“Daaaaaddy, ramen again?” said no kid ever. Especially not Catfish. All the times I’ve been in Arakicho, I never knew that the Tokyo Fire Museum and Toy Museum are both there. I have undoubtedly stood in front of the fire museum (I first met Common right across the street). Now I have been there. And I […]
mid-price
Il Fait Jour, Shimoasao (イルフェジュール 本店)
You know I strive to bring you only the finest culinary experiences in the greater Hakusan area of Asao-ku. This is yet another of them. What the hell is this place doing here? It’s 15+ minutes to the nearest station by bus. I only found it while random-walking with a sleepy Catfish, who was passed […]
Rakeru, Shinyurigaoka (ラケル 新百合丘ＯＰＡ店)
Opa! I always feel festive and a little Greek when shopping at the Opa complex in downtown Shinyuri. Not as festive and Greek as I feel watching that Eurovision video, but a little. We were out and about shopping, someone went home with Mrs. Peel, and Catfish and I were left to our own devices […]
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Soregashi, Gotanda (酒場 それがし)
Soregashi is known to many…or at least to my circle of hardened fellow travelers and explorers. It showed up on my list of potential things to do in greater Meguro, and then when I realized it was on Woodrow’s list from a few years ago, the deal was closed. I met up with You, who […]
- izakaya
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Fuon, Meguro (風音)
I got all excited when I learned I was going to be working in Meguro for two weeks. I say ‘learned’ like I didn’t bust my hump to arrange it… but as soon as it was finalized, the ol’ obsessive habits kicked in and I was busily cataloguing every izakaya, ramen, and romantic European restaurant […]
- Other treats
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Deguchiya, Nakameguro (出口屋)
I walked by this place 4 times total (because it took me two days to hit the Yakumoz due to the fact that they’re CLOSED ON TUESDAYS) and every time thought it looked pretty sweet. They’ve been in business something like 80 years and have an attached bar (Bar Exit, geddit?). They must be doing […]
- Other treats
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Yakumo ramen, Ikejiri (支那そば 八雲)
Yaaaaaaa-kumooooooo Yaaaaaaa-kumooooooo! OK, that’s out of the way. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find a video of a sweet potato truck playing the traditional song, without a white guy on the front babbling for 2 minutes about he’s exposing the soul of Japan. Even that video kinda sucks, so you knead to […]
- izakaya
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Ametsuchi, Gakugei Daigaku (あめつち)
Sometimes the whole universe is contained in a single sesame seed. This isn’t one of those times. But it’s cool. It’s all good, baby. You’d think that the name of this place was about the rain and the soil, and the produce that they produce, but if you looked a little more you might start […]
- Other treats
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Ishin Ramen, Meguro (麺や 維新)
Hmmm, how did we feel about this? An absurdly high score on ramendb and a Michelin Guide ‘Bib Gourmand’ mention probably had hopes a little high. I can’t quite point to why I was dissatisfied with it. I guess if you wanted to sum it up in a phrase, it was all that but without […]
Gonpachi, Azamino (権八)
OMG, we found the most incredible place! It’s aMAZEballz! Did you know they filmed Kill Bill here? But I jest. They didn’t really film Kill Bill at the Roppongi location, and when you factor in the complete lack of driving rain inside this place and the 8-person private room they allocated to our family of […]