It’s that time again, folks. Don’t expect any more Tokyo posts for a while, because the next two weeks are all about Pitman, NJ. And Cape May. And New York City. New York City? Git a rope.
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- Kanda
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Uruwashi, Kanda (うるわし 神田)
Uruwashi. How did I miss this place? I’ve been on this street a dozen, a hundred times. The sign is big. The entrance is inviting, or at least the door opens and you can then go down the spare, elegant staircase and follow the tiled, cobbled path into the genkan. It’s this kind of place […]
Margaux tonkatsu, Akihabara (丸五)
Ominous, the sky. I was heading up to Akihabara to buy a radioactive giant saber-toothed turtle action figure (Americans make the wierdest requests of people coming home on vacation) and figured I’d combine it with lunch. I also combined it with a picture of the ‘Loving Hut’ truck, which is just like that Natural Hand place, only it’s […]
- Other treats
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Kawachiya, Shibamata (川千家, 柴又)
You’ve heard of Shibamata, right? Even the most hardened pretend-we-still-live-in-America sort of expat has been told of the “It’s Hard to be a Man” movie series, wherein the main character Tora san hails from a quaint, old-fashioned neighborhood of Tokyo called Shibamata. Then again, they probably don’t discuss such things at TAC. It IS indeed […]
Echigoya Wakasa, Morishita (越後屋若狭)
Some time ago, I was idly perusing the tabelogz as I like to do on many a quiet afternoon. Looking at the top 20-rated restaurants in Tokyo, I spotted an oddity. It was on my side of the river. One of Tokyo’s best 20 restaurants out of 160,000 listings? An easy walk from home? And […]
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 […]
Udagawa, Nihonbashi (宇田川)
You’ve noticed how I got onto a Nihonbashi kick recently, right? I’ve been to 10 places in the Muromachi neighborhood (near Mitsukoshi, just northeast of bridge itself) in the last two weeks. This place is a bit intriguing, with a real old-fashioned atmosphere on the outside, and a lunch menu focused on our fried friend, […]
- izakaya
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Konakara, Otsuka (こなから)
Well well, we check another off the list of ‘Tokyo’s greatest sake pubs’. This was decent, just uninspiring and a bit expensive. Having been to a good sampling now, I can safely say that the ‘Gauntner list’ was written around 10 years ago, and that the 10 recommended drinking outlets on there no longer apply […]
- French
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Douze Gout, Kyoto
Have you had this happen? You go somewhere a bit old-fashioned and traditional, like Kyoto, and spend a long weekend being old-fashioned and eating traditional food. By the end of it, you feel like you could murder a burger. It leads you to think things like “European food for lunch.” Silly me, I was a […]
- izakaya
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Sakagawa, Kyoto (阪川)
Ahhh, Sakagawa. How do I feel about you? Bruised, perhaps. Not cheated, but worked hard… Gion at night is absolute magic. You should see it. The cobbled streets, unremitting stretches of old buildings, lanterns marking places you’re never going to be allowed in to, and odd twists that leave you confused as soon as you […]