Yeah, I was disgruntled at work again. Didn’t deal with it that well; stopped off at an izakaya on the way home. It’s a problem with Monnaka – I may never run out of new places to try, even when they’re old places like this. ‘Mountain Happiness’ specializes in ayu, a small river fish that […]
dinner
- Italian
- ...
Tharros, Shibuya (タロス 渋谷・中目黒)
The original of this post was lost in The Great Blogger Crash of Last Week, wherein they rolled back a day-and-a-half of edits. It wasn’t that good in the first place, so little harm done. Years ago, I used to read Tokyo Calendar all the time. It’s a dangerous habit – the restaurants are mostly […]
- bistro
- ...
Aila, Ebisu (アイラ 恵比寿店)
Aila is a French Colonial restaurant. Or so they say. You say ‘French Colonial’, I think ‘Le Colonial’, and I like that atmosphere. (Of course, if you say ‘black’, I say ‘white’, and if you say ‘bark’, I say ‘bite’.) The exterior here is very much ‘converted house’, with ivy and discrete lighting (or ‘le lighting […]
Shukuzu, Ningyocho (酒喰洲)
For a sizable segment of the Japanese population, the definition of ‘heaven’ would be ‘cheap drinks and cheaper fish’. Quality doesn’t necessarily enter into it, and standing up is fine too. So if you can offer decent produce across the board like Shukuzu, that’s a winner. Standing isn’t really my thing, but I was here […]
- izakaya
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Tsuki Maru Umi, Koenji (旬の魚と炙り焼 月○海)
We were on the hike now, walking between Nakano and Koenji. The original plan was to start while it was light and get to Asagaya around dark, but there was the crap weather, with the wind and the rain and the darkness. Once we spent an hour in another izakaya, the whole walking-outside thing wasn’t […]
- izakaya
- ...
Ajiyoshi, Nakano (酒道場 味吉)
Ahhhh, Japan. People always talk about how quirky it is, but they’re only focused on the maids and the Alice in Wonderland bars and the dancing rockabillies and costume kids in Harajuku. Actually, that’s more than enough. But the real quirks are sometimes beneath the surface. Take this place – it would be all too […]
Mameya, Shintomicho (小料理 まめや)
Shintomi is a funny little neighborhood, and I like it. It’s not obviously charming – the main thing is small office buildings, but there are some nondescript modern apartments mixed in. And here and there, a shop or restaurant scratching out a living. Mameya’s building, an old townhouse built sometime early in Showa, reminds me […]
Sasaki, Kagurazaka (神楽坂 ささ木)
It is hard, my friends, to find really good kaiseki places in Tokyo that don’t break the bank. After this visit to Sasaki, I would say I know four (Onodera, Uemura, Sasahana…actually I could stretch to include Yuwaeru even though it’s absurdly cheap and high quality. And probably Fukahama. I suppose six is probably enough […]
- izakaya
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Sasashin, Ningyocho (笹新)
Right in the middle of Amazake Yokocho is Sasashin. While I’ve seen it before, I was never that clear what they do – it’s not explained that well from the outside, nor that welcoming. Actually, it’s not that welcoming inside either; very atmospheric, but a little dirty and desperate By way of illustration, here’s the […]
- Other treats
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Torishu, Ryogoku (鳥守)
Every place has something to offer. Sometimes it’s just a life lesson, like “You shouldn’t go to places this bad,” but this wasn’t one of those sometimes. After another hour of cycling on our Kita Senju round-trip extravaganza, what Torishu had to offer was chicken. I’m joking to humorous effect, of course. It offered so […]