This was a great experience. And it restored my faith in humanity. Or at least my interest in finding great new places. I had a run of great luck recently and didn’t go to a bum place. Some that were maybe just OK, but nothing bad and some wonderful surprises. So it was more than […]
dinner
- izakaya
- ...
Kan, Ikejiri Ohashi (カン 池尻大橋)
Ehhhhhh, Big Bird and I were all set to lovelovelove this place. Somehow it seemed too easy, too predictable, not good enough, and ultimately boring. Oh, and expensive. I may have grown to prefer the thrill of discovery, with my ridiculous run of good-to-amazing places over the last two weeks setting way too high a […]
- Other treats
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Denmaru Ramen, Kami Asao (伝丸 新百合ヶ丘店)
I got back late, late at night from my first trip to Osaka. I mean, regular salarymen work this late every night, but when I arrive at the station at 11:10, that’s a solid day of work (lunch pictures notwithstanding). There’s an izakaya between home and the station that I’ve been itching to try, and […]
- izakaya
- ...
Ame Ni Mo Makezu, Ikebukuro (割烹 雨ニモマケズ)
Oh for goodness’ sake, will the stream of amazing restaurants never end? Just when I was getting a bit sick of myself for ordering the same nuta and bitter vegetables and raw fish and finishing with fried food and hot sake, along comes a place with creative food, killer atmosphere, good saki, and great prices, […]
- bar
- ...
Kibouan, Ikebukuro (希紡庵 きぼうあん)
Urban hiking. I just love walking in Tokyo. Today I was out for a medium hike, starting in Shin Okubo (just north of Shinjuku) and hiking to Ikebukuro to look for a couple places I had seen online but forgot to get links or addresses for. So you could say I was hiking four stations […]
- izakaya
- ...
Seikaiha, Tamagawagakuenmae (青海波, 玉川学園前)
The finest dining establishment in all of Tamagawagakuenmae. It’s a bold claim considering it’s the only place I’ve been to, but this is a pretty sweet izakaya, and TGGEM is a smallish, sleepy station. It’s nearly as good as Ibuki, which is at the next station, the relatively enormous Machida. So if you’re in TGGEM, […]
- izakaya
- ...
Manaita, Takadanobaba (真菜板, 高田馬場)
After not really having much fun at Shimomiya, and not even being able to drown our sorrows due to the ordering difficulties and overall stylistic incompatibility, Bird and I were desperate to go somewhere else. Since we were up for whatever, the conversation went like this: “Hey, there was another place I attached my eye […]
- izakaya
- ...
Shimomiya, Higashi Nakano (しもみや 東中野)
It’s been a while since I’ve seen this, and maybe you too. JR platforms can get completely jammed, especially when it’s the combined Yamanote-Sobu platform at Shinjuku. I was bound for the metropolitan hotspot of Higashi Nakano. [I jest, but Higashi Nakano also houses Tokyo’s single best sake bar, so it’s not exactly a joke.] […]
- izakaya
- ...
Fuusan, Machida (風燦 原町田店)
Tuesday night saw the team back in Machida for an away game. Woody recommended the Big Fuu to me last year after I checked in at Ibuki, but as soon as I walked up to it I realized that I had seen it last year on that Ibuki trip and decided not to go. Which […]
Kamozou, Kagurazaka (地酒喝采 かも蔵（カモゾウ 醸蔵）)
Yooooooshta. It’s official. I have now been to all of the good sake places in Tokyo. Think you know another? Nope. Not good. This is the last one. Boo-yah! Good, I’m glad we could all agree on that. Back to work. I’ve been knowing this place for a long time. I happened by on my bike, […]