As I learned when I went to Maebashi and Morioka, there’s not a lot going on in country towns outside of the Entertainment industry. That probably means that your best bet for finding dinner, should you not have been aggressive enough to book something, is to hit those areas, ignore the clubs, and look for […]
dinner
- Other treats
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Denshou, Kayabacho (田昌)
November 18, 2009: Second visit confirms that this place has warm, quirky service and great food – chicken or not. Sashimi was exemplary, I still like the moutain potato tofu, and I believe firmly in electric-grilled chicken. A funny surprise was that the master was working the fish and cooked things – there was a […]
- Other treats
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Sushi Daizen (大前)
Daizen is a somewhat famous place – it’s right under the rail tracks in Yurakucho, meaning you have to push your way through thick clouds of chicken-grilling smoke to get there. It’s very small (9 seats?), cheap, and offers great cost performance. This is why you’ll need to book well in advance (seriously). Inside is […]
- bistro
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Le Point Ouest, Kamakura
On the way back from Enoshima, we did the touristy thing and took the Enoden, the small, old, electric train that meanders carefully through a series of cute neighborhoods between Fujisaki and Kamakura. (Incidentally, I don’t recommend taking it to get to Enoshima. We got off the main train line at Fujisaki, as close as […]
Fonda de la Madrugada, Harajuku
My friends, I am a changed and converted and (further) humbled man. There is an OK Mexican restaurant in Tokyo. And it’s exactly where everyone said it was. In a basement in Harajuku that distorts time and space. As we went into the basement, my expectations actually increased. It’s well-nigh impossible to find decent Mexican […]
Fukuden, Monzennakacho (ふく田)
As I write this, Fukuden is the #2 izakaya on Tabelog’s Tokyo rankings, which cover a metropolitan area stretching from Kamakura in the south to Ome in the west, Funabashi in the east to Kasukabe in the north. It’s also the 58th-ranked restaurant overall, which is not a bad feat considering that there are almost […]
- bistro
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Souvenir, Toritsu Daigaku
A deeply nostalgic trip, this, for several reasons. First, I used to do nothing restaurant-wise but look for places like this – reasonably-priced bistro French. Finding this took me back to those days (hey grandpa). Second, even though I’ve spent very very little time in France, the faux nostalgia created by a good bistro is […]
Okada, Monzennakacho
Today’s interesting point is this: Japanese culture is different. Thank you for reading. No, I kid, I kid. But I’ve read a bunch of things recently talking about ‘recession food’ and how restaurants are opening or at least restyling in simpler, humbler ways. Japan has had a bit of this too, but with a unique […]
- Kanda
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Yamada Mongol, Kanda
Years ago I read a book by Haruki Murakami that was called ‘A Wild Sheep Chase’ in English. Aside from the funny bit about the girl’s ears, and the overall spaciness and magical quality that it had (first Murakami book I read, so it was especially memorable), I remember being struck by the statement that […]
Istanbul, Yurakucho
Ethnic food is a source of continued confusion to me in Japan. In my mind, it doesn’t include Japanese, Chinese, Korean, French, Italian and American. And it definitely includes Thai, Vietnamese and other, rarer, Southeast Asian foods. Things get fuzzy when we talk about Eurasia, as I think the actual cultures do as well. Istanbul […]