Ahhh, the limitless options continue. Here in week 3 of our new Otemachi Adventure, my friends, there’s not even a hint of revisiting the same places. Several readers have now accused us here at EOITwJ of excessive completism, but we continue to view it as our public service, nay, sacred mission, to provide information on […]
upper-mid-price
Tsushima, Monzennakacho (つしま)
Wow, everything that’s great about Japanese dining, under one roof! I was positively euphoric after this dinner – so fresh, so delicious, seasonal, well-cooked, nicely presented, reasonably-priced…it’s a mystery to me why this Tsushima isn’t profiled in the usual places or rated more highly. It’s also a mystery why I didn’t visit for the first […]
Tsukudaya, Monzennakacho (寿司割烹佃屋)
OK, so it was probably a mistake to go out for a little dinner, alone, two days after the new year. But it was Friday night, I didn’t feel like sitting around home any more, and plenty of places were open. Despite the length of time I’ve lived in Monnaka, there are still plenty of […]
The Orchid, Otemachi (Oazo)
Day 2. There are a decent number of big buildings around. It’s a little too far to walk to Maru and Shin Maru, but there’s that Sankei building where we went yesterday, this First Square place, and Oazo, among others. This may have been my first time in Oazo – it was trying to do […]
- Asakusa
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Namiki Yabu Soba, Asakusa (並木藪そば)
I confess to some confusion as to how we ended up at this place, but it was sure a traditional way to begin the New year evening. When someone says Monnaka is ‘downtown’, I always say “It’s half downtown, and half suburban. If you want to see downtown, go to Asakusa.” Well, we went downtown […]
- Other treats
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Santa, Shinjuku (三太)
Today’s a cooking day (though with a little less chicken and a little more attention to food safety, thank you very much), but I was reminded of something and thought I’d fire off a quick and gratuitous post. Last time my parents came to Japan (Hi Mom! Hi Dad!), we were nearly stuck in Nikko […]
Pierre Herme, Shinjuku (Isetan)
Good question, isn’t it? Could things really taste better at the Paris headquarters of the various places whose macarons I regularly consume? This is the subject of obsessive debate in some quarters, but not here. We just eat. I suppose Pierre Herme is famous for all sorts of things. Evidently chief among them is the […]
- Indian
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Nataraj, Aoyama
I’m afraid it’s Rude About Food time again. Vegetarian Indian in an Aoyama basement. I have no problem with vegetarian food – I often order dhal even if other things are available. What I DO have a problem with is bland vegetarian food made with mediocre ingredients. It should be a good indication of flavors […]
- Other treats
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Kyouzen, Roppongi (京善)
Kind of an interesting place, this. There aren’t a lot of lunch places where you can feel like you’ve stepped out of Roppongi and into an altogether more civilized and Japanese environment (Umaya comes to mind, R.I.P.). I suppose for foreigners this means Kyoto style, or at least ‘traditional’ and ‘Japanese’ and ‘the kind of […]
- Other treats
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Matagi, Nishi Azabu
I feel like this review should be written in grunts, sort of like the noises that would be made by a wild boar as he snuffles through the undergrowth just before being blown away by a shotgun wielded by one of Matagi’s ‘sourcers’. While new to me, coming through the pages of a back-issue of […]