Frequently, I rhapsodize about the joys of Monzennakacho. I don’t get a kickback from the town council, I assure you. Quite the opposite in fact…do you know how local taxes work in Japan?! For a place that has so many low-end Japanese establishments, Monnaka has a surprising number of European options too. One thing that […]
dinner
La Bombance, Nishi Azabu
It’s interesting to come back from Kyoto and immediately have what amounts to a kaiseki meal, albeit in a dark, stylish, hostess-friendly setting in Nishi-Azabu. It’s even more interesting to meet completely new people especially when they come with their own nicknames – Baron Destructo and Deluca Cheesemonger. You can tell I didn’t assign those […]
- Kyoto
- ...
Yuubi, Kyoto (遊美)
Really outstanding food from a modern kappou in the deep south of Gion – on the street with all the chayas, if that helps. While the atmosphere was a little cold, this was some of the best Japanese food I’ve ever had. But first, stone-paved streets with rickshaws! Quel queint! No pictures were really possible (master’s policy, […]
- izakaya
- ...
Karaku, Kyoto (華楽)
Nice place they’ve got here. I like this whole Kyoto thing more every year. Friday night, got up the courage to poke my head into one of the nearly unmarked kappou on Pontocho. With a number of the places there, it’s hard to tell what they do – just a name over the door. They […]
La Scene, Kagurazaka
Kagurazaka is famous for French stuff. It’s funny, but there really ARE a ton of little French (and Italian) places lurking around. It’s not that they’re clustered in one place; this one, which appeared in a Hanako article, is actually a bit north of what you may think of as the ‘main drag’ (Waseda Dori), […]
- izakaya
- ...
Umi, Kayabacho (海)
Three things right off: 1. The delights of Kayabacho seem dubious and limited, but I keep finding places that I think are quite good. 2. This is one of them. 3. Kayabacho is under-served by Tabelog; even the good places have relatively few respondents, and the scores are unnaturally low. Ignore them. Right, so after […]
- French
- ...
Comme d’Habitude, Sangenjaya
As the latest in our series of neighborhood explorations, Sangenjaya had a few things against it. I’m unreasonably biased against the Denentoshi line (dunno why), and as far as I could tell, Sancha was a bit too…industrial. Finally, the weather was gloomy all day. but after a late start we persevered and headed there. It […]
- French
- ...
Mardi Gras, Ginza
Once in a while everyone comes to a point in their life where they visit a famous restaurant. Mardi Gras is a famous restaurant in Tokyo, being as the chef left another famous restaurant, Grape Gumbo, to set out on his own. I’ve seen it featured in various ‘celebrity chef’ features in Tokyo Calendar et […]
Ichiryu, Akasaka (一龍)
Open 24 hours, 7 days a week, this Korean place seems to serve its limited menu mainly to Koreans working in the Akasaka area (of which there are many, especially at night. That’s why there were various tables of women with big hair and fur coats even late at night.). It’s tasty and soothing, a […]
- Jinbocho
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Green Phad Thai, Jinbocho
Recent comments have implied that I rarely venture out of the Otemachi Metro Area (or Mon-Naka, I suppose). Nothing could be further from the truth, but I do understand that interesting posts get lost in the daily crush of lunch options. Fortunately it will only be a few more weeks until the end of the […]