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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 21, 2007

Rounding off a great year in food

The winter solstice is hard upon us; the days of wassail, mince pies and figgy pudding close behind. As is our custom, the final Food File column of the year is a tightly stuffed Christmas stocking of musings over 12 months of dining out. But before settling back and sifting through the fragrant lees...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 16, 2007

N_1155: Naka-Meguro goes organic

Who'd have thought it? Vegetables have become hip. Forget those premium cuts of chu-toro tuna and gourmet meals of beer-pampered wagyu beef: The really happening restaurants these days are those that can offer bespoke produce shipped straight from the farm.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 5, 2007

Don Ciccio: Channeling the flavors of Sicily

What distinguishes a trattoria from a full-blown, self-styled ristorante? It's not the decor, the size of the dining room or the proximity of your neighbors' table. Nor is it necessarily the quality of the cooking. We always know we're in trattoria territory when the staff seem to be enjoying themselves...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 21, 2007

Seigetsu: Great balls of cedar promise good sake

It's the constant conundrum we all face when we arrive in a strange city or wander into an unfamiliar neighborhood. Among the profusion of restaurants and bars, how can you tell which ones are any good? One rule of thumb that has stood us in good stead here over the years: keep your eyes peeled for sakabayashi....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 20, 2007

Rak Thai Pheng Roi: Thai 'food stall' keeps it casual

At this time of this year, every day feels like casual Friday. And as the humidity rises and the perspiration drops, simple is the way we like it. That means food that's light and flavorful, preferably with a good spicy kick to it — and strictly no dressing up for dinner.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 1, 2007

Butagumi: In hog heaven with the pig gang

Gourmet tonkatsu. It sounds like a contradiction in terms, as implausible as haute cuisine hot dogs or Michelin-starred jellied eels. Surely those breaded, deep-fried "cutlets" of pork can be nothing but comfort food: fatty, filling and reassuringly easy on the budget.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 6, 2007

Kin-no-saru: In any season, a park-side classic

We had it all planned. We'd spend the afternoon in Kichijoji's Inokashira Park, strolling and sitting under the cherry trees, with maybe a dram or two of sake to inspire lofty thoughts, before adjourning for dinner nearby. But we hadn't counted on the weathermen getting their predictions so wrong.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 16, 2007

Restaurant Khyber: Subtle spices from the tandoor grill

The tandoor oven has come a long way from its humble roots in northern India and what is now Pakistan. Basic but so effective, its design has remained unchanged for thousands of years: a simple terra-cotta cylinder, maybe a meter high and 25 cm across, surrounded by thick insulation to keep the heat...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 2, 2007

Brasserie Paul Bocuse Le Musee: given the museum treatment

The wraps came off the new National Art Center in late January, revealing Kisho Kurokawa's tour de force in all its glory. The sinuous, bulging facade is remarkable enough, but it's the vast atrium inside that undulating skin of celadon-green glass that really stops you in your tracks.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 16, 2007

Fired up for a Chinese celebration

The bunting and decorations are in place. The fatted calf has been slaughtered, the fatted lamb, piglet, chicken and duckling, too. The Chinese New Year is upon us, and close to a third of the world's population is ready to party.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 17, 2006

Sakura Sakura: After dark in the alleys of Kagurazaka

NOTE: Sakura Sakura is no longer in business.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 1, 2006

Bongout Noh: A sutando where standards are high

The boom in tachi-nomi (drinking while standing) bars continues unabated. At the traditional end of the spectrum are the rough-and-ready sake and shochu pubs. At the other extreme are more genteel establishments that prefer to call themselves sutando bars. The principles are the same -- no chairs; pay...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 18, 2006

Roamin' for ramen: five favorites

Ramen. It's one of the few cuisines that the Food File rarely writes about. Why? Because just about everyone in Japan is an expert on the subject. Everyone has their own favorite noodle joints, as often as not in obscure suburban locations and with hourlong queues outside. And most are fiercely vocal...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 4, 2006

South of the border in 'Nakame'

Naka-Meguro's days as a hip, artsy enclave have long been numbered. The area isgentrifying fast, especially down by the river and uptoward Daikanyama. But venture along the slow-moving, old-school shopping street that forms the spiritual axis of 'Nakame' (as the locals like to call it) and you can still...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 21, 2006

Unagi slips into a more refined mode

The dog days of summer will soon be upon us, and panting hard on their heels comes the annual unagi feeding frenzy. Across the length and breadth of the country, vast numbers of slithering eels will be slaughtered, filleted, broiled and basted, all in the name of hallowed tradition.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 7, 2006

Finding Africa in the heart of Japan

We explored the Africa Remix exhibition at the Mori Art Museum the other day and came back buzzing with inspiration, hungry for more of the vibrant cultures and flavors of that great continent. There aren't a lot of options here in Tokyo, but at least there's Calabash.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 30, 2006

