- Other treats
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Hope Ramen, Morishita (ホープ麺店)
I think it’s basically this year that I’ve been actively into ramen, though I see in consulting the archives that as recently as April I was still trying to bullshit and say I wasn’t that into ramen…bullshit. Since I’ve gotten into it, and explored a few traditional-style places like Bigakuya and Isono, I’ve had a […]
Umejin, Kiyosumi Shirakawa (梅仁)
Mmmmmm, rollin’ around on a Friday night, after the sun goes down and after practicing guitar for an hour. Nothing particular in mind, but I took a book, so I was ready to settle in and read. After 20 or 30 minutes of aimless cycling, I passed Umejin, and remembered that it had looked sorta […]
- Other treats
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Yasube ramen, Akasaka (やすべえ)
Dieting is hard. You tell yourself that you’re going to be all Japanese – just a few drinks, some nibbles to go with, then home to bed – but in reality you end up acting more Japanese – a few drinks, some nibbles to go with, then a bowl of noodles with fatty pork soup […]