In Tokyo, self-isolation doesn’t mean you can’t eat well
Self-isolating doesn’t have to mean you can’t eat well. It also doesn’t mean you can’t eat food prepared by your favorite restaurants. In fact, if we want to see those restaurants back in action once the worst is over, it is essential that we ...
Japan's restaurants in crisis call for government support
Lockdown or no lockdown? Voluntary restraint or #juststayhome? Tokyo is teetering on the edge of uncertainty. We’re urged to avoid bars and nightclubs, live houses and pachinko parlors. But where does that leave restaurants? Two words: In crisis.
Caveman: The best opening of the year? So far, at least
Little more than two months into 2020, already we have a strong candidate for the best opening of the year. And, at the same time, a probable shoo-in for most memorable restaurant name. After all, who's going to come up with anything better than ...
B: Basement bar brings brews from NYC to Nihonbashi
B is for beer. B is for buzzy basement bars. B is the name you'll find on the door at Brooklyn Brewery's brand new flagship outlet, tucked away like some insiders' secret juke joint at the bottom of the refurbished K5 building. Variety: Brooklyn Brewery ...
Izakaya Aobadai: Classic soba, new-wave sake and cherry-tree views
It's an excellent sign when the first sight that greets you at a restaurant is a gleaming refrigerator filled with some of the best sake in Japan. When the next thing you see is a room set aside for rolling out and cutting soba ...
Eiki: A remarkable stage for a young yakitori master
All good meals incorporate elements of theater, whether in the table setting, the waiters' movements or the way each dish is unveiled. Dining out in Tokyo often adds an extra dimension: watching the chefs at work on your meal from a kitchen-front seat. At ...
Tsuta: The original Michelin-starred ramen shop returns, better
Yuki Onishi is clearly not a chef who is ready or able to rest on his laurels. His flagship ramen restaurant, Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta, is one of the best-known in the city, drawing legions of fans from near and far. He has won ...
Echoes of Esquisse in the elegant new Elan
Elan is the new restaurant of the young and impressive Ryoma Shida, formerly of the two-Michelin-star restaurant Esquisse. Here, Japanese ingredients meet contemporary French cuisine.
Taishu Sakaba Raincolor: Start the decade with the down-home and delicious
The first meal of the year is always important. When it's the first of the decade, though, it surely takes on even weightier significance. So what's it to be? Fine dining or casual? Traditional or contemporary? Homegrown Japanese, something from overseas or perhaps some ...
Dining out in 2019: The world came to Tokyo, and the city answered
Before we leave 2019 behind, there's just time to look back on the past 12 months of dining out in Tokyo. And to wish all The Japan Times' readers good luck, good health and good eating in the year ahead.
Chaos Kitchen: Yokochō culture reimagined with 2020 vision
Occupying the entire basement level of the sparkling, reborn Parco luxury mall in Shibuya, Chaos Kitchen is not a food court. Nor is it anything like a typical department store dining floor, all straight lines and bland, standardized decor. In fact, it's like nowhere ...
Delifucious: The cult-classic fish burgers are reborn in Chaos Kitchen
Delifucious has resurfaced inside Chaos Kitchen, the casual basement dining floor in the hulking new Shibuya Parco building. And it already feels like it could be a perfect fit. While it lacks the rough-and-ready retro charm of the old digs, the new location brings ...
