Hmmm, you know what happens if you continue walking up the restaurant street that curves away from the northeast corner of Nishiazabu crossing? All the expensive places go away and it turns into a nice neighborhood. With a big temple. But you have to come back to modern Japan sometime, especially if you managed to […]
lunch
- bistro
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Aux Delices de Hongo, Hongo
On a little street in Paris…no, this is the alley leading from the oddly-placed Hongo station to the street. Aux Delices is a multi-level affair with a semi-casual bistro down and a more formal restaurant up. It would be neat to see what the top floor does, because the price ranges of lunch options overlap […]
- Other treats
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Otokoyama ramen, Hongo (縄麺 男山)
Have you noticed recently that it’s all about Hongo? Probably not since this is only the third post from there, but I’ve already been to 6 places that you’ll see in good course. I just started thinking, if I’m willing to go to Kagurazaka for lunch, what else is in range? Hongo – 6 minutes […]
Tenpou ramen, Kanda (天宝)
There are some weird things in the back alleys of Kanda; not all of them have proper signs. This one does, and in some ways it would be better not to see it. To put it simply, it’s maid barbeque. To put it a little longer, it seems you can pick which skimpy cartoon costume […]
Darumatei ramen, Monzennakacho (だるま亭)
Recognize this place? It’s near the 7-11, on Kiyosumi Dori just north of the crossing. Used to be a different ramen place, and since they reopened with the new brandingway I’ve been thinking it looked kinda good. Also it says stuff about ‘umai sake’ on the outside, and I’m always fooled by that sort of […]
- Kanda
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Amane soba, Kanda (蕎麦 周)
I’m always going on about Kanda like you should know it, but most people don’t have much experience with it. At least most people in my experience. It’s this kind of neighborhood – 6-7 story buildings that are mainly offices for small companies. I like to think that this is the heart of Edo, updated […]
- Other treats
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Shodai Keisuke, Hongo (初代けいすけ)
Keisuke has a bunch of different ramen shops and deserves a lot of credit for being creative. The first one I went to was the ‘lobster noodle’ place, which is like a very light, lobster-flavored ramen (and nothing like the lobster noodles you might get in Southeast Asia). That one’s called “Second Generation Keisuke”, so […]
Firehouse, Hongo
Boooooooy am I happy with this picture. I took one without the biker, but then I saw him coming, and BOOM! Anyway, now you know what Firehouse looks like. I’ve been riding my bike by here for years on my 20km ‘city loop’ and never noticed one of Tokyo’s best-known burger shops. And best. It’s […]
- Kanda
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Musashino Aburasoba, Kanda (武蔵野油学会)
Ahhh, I just love the name here – “Oil Study Meeting” or if you wanted to be extravagant, “Scientific Society for the Study of Oil”. ‘Musashino’ refers to an area of Tokyo that was formerly famous for beef carpaccio. These guys now occupy the space where Nocchi was in western Inner Kanda (it’s actually on […]
- Other treats
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Yojinbo, Todaimae (用心棒 本号)
Hongo Sanchome – a curious neighborhood. On one hand, the well-educated or at least well-traveled among you will recognize this as the famous red gate of Tokyo University (Todai), the ‘Harvard of the East’ (or the ‘Wesleyan of Wa‘ if you prefer), and the neighborhood is roughly jumbled with used book and expensive antique stores. […]