People have suggested before that maybe I was too into eating, or trying new restaurants. You know who you are. Or they know who they are. Those people are straight up haterz, and haterz gonna hate. F ’em, that’s what I say. It’s all part of the game. So when I had to go down […]
recommended
Merveille, Nihonbashi
What would YOU do if you were returning to America after 7 years in Japan, leaving behind a visa-less fiancee and going off to get a real job? I hope you’d get an excellent bottle of champagne at Takashimaya, go to Merveille, and then take a taxi to Haneda (unless your flight was leaving from […]
- izakaya
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Tokudawara, Kita Senju (徳多和良)
Really, Tabelog readers? Tokyo’s 6th best izakaya is a standing place in Kita Senju? Might as well find out (especially since we went to #2, 3, 4 and 5 in the last few weeks. Some were repeats. I disagree about #1, but it’s mostly an illustration of the broadness of the category.). We rolled up […]
- Ginza
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La Balance, Ginza (ラ・バランス銀座)
Despite their booming popularity in Japan, I still think macarons are a great thing. The king of pastry, if you will. There aren’t a lot of places that make good ones – you often see them wrapped individually in plastic, and that just can’t be a positive sign. Still, I’m always willing to try a […]
- izakaya
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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 […]
- Other treats
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Tetsu ramen, Shinagawa (つけめん 煮干そば TETSU 品川店)
Yeah, it was a pretty long night. After two izakayas, I just couldn’t resist the Shinagawa ramen street on the way back to the station. At least I was able to split a bowl with someone, which in theory helped with the calorie count. In practice, don’t be silly. Tetsu is a really popular place. […]
- izakaya
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Kanemasu, Kachidoki (かねます)
There’s nothing like an expensive and deeply disappointing French lunch to put you in the mood for an expensive and pretty gratifying…standing izakaya?! Yes, this is the place Big Bird and I failed to enter previously because we arrived on a random closure day (“We will humbly take and honorable holiday on this day.”) Fortunately […]
- Ginza
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Sasahana, Ginza (ささ花)
There are a few places in Tokyo that I believe in enough to go back to, and a very few that I feel compelled to post more than once about. Sasahana is one of them. The attraction here is that you get the full-on Ginza kappo treatment for less money than you’d expect. In the […]
- Other treats
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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 […]
- Asakusa
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Ooki, Asakusa (大木洋食店)
I rolled around for hours in the heat, looking at and passing by lunch options one after another. Down a wide but empty street, Ooki stood out. Mostly by the way it retreated into the scenery, humbly nestling behind the tree. It was already 1:30, and there was no sign of life inside except a […]