Many years ago I visited the confusingly Irish/Japanese-named Ohara (and who knows what the CIA means either?) as one of the very last lunches I ever ate as a Roppongi-based worker. Reading that review gives me more confidence in my much-derided one-visit policy – it was mainly the same when we went for dinner, although […]
dinner
Gyoro-Gyoro, Nihonbashi (魚櫓魚櫓)
Yooooooshta. It’s official. I have now been to all of the good sake places in Tokyo. Think you know another? Nope. Not good. This is the last one. Boo-yah! Good, I’m glad we could all agree on that. I mean, it’s pretty obvious that they’ve got something going on; with a head store elsewhere (Shibooya, […]
Onodera, Kagurazaka (おの寺)
There are a few places in Tokyo that I believe in enough to go back to, and a very few that I feel compelled to post more than once about. Obviously Onodera is one of them. The cooking is, if anything, better than I remembered. Onodera himself is a great guy. I offered him a glass […]
Bunzou, Otemachi (鍛冶屋 文蔵)
Did I mention that we went to Honoka? I think we went to Honoka. Did we? Certainly we took the train after. Or something that looks like a train. With all our friends. They love us, just sitting there giggling, speaking broken Japanese, maybe taking the odd picture. Maybe, hell. It’s OK, we’re foreign. Well, […]
- izakaya
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Honoka, Musashi Koyama (穂のか)
There are a few places in Tokyo that I like believe in enough to go back to, and a very few that I feel compelled to post more than once about. Obviously Honoka is one of them. I don’t think they remember me despite the nice welcome card, because I was there quite some time […]
- bar
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Ant & Bee, Roppongi (アントンビー)
Years of my life, I spent here, years. Seeing Mori Tower gives me a peculiar feeling; not like the dread I used to get when I would catch a glimpse of Chifley Tower across Sydney Harbor on a Sunday, but a little twinge. Fortunately it’s been years in arrears since I felt the certain intensity […]
- izakaya
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Mitakaya Sakaba, Morishita (みたかや酒場)
I almost feel bad writing about Mitakaya. Let me count the ways. Just two, actually. 1. It’s on my street, and I like to support local business, but it took me approximately 2,500 nights to go for the first time. 2. The Mitakas, and their customers, are the nicest people, and I would hate for anyone […]
Ogura, Jinbocho (割烹 おぐら)
What’s uuuuuuup! I was trying to take a random picture on the street while Volleyball and I waited for the light to change, just something to say “Jimbocho is the sports-store neighborhood.” These women were pretty in-the-spirit, so I took another one with them posing better. And then got lost for 5 minutes looking for […]
- Other treats
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Rusai Doshin, Shintomi (潤菜 どうしん)
Years ago I used to read Tokyo Calendar all the time. I was really looking for the little places that were reasonably-priced but still lived up to the standards that I like to think Tokyo Calendar sets for all the restaurants that they allow to buy space in their pages (just guessing here). Rusai Doshin, […]
- izakaya
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Gochi, Shibuya (ごち)
Yooooooshta. It’s official. I have now been to all of the good sake places in Tokyo. Think you know another? Nope. Not good. This is the last one. Boo-yah! Good, I’m glad we could all agree on that. Shibuya at night. Not really night. I love love love summer because you can leave the office […]