Yo Okamo, whassup? You’ve been doing business in my town for years (2), I dunno why I never stopped by. Misguided effort to limit caloric intake on weeknights, I suppose. Okamo is here, hiding below a much bigger sign for a pub. (Yes, a “pub”, if you know what I mean. But not like you’re […]
dinner
- bistro
- ...
Le Mont St Michel, Mejiro
Yves Ringler was a soldier in the Jimmy Cayne mob, running numbers out of Tokyo. They called him “The Wringer” even though that doesn’t really sound like his name if you pronounce it properly. He managed to give up the life a few years ago, showing a good deal of prescience. As you may know, I […]
- bistro
- ...
Asterix, Akasaka
Asterix has been around for positively yonks. Even after going, I’m not sure if I’ve been before or not – it’s very possible that I went once, back in that halcyon month known as September 2004 when I had just moved to Japan and everything was fresh and exciting (except for work, which was a […]
- izakaya
- ...
Tsugaru, Kashiwa (つがる)
Well, Tsugaru looked great on the web. Maybe it’s the photos they used, but I expected a lot from this place. It turned out well in the end. But first, I was disappointed when I stopped by in the afternoon before opening – the exterior is tiny, plain, and very much in keeping with its […]
- Other treats
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Yataichi, Kashiwa (やたいち、柏)
Quirky is pretty much always good in Japan, especially when the quirk focuses on food and drinks. I wasn’t sure about Yataichi based on what I could see on the interwebz, but it’s a real winner in person. The quirk starts with the door, which is no more than 4 feet high and will have […]
- izakaya
- ...
Yoshiharu West, Kashiwa (吉春、柏)
Kashiwa is a bit out there, to the northwest, but worth a late-afternoon trip since there are a bunch of nice-looking izakayas scattered about the town. It’s surprisingly big, having a Takashimaya, Marui and various other department stores; clearly a major outlying town and one of the bigger in Chiba. First on the agenda was […]
- beer
- ...
Belg Aube, Roppongi
Peafowl, rain, beer. One of the staff was outside soliciting business, we didn’t say no. I asked ‘How late are you open?’, he said ‘Oh, until morning. Well, until 5.’ That’s Roppongi. I’ve been here a bunch of times before in various companies, but for some reason it hasn’t resulted in a post. Just imagine […]
- Other treats
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Ichi, Roppongi (いち)
Not exactly what I was expecting, getting a recommendation for a very nice course kappou place in the back of Roppongi from Koala, who I always think of as a Korean / Chinese / hotpot specialist. But very nice it was indeed, and along with several peafowl I enjoyed it very much. This place is under-reported […]
- izakaya
- ...
Kanae, Shinjuku Sanchome
Y’know, I keep saying I’ve had enough of sake for a while, but I keep going back to the well. Also, in the same way that I always want to start off with raw fish at an izakaya, I kinda like Japanese food on weeknights, foreign food for a fancier Saturday night. Must be getting old since these […]
- Other treats
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Iijima, Tokyo (割烹 いゝ島、八重洲)
Honestly, Ding and I have been trying to get together after work for several months. Whenever one of us thinks of it and suggests something, there’s always been a problem. Last night, the only problems were the rain, the fact that Fukube was full, and the fact that I was carrying only my ’emergency’ camera, […]