Robbie Swinnerton - The Japan Times

November 04, 2025

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Robbie Swinnerton

Robbie Swinnerton has been living, eating and writing about food in Tokyo for over 30 years. His column, Tokyo Food File, has run in The Japan Times since 1998.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Apr 15, 2016

Bullicio: Valencia wine bar puts a Spanish fire in the city’s heart

Anyone who has visited Spain knows it offers some of the best eating in Europe. But its food has never been embraced in Japan in the same way as French and Italian cuisine. So it's always good to see a new Spanish restaurant arriving in Tokyo — especially when it's as capable as Bullicio.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Apr 15, 2016

Gyoza Bar Comme a Paris: Pan-fried dumplings with a touch of je ne sais quoi

Recently Tokyo has developed a big appetite for gyōza dumplings. These little pan-fried packages of meaty, garlicky goodness are no longer just a lowly dim-sum starter or a ramen shop side-order to help the beer down while you wait for your noodles. They now have a pulling power all their own. They're...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Apr 1, 2016

Kanda Koju delivers upmarket approach to izakaya fare

Heading to Kanda Koju for the first time, it is not hard to walk right past the door without realizing. The unprepossessing facade gives little away to the casual passerby. You'd never guess you're outside one of the best and buzziest izakaya (taverns) in Kanda, an area not short of after-hours drinking...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Apr 1, 2016

Stand up Nihonbashi, you've got a new Fujiya Honten

Fujiya Honten didn't invent the concept of the "stand bar" — the Japanese term for casual eating and drinking (usually wine rather than sake) with no frills or seating — but it's come as close to perfecting it as anywhere in Tokyo. The original in Shibuya remains immensely popular. Now the same idea...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Mar 18, 2016

Craftale: A young, talented chef takes flight among Nakameguro's cherry trees

There's a new generation of chefs emerging in Tokyo. They're young, innovative, up-to-the-minute and self-assured, and they're starting to make waves. Most are still flying under the radar. In the case of Shinya Otsuchihashi and his brilliant new restaurant, Craftale, things are not going to stay that...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Mar 18, 2016

Henry's Burger: 100 percent wagyu, no filler

The gourmet burger market in Tokyo is an increasingly crowded field. With so many new arrivals, from small, passionate independents to slick, well-funded international operations, it's hard for new places to stand out. One that has carved out a tiny but distinct niche is Henry's Burger, which opened...

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS

Mar 12, 2016

Pierre Gagnaire: 'We must accept the destiny that life imposes'

French chef on modern gastronomy, food culture and mashed potatoes.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Mar 4, 2016

Collaborative spirit emerges at Asia's top restaurant awards

Just about everyone loves stars, lists and rankings, when they relate to what and where we eat — and even more so when they're seasoned with a dash of national pride. And nowhere is this more evident than at the announcement ceremony for the annual Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Mar 4, 2016

Sushi Tokami: Rare fish and red rice in a legendary basement

The road to becoming a top sushi chef is notoriously long and winding. Just ask Hiroyuki Sato. His discreet little 10-seater restaurant, Sushi Tokami, is only three years old and Sato already ranks among the best sushi chefs in the city. But he had to take a circuitous route to get there.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Mar 4, 2016

Rokurinsha Haneda Airport: Exit Japan with some superlative noodles inside you

Check in, pass straight through immigration, take a left turn and look for people with their heads bent over noodle bowls. You have arrived at Rokurinsha.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Feb 26, 2016

Tokyo eats the Amazon with Brazil's Alex Atala

It's a long way from the Amazon rain forest to downtown Tokyo, and even further when it comes to food — as diners discovered at two events organized by the Brazilian Embassy earlier this month.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Feb 19, 2016

Ranjatai: Inventive yakitori in the backstreets of Jinbocho

Chicken and charcoal are a classic combination: Morsels of meat carefully skewered and cooked over glowing coals until they're tender, juicy and golden brown. Good yakitori is always a pleasure. At its very best it's worth crossing the city for. And Ranjatai's certainly belongs in that category.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Feb 19, 2016

Pappon Kitchen: Shibuya's tiniest Thai diner wields huge flavors

It's remarkable what a good chef can do with a single burner, a rice cooker and plenty of prep. Take a look at the countless street-food artisans across Asia. Or, much closer to home, just drop into Pappon Kitchen and observe a masterclass in compact cooking.

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Feb 5, 2016

Craft Beer Market Koenji: A refuge for beer lovers with 30 local brews on tap

Sometimes you just want to hunker down somewhere simple. You're not looking for anything cutting-edge or fancy, just a place where the welcome is warm and the food is good, plentiful and satisfying — and ditto the beer. If you're anywhere near the Koenji neighborhood just west of Shinjuku, there is...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Feb 5, 2016

Honke Ponga: Korea's healthy answer to 'yakiniku'

Can anything be more enjoyable than sitting around a shichirin (traditional charcoal burner) and cooking your own dinner — especially in the coldest season? Honke Ponga, a friendly South Korean grill just steps away from Meguro Station, does its best to answer that in the affirmative by adding a light,...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Jan 22, 2016

Otako: A 93-year-old 'oden' joint that still keeps its hot pot simmering

On a bitterly cold winter evening few sights are more welcoming than the cheerful glow of the large red lanterns that hang outside traditional restaurants. They promise noodles, eel or yakitori chicken, or advertize an all-purpose izakaya tavern. But the underlying message is the same: Here you will...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Jan 22, 2016

Bao: Mongolian comfort food at a cheerful little hole-in-the-wall

Comfort food comes in many forms — as many as there are countries and cultures. In the case of Mongolia, it is likely to look a lot like mutton cooked in a steaming hot pot together with boiled potatoes, cabbage, tofu, shiitake mushrooms and black cloud-ear fungus. That is the kind of hearty sustenance...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink

Jan 15, 2016

The joy of eating Japan's traditional clay-pot cuisine

It's the autumn of 2013, and dusk falls over the historic Nagatani-en pottery works in the hills above the city of Iga, Mie Prefecture. As the employees finish their shifts and head home, the squat buildings fall quiet and dark — all except the 200-year-old residence at the heart of this artisan complex,...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Jan 8, 2016

Matsubara-an Keyaki: Handcrafted soba and traditional snacks high above Harajuku

The holidays are over and the year of the monkey is swinging into action. But it's still very much the season for ritual: You can tell from the flow of worshipers heading into the wooded precincts of Meiji Jingu Shrine. In the face of such solemnity, the brash bustle of nearby Harajuku can feel crass...

Japan Times

LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE

Jan 8, 2016

Musashino: Inventive handmade soba with a traditional twist

It is not so unusual to find soba specialists that offer a good selection of other dishes. But Musashino does it the other way around. This small but fully fledged ryōriya (traditional restaurant) offers multicourse kaiseki meals, based around premium wagyu beef shabu-shabu hot pot. But at lunchtime,...

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.

The second life of Japan's net cafes

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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