Seemingly ages ago, I went to Akasaka for dinner. If you’re an overly-careful reader, you might remember that I scouted the neighborhood before dinner and found a place that looked likely – their shtick being ‘comparing pure-rice sake’. If you’re a reader who actually uses the site as god intended it, to find places to […]
dinner
Itoigawa, Monzennakacho (糸魚川)
What can I tell you? Riding around the city on summer nights is a great pleasure. In this instance, it was just the cruise home from work, but the lighting seemed conducive to snapping a shot of the mothership for prosperity. And after changing, more cruising ensued…eventually ending up a bit south of the river […]
- izakaya
- ...
Takaban, Awajicho
Tuesday night, I wanted…information. I figured if I got You drunk, then by hook or by crook I’d get some. He was already unstable as we were leaving the office – look how blurry he is here. We walked up to Takaban, which I visited some time ago alone, sans camera, while waiting for someone […]
- Italian
- ...
Ristorante Frick, Aoyama
August brings hard times for big men in Tokyo. When colleagues go to Hong Kong or Hawaii and come back talking about how the weather is worse in Tokyo, all we want to do is retreat to our air-conditioned rooms and laze on the couch. Or maybe go out for a touch of elegance. As […]
- izakaya
- ...
Hanafusa, Tsukiji (はなふさ)
Try walking, or jogging, or cycling around this quiet part of Tsukiji – 7-chome, across Harumi Dori from the side entrance to the fish market. You’ll be struck by how old it is, with a village feel on the minor shopping street and a few dark alleys parallelling that. Each has a couple quaint old […]
- izakaya
- ...
Nekoya, Tsukiji (ねこ屋)
How would you come up with this concept? “Stylish, private basement izakaya with homey food served by a youngish female master in kimono, with an outstanding sake selection. And everything cat-themed.” Everything. Well, it’s a good place, and the Woodsman deserves all credit for coming up with it when the rough plan was an evening around Tsukiji. Neko-san […]
- izakaya
- ...
Penguin Seafood World, Shinjuku
If you were walking down the street in Shinjuku, casting your eyes up so as not to miss any good places that were hiding away on upper floors, and you saw a sign with a pair of penguins happily vacationing far from their native clime, what would you think? Perhaps not “Hey, this place has […]
- Other treats
- ...
Imaiya Honten, Shinjuku (今井屋本店、三丁目)
‘Honten’ means ‘main store’ or ‘original store’ – if a restaurant spawns a chain, they’ll refer to the first one as the honten. Maybe you could call it the ‘flagship’, but for some chains the original store is smaller and less glamorous, and they preserve it for historical reasons. The funny thing about Imaiya Honten is […]
Doromitei, Kagurazaka (泥味亭)
Tokyo is sprawling. Tokyo is compact. If you have a meeting in the office at 8 PM, and can sneak out before that, 90 minutes will be enough to run for the train to Kagurazaka (Dad, I told you I was into Kagurazaka before it was cool, didn’t I?), enjoy a little mid-Summer dusk air, have […]
- izakaya
- ...
Yamato, Morishita (山登)
Sometimes people ask how I find all these places. Much like Eddy Merckx describing his approach in training to be the world’s best cyclist as ‘Ride lots,’ I spend an inordinate amount of time looking. Seek and ye shall find. I actually find the looking almost as enjoyable as the finding and eating, because it’s […]