It seems to me like Da Nugget has been open for years. It hasn’t though – it’s going on two. It’s probably something about the classicist bistro decor that makes it hard to determine how long it’s been there. There are several floors though, so the bright, somewhat hard aspect of the ground floor may […]
upper-mid-price
- French
- ...
Murase, Ginza (村瀬)
Ginza is an entertaining area. Really, it’s kind of known for being entertaining. I like to think that it’s more adult in style though, or even middle-aged. The two main things are brand shops and hostess clubs, so there are plenty of things for affluent 50-year old Japanese couples to do. Just not together. I’ve […]
- French
- ...
Bistro Marsanne, Kanda
Hey hey, drop what you’re doing and go to this place for lunch! I was really impressed. It seems to be worth a ‘top 10’ mention for area lunch options, although it would be worth another visit to confirm. Maybe next year… Lunch today was with Ding, who hasn’t slept all week (full time job […]
- Chinese
- ...
Rontan, Awajicho (弄堂）
Does this name really mean ‘play room’? I was shut out of the famous tonkatsu place I tried to go to (any hole-in-the-wall place that still has a line at 1:45 must be pretty good), found another closed-for-the-day place that looked nice, and ended up throwing in the towel at this gyoza specialist. Which doesn’t serve […]
Vin Rouge Vin Blanc, Marunouchi
Based on the plastic-impregnated green paper tablecloths and the yoshoku-ish menu, I expected this to be another box ticked on Shin Maru’s 5th floor (and that decor is a bit declasse for the location, although the prices aren’t). It was a bit better than that, with some nice simulacra of foreign foods falling comfortably under […]
Barcelona, Pitman
As you may know, Pitman has never been much of a culinary destination. In fact I don’t think it’s ever been much of a destination at all, for anything. Nor would I say it’s the kind of place where people base themselves for convenient access to other towns (or Philadelphia). I’d characterize it more as […]
- French
- ...
The Modern, New York
Stood up for dinner and drinks (I now know/have known three people in advertising, and I have to say they’re all unreliable about this stuff), I fell back on a place I had been thinking of trying the night before. The Modern is the restaurant and cafe of the Museum of Modern Art, and there […]
- coffee
- ...
Hakujuji, Niigata
True, I normally make it a rule not to go to places like this – but if you look closely you’ll see that Hakujuji was established in 1946 and is a Coffee Shop for the Exclusive Man. This being the morning of my birthday, old things for exclusive men seemed to be in order. Plus […]
Ohashi, Nihonbashi (小割烹おはし,COREDO)
Today marks the 10th month of no-repeat lunching (as well as the first day of the rest of your life!). Seriously, I don’t feel any shortage of places to go, and could easily finish out the year. Remains to be seen, I guess. Including some non-repeat dinners, the blog and map now must feature close […]
Maisen, Tokyo (まい泉、大丸東京駅)
As a memorialist, I have little value. By this, I mean that I can’t remember things worth a damn. It used to be that I was the kind of person who could go from one room to another, then realize an hour later that I’d forgotten the thing I went for. Now, in our hyper-digitalized […]