Great idea! Take a place with an awesome exterior but a terrible manager and business model, re-purpose it into a casual bistro – something Monnaka always needs but doesn’t always have. I see where the place a block south of Exit 2 that went through several iterations of declining-quality French places is now a low-quality […]
lower-mid-price
- bistro
- ...
Butcher Brothers, Kanda (ブッチャーブラザーズ)
I wandered over to UrbaneNet, that most civilized of buildings, after finishing my meetings in Yaesu today. Down in the lobby I met the Preacher, who I guess never goes out for lunch, because he’s a shadow of his former self and had no idea how to walk the 5 minutes up to East-side Kanda. […]
Heinig, Vienna
Here we are, the day after Christmas, when all the stores say nothing on their web sites or windows about being closed…but they all are. “We take no holidays!” except the one that everyone but someone and me must know happens automatically on the 26th. Strange, because a lot of places were open on the […]
Honu Cafe, Wako (ワイン食堂honucafe,埼玉県和光市)
This is really it – the last day I spent in Tokyo. Someone and I spent it like a lot of days before – pottering around a suburb, looking for excitement and not finding any. Unfortunately our bikes were already abandoned back in Monnaka, so we took a train somewhat at random and got off […]
Napoli Napoli, Monzen Nakacho
If you remember that old, overpriced sushi place called ‘Tamon’ that used to be just north of the highway…eh, no one’s going to remember that. I talked to people who lived in the neighborhood and didn’t know it was there. The point is that it disappeared, and was replaced just before I left with pizza […]
- izakaya
- ...
Toraya, Kita Senju (虎や)
Now it can be told, the sad tale of my last night on the town. More an afternoon, really. Any day that starts with ice cream for lunch and finishes by 8 at the 3rd restaurant deserves its own special naming convention. Big Bird is connected in convoluted and barely legal ways to the shady […]
- izakaya
- ...
Ajisai, Kanda (味彩)
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. Back to work. This one has been settling in and gathering rust just above Iroha Sushi, on […]
- izakaya
- ...
Kirakutei, Shinagawa (きらく亭)
After a leisurely recidivist lunch at l’Effervescence we gradually worked all the way down to Shinagawa to meet the Todds…who were late because their kitchen went up in flames. Definitely a worthwhile excuse. Kirakutei was the most obviously ‘sake’ of the izakayas along the north Shinagawa shopping street (a piece of the old Tokaido, in […]
- Other treats
- ...
Tonari ramen, Toyocho (トナリ)
This place is right next to one of Tokyo’s best ramen shops, Bigakuya…and it routinely has much longer lines. Why’s that? And what’s a ‘tanmen’ anyway? I went around 2:30 to find out. Ohhh, that’s why there are long lines. It’s Jiro-style ramen. People love that stuff these days, don’t they? No-frills, low prices, massive […]
- izakaya
- ...
Kishidaya, Tsukishima (岸田屋)
Kishidaya. I live near here. It’s famous. Why did it take me 7 years to get there? Easy. They open at 5. It’s popular. I mean, get-there-before-they-open popular. Who has time to do that? Who doesn’t work on weekdays? These guys, hahahahahaha. In fact, we tried to go to another place nearby that’s almost as […]