Kurkku Kitchen: Great food, naturally

Natural farming, environmental sustainability, conscious lifestyles -- these are the mantras of the dyed-in-the-wool, back-to-the-earth ecological movement. They're also becoming buzzwords at Tokyo restaurants.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 17, 2006

It's time to get healthy

The mirror does not lie, and nor do the bathroom scales. All that rich, stick-to-the-ribs winter food has inevitably stuck to the waistline too, leaving us sluggish and out of balance. So now, with the ume (plum) in bloom and spring nigh, it seems like the right moment to take stock, lighten up the diet and shed a few kilos. Time to get back in balance.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 10, 2006

Shaping 'neo-classic' cuisine

It is a measure of Tokyo's hidden depths that many of its top restaurants remain so little known, at least among the city's expatriate population. That is certainly the case with L'Osier. Founded in 1973, it established its heavyweight reputation under French master chef Jacques Borie, winning a devoted...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 20, 2006

Cicada: That Mediterranean buzz

Readers of this column over the past seven years will be well aware of our abiding love of the food and wine of the western Mediterranean. Anyone who has eaten his or her way around Spain will understand. From the seafood of Galicia and the Basque coast to the sherry, tapas and superb hams of Andalucia,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 2, 2005

Gordon Ramsay at Conrad Tokyo: Haute cuisine with altitude

Aside from some road-laying and cosmetic work, the bristling high-rises of the Shiodome complex are complete. It's a brutal, soulless landscape on an inhuman scale. There's only one thing that can tempt us along those sterile walkways and mazelike underpasses: the promise of fine dining. And no one does...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 18, 2005

Banrekiryukodo: Simple alchemy works wonders

The ikebana alcove in the clattering, bustling train station; the Shinto shrine on the roof of a high-rise office building; a bonsai pine outside a garish love hotel: Tokyo throws up juxtapositions of this unlikely sort at every turn. So it comes as no surprise whatsoever to find contemporary ryori at...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 4, 2005

Shunju Tsugihagi: Perfection in the mix

No restaurants in Tokyo have done more to shape the aesthetic of contemporary Japanese dining than the Shunju group. Over the past 20 years, their trademark synthesis of cutting-edge design -- the work of Shunju's founder and creative genius, Takashi Sugimoto -- with a cosmopolitan take on traditional...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 21, 2005

Les Vinum: Wine and BBQ in wafu style

Wine with Japanese cuisine? We've never been convinced. In theory, all that seafood should find the perfect match with a crisp Chablis, Condrieu or unoaked Chardonnay. But when sip comes to gulp, we'll always prefer a ginjo or yamahai sake to accompany our sashimi, sukiyaki or tempura.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 7, 2005

Kumazawa Brewing Company: Brews worth the trip

Drink locally, eat bountifully: It's a rule of thumb that has served us very well over the years in Japan. Places that specialize in good nihonshu invariably serve food of similar quality. So it would stand to reason that, if a brewer of fine jizake were to open its own restaurant, then the results would...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 2, 2005

Brasserie Bec: Bet you wished you lived nearby

Good food, cooked well and touched with creativity; a comfortable setting, attentive service and honest prices. Whether it's haute cuisine or a ramen shack, those are our criteria for satisfaction. Location counts for nothing: Often the best value for money is to be found well away from the bright lights,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 19, 2005

Shimauta Paradise, Phuket Aroyna Tabeta: Urban oases for summertime dining

Trapped in Tokyo through another steamy summer and, not surprisingly, we are dreaming of south-sea islands. Sun-dappled beaches of pure white sand lapped by the calm, azure ocean; the wind soughing through fields of sugar cane; and a plate of stewed pigs' ears and goat sashimi washed down with high-octane...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 15, 2005

Hatsuogawa: The days of eel are upon us

Tradition is comforting, no matter whose culture it is. We eat plum pudding for Christmas, mochi at New Year and moon cakes to mark the Autumn Festival. We throw beans at setsubun and, on Valentines' Day, we will gladly accept as much chocolate as comes our way.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 13, 2005

A Tokyo hotline to Bangkok

Hyakunincho, Tokyo's most polyglot district, is only a two-minute train ride from the heart of Shinjuku, but it almost feels like leaving the country. In the 1980s, when Southeast Asian food was still a novelty in other parts of town, this was where we came to forage, lured by the exotic perfume of lemongrass,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 15, 2005

Matsuba Chaya: Buddha, soba and the great outdoors

Spring is here, the sap is rising, buds are budding and the Food File's fancy turns to . . . noodles? Out in Chofu, heartland of Tokyo's bed-town suburbia?

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