Hey, my new favorite Italian restaurant! Dangerously close to the route between home and the new office (moving date still to be determined), so could prompt frequent stops for a pasta and glass of wine on the way home. As long as I’m walking or biking, I think it’s OK! One-man restaurants are dicey. I […]
dinner
Usagiya, Kayabacho (うさぎ屋)
Good lord, first it was Night of the Living Zens, where I had lunch two days straight at places with Zen in the name. Now it’s the Killer Rabbits with nasty, pointy teeth. At least there are a few weeks break in between these. I love being in places that seem like they haven’t seen […]
- bistro
- ...
Bistro Khamsa, Nakameguro
We were stumbling around Nakame last night, and I was freezing my patooties off. Despite being hungry, tired and cold, I still wasn’t willing to compromise on the vittles. We passed some places that looked good, and I wish we had gone to Bacione, but there’s usually a next time. So next time! Along the […]
Sushi Aoki, Monzen Nakacho (鮨あおき）
I admit, I had looked at this place before and thought it was fairly nondescript in that slightly scary sushi way where you don’t know what you’re going to have to pay. Then I looked on tabelog, found that this was the top-ranked sushiya in Monnaka, and shamelessly planned to go. I’ll go back; it […]
- Chinese
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Shina Hanten, Shiba Daimon (新亜飯店)
This company dinner worked out better than expected. The overall score of 3.5 on Tabelog was much-remarked-on before the event, and the shabby atmosphere led to somewhat predictable discussions of how dirty=tasty for ethnic restaurants. But the food was pretty good, really, and abundant, and they brought the beer really fast. While one guy took […]
Merveille, Nihonbashi
I approach this 100th review with some trepidation (And a busted liver.). After all, Merveille IS my favorite restaurant. This is really a weird thing to say – it’s a French restaurant in Japan, and I don’t like to have favorites in anything. But I’ve been going to Merveille for almost 5 years (I can’t […]
- Other treats
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Matagi, Nishi Azabu
I feel like this review should be written in grunts, sort of like the noises that would be made by a wild boar as he snuffles through the undergrowth just before being blown away by a shotgun wielded by one of Matagi’s ‘sourcers’. While new to me, coming through the pages of a back-issue of […]
- Italian
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Beccaccia, Minami Aoyama
I still remember the first time I felt really abused at a restaurant in Tokyo. It was at Stefano’s in Kagurazaka, a few years ago. I loved the food – hearty, delicious Northern Italian from the Veneto region – but hated the bread charge, service charge, non-included tax, and the fact that we were refused […]
Aux Amis Tokyo, Marunouchi
Continuing with our series on overpriced Marunouchi top-floor restaurants, here’s Aux Amis. Unquestionably terrific views combine with an unquestioned 10% service charge to produce a slight feeling of discomfort at payment time. Nuts. Why does this happen every time I go to the Marubiru upper floors? In this case, Aux Amis came about because Lauburu […]
Rick’s Spain Bar, Kayabacho
I’ll do my best to resist all urges to make stupid jokes. Rick’s is a Spain Bar (what is it with Spain Bars in the last year or two? Why can’t we have Italian Bars or French Bars?) mildly tucked away in Kayabacho (but near Miyakawa, and near Talo the Belgian beer place, oh and […]