lunch

Food & Drink | KYOTO RESTAURANTS Jul 7, 2018

Dai's Deli: A long wait justified by classic sandwiches

by J.J. O'Donoghue

Dai's sandwich deli and cafe has gourmet sandwiches, designed to please both eye and stomach.

Voices | OVERHEARD May 19, 2018

Losing one's lunch

"Do you remember what your mother used to put in your bento for lunch at elementary school?"

Food & Drink Jul 29, 2017

Tokyo's hotel bars a cut above when it comes to lunch

Some bars, it turns out, have split personalities. In the evening they are a place to relax with a drink and chat with friends. But a few transform in the day, taking on new atmospheres and giving entirely different impressions. We speak, of course, of ...

Food & Drink | KYOTO RESTAURANTS Aug 12, 2016

Grill Aoi serves up the most Japanese Western food in its Little Rich Lunch

by J.J. O'Donoghue

The Japanese guriru ("grill" meaning