Look, You was really excited to take me to this place, and I confess there was some attraction in the utterly decrepit surroundings and very happy customers. But I didn’t really get it. My problem is simple: ankake. If you’re an American of a certain age, you may think of Chinese food as ‘gloppy’. As […]
lunch
- Kanda
- ...
Matsuya Soba, Awajicho
When I said to Big Bird, ‘Let’s get soba in Awajicho’, this was the place I meant. It was in Japan Times, after all. It is not the place that Bunny recommended, as well as my colleagues, because that was Yabu, and they were right, because Yabu is better. Where the Japan Times makes it […]
- Kanda
- ...
Yabu Soba, Awajicho
After the trip to Nakano, Big Bird and I planned to get together again. Due to his irregular schedule and extravagant expat lifestyle, it ended up being lunch today. Due to my silly work schedule, it ended up being postponed by an hour. Due to my frustration, and his flexibility, it ended up being held […]
- Otemachi
- ...
Intermezzo, Otemachi
That’s a fancy name for a sandwich cafe. And while I’m at it, sandwich cafe? How many times have I bemoaned the lack of decent sandwiches in Japan? This didn’t fix it, but it’s cheap, pleasant, and open long hours (at least at 3:30 when I went). I had a ‘Simple Egg Sandwich’, which lived […]
- curry
- ...
Ippuku, Tokyo (一ぷく)
Linji is a kind and accommodating soul, and besides I could tell from her demeanor that she was practically bursting with good news and I wouldn’t be able to get many words in…so I just picked this place proactively. I think it’s the last place under the tracks, so today could have marked a historic […]
Kameido Gyoza, Kameido (亀戸餃子)
The Chinese fascination with young boys, particularly those of the de-testiculated sub-genus, has been well-documented by scholars for centuries. Throughout history, eunuchs have been a source of fear as well as a subversive power structure hidden in the shadows of the Dragon Throne. As one would expect for such a mysterious force, they have long inspired […]
- Kanda
- ...
Hanamiya, Kanda (葉菜海家)
This place was identified by a guy in Legal, who told my colleague from Retail, who took me there today, and we ate a lot. It’s a little dark and grubby, but they say it has a line out the door most of the time (coincidentally, it’s right across the street from Bistro Ishikawatei, which […]
- Other treats
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Uogashi Sushi, Tokyo (魚がし鮨)
Uogashi, I confess, sounds terrible to me as a word. Let’s leave it at that. But the concept, ‘riverside fish market’ is appealing. This is the place on Kitchen Street in Tokyo Station that I’ve avoided for months and months and months because I wasn’t in the mood, and then when I was it turned […]
Kobeya, Otemachi
A weird sort of deja vu, all over again. I could swear that I already wrote about my lunch at Kobeya, which was late last year or early this. I really enjoyed it at the time, despite the obvious failings, and I remembered it fondly enough that I went back again. For the better part […]
- curry
- ...
Curry House San Marco, Tokyo
There’s a little ramen street down at the end of the underground shopping passage on the Yaesu side of Tokyo station (First Avenue or something like that). The ramen area has 4 shops that are supposed to be famous, and I’ve been to three of them – the 4th, a tsukemen specialist, always has a long […]