Miyakawa is fantastically located – central to the happening nightspots Kayabacho, Hatchobori and Nihonbashi! This explains why it was almost fully-packed when we wandered in at 8 on a Friday, as well as why they were taking last orders at 9 and kicking us out at 9:30. Glasses of beer. Sours in any flavor you […]
dinner
- French
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Les Enfants Terrible, Azabu Juban
Update: August 11: Recently heard and then saw that this place is gone. Sorry I’ve been so tardy to update. _____________________________________ Update: November 08: Salad Nicoise, small and disappointing compared to Lyonnaise (I really think they accidentally gave me full-size the first time). Pan-fried fish, something tai-ish, excellent, served in skillet with vegetables (definitely their […]
Ruri, Monzennakacho (るり 母ちゃん料理)
[Jan 2011: Long gone; I think this space is an udon now, but it’s on its second iteration at least since Ruri left.] I like to think that I’m a good judge of restaurants from the outside – the style, the menu, and signboard are all indicators of the care and concern of the owners […]
- French
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L’Oasina, Minami Aoyama
Typically, the phrase “Homeopathy and Natural Food Kitchen down the street from the cemetery” is not one to make me come running. It fails on so many levels… On a random night when you weren’t expecting to go out to dinner, weren’t expecting rain, and can’t see the homeopathy or cemetery from the front of […]
- Other treats
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Ostrea, Roppongi
Coming out of the office after work and trying to think of a place to go (that wasn’t Heartland) we were greeted by the puzzling sight of a new and attractive-looking restaurant where previously there was only…I’m not even sure, but it sure wasn’t an oyster bar with a big beverage selection. Almost directly across […]
Moti, Roppongi
Nothing says love like a succession of massive days in the office over the weekend, toiling away for your failed firm. And nothing puts the cherry on the icing on the cake like a big glutinous mass of Indian food plus some hot ‘n’ fresh naan. As an aside, in 1998 when I was working […]
- French
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Salut, Ebisu
Update March 13, 2010: This place rules. It’s exactly as described below, prices are still the same, room is still cheery, food is better than I remembered – mains in particular, where my fennel-stuffed, bacon-rolled rabbit loin was artistic and delicious. Chestnut + cream+ ice cream + candied walnuts + crunchy chocolate topping (like shredded […]
Baggio, Roppongi
One of the happiest days of my life was when I learned Baggio was doing lunches. Until then they were hit-or-miss, mostly miss, with no pizzas, only pasta, and some months no lunch at all. Frankly not so interesting; pasta doesn’t pay the bills. So when I found out a few months ago that they’d […]
La Brace, Roppongi (Azabu-Juban)
This place should have a nickname in my team, but it doesn’t. We have ‘The Oyaji Place’, ‘The Duck Place’, ‘The Weird Chinese Place’, ‘The Too Much Food Place’, etc. For a while Burdigala was ‘The Good Value Italian Place’, but that was mainly because of the bread (which changed, along with the increased price […]
- Italian
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Ammirare Firenze, Kamakura
Well off the beaten path for this one, but I was joining my friend for a (pretty terrible) sort of community-themed live music event near his house in Kamakura. And when venturing into the wilderness like that, I always figure one should make the most of it and explore some local fare. After hours of […]