The recently Asia-jet-setting friend formerly known as Preacher, or sometimes Cheese Farmer, is here on a business trip (which we hope will be a frequent event) and we went out to eat. I finally made good on my desire to drag someone up to Kanda at night! It’s very bright and busy, but in a […]
dinner
Hibiki, Marunouchi (響)
Monday nights out always get me kinda down, and it sure doesn’t help when they’re for work. Nevertheless, this turned out pretty well, more for work reasons than food reasons. Hibiki is best described as a chain izakaya gone upscale – it’s attractive and well-presented, but there’s something pretty soul-less about it that shows through […]
- Other treats
- ...
Torisuzu, Ningyocho (とり鈴)
It’s probably not a good idea to read too much into names, but in this case I can’t help it. What do you make of a restaurant called ‘Chicken Bell’? This seemed funnier when I was there, but now that I think about it, this is probably a combination of the tendency to name a […]
- izakaya
- ...
Masuya, Tsukishima (ますや)
Yeah, this does indeed mean that I went back to roam around Tsukishima for a second night. I had seen Masuya on the previous evening and liked the seriously down-home look – brown country-style sliding door, extra supplies piled outside, lively sounds from within. And hey, what are Wednesdays for? Inside was indeed more homey […]
- izakaya
- ...
Sakura, Tsukishima (さくら)
Through a weird series of searches on the Google, I came upon this guy Nick’s post for a nice-looking restaurant specializing in mass quantities of off-cuts of good fish. And I gotta admit, I was seduced by his approach of posting only a shot of the street outside the restaurant and not its name or […]
- Ginza
- ...
Sasahana, Ginza (ささ花)
Sasahana is up in the northeast corner of The Ginza, behind Printemps or Marronier or Velvia (as you like). After seeing the door, I realized that I walked by right around the same time last year, picked up a brochure, and never thought any more of it. Glad I went back! It’s not a particularly […]
- izakaya
- ...
Kyusuke, Ningyocho (久助)
We interrupt this interminable series of posts on eel in Kanda to bring you something that is fundamentally different (at least until lunch!) – oden in Nigyocho. Yesterday feature a few trying times at the office, and I felt a deep need to eat out rather than salad (the verb) at home. Since I was […]
Mishima, Kichijoji
Not to be confused with the other Kichijoji Mishima (美しま), a kaiseki restaurant, this Mishima offers a variety of semi-Spanish food, stick-roasted items, cheap wine, laid-back service, and a general good-time atmosphere. The small inside area, practically hidden behind the bar, is sorta modern and a little clubby; the outdoor tables are glass-and-steel; there’s a […]
- Ginza
- ...
Banyuls, Ginza
My friends, I am genuinely excited to inform both of you that I have found something that shatters two of my previously-held notions: 1. Spain bars have boring, ordinary food (and the food in Spain had better be better by next month, or there’ll be hell to pay) and 2. The Aux Amis group tends […]
- Other treats
- ...
Tanuki/Ajiwai, Yurakucho (たぬき / 味わい,有楽町)
Party at the moon tower! Or the next best thing – Yurakucho yakitori with McNoonan! I also just read up on the real moontowers in Texas, if you’re interested. McNoonan is back from his Layoff World Tour – Hawaii, Boston, Disneyworld. This is a world tour like the World Series is a world series, but […]