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, […]
Kayabacho
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 […]
Coulis, Shintomi
The photo gallery on the web site shows a range of semi-artful but fully fresh-looking dishes. Vegetables are everywhere. So are construction pictures, and the last of the series is a couple with a young child, backs to the camera, looking at the completed kitchen. No doubt, Coulis is a labor of love. With quality […]
- bar
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Wall Street, Kayabacho
There isn’t much of interest to say about Wall Street except that…well, it’s in Kayabacho. When I worked in Roppongi it was my usual transfer point, so I used to transfer there all the time, and would sometimes just get off and walk home, looking for a place to eat along the way. Wall Street […]
- French
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Les Tonneaux, Hatchobori
More hot Friday-night Fowl-On-Fowl action, wherein we visited the restaurant of Peacock’s colleague’s husband, and it turned out to be a cool neighborhoody spot. And when I say ‘neighborhood’, I mean, like, y’know, from the block, because inadvertently or not, they’ve done a great job of creating a downtown New York vibe. It’s the exposed […]
- Other treats
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Toritoku, Kayabacho (鳥徳)
It’s feasting season again…when the winds of change rise up, Putin rears his head and comes out of Russia into Alaska’s airspace, and the company randomly reassigns people to different teams with no apparent motivation or prior notice. Strange humors dwelleth in the heartseth of men, and the only solution is to get drunk and […]
- izakaya
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Wadaya, Kayabacho (和田家)
Before I get into this one, do you think it’s possible that the best guitar rock song of the 70’s is Bachmann Turner Overdrive’s “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet”? I think it contains a little sample of all the elements that made the era great, and present the case as follows: Not too long – […]
- izakaya
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Sayori, Kayabacho (さより)
Sayori is a place that’s trying to hide away. It’s at the back side of Kayabacho, a double whammy when you consider that the whole area isn’t exactly a hotbed of activity. It’s on the third floor of a building, and advertises mainly with a small grey and black sign at waist level on the […]
- izakaya
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Umi, Kayabacho (海)
Three things right off: 1. The delights of Kayabacho seem dubious and limited, but I keep finding places that I think are quite good. 2. This is one of them. 3. Kayabacho is under-served by Tabelog; even the good places have relatively few respondents, and the scores are unnaturally low. Ignore them. Right, so after […]
- bar
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Beer Bar Talo, Kayabacho
This post is for distant reader and longtime Tokyo dining expert John Wood (hi Woodie) who was kind enough to point out that there are restaurants on The Map that are not featured in posts. This is because The Map features all places that I can remember visiting, while the posts are only for new […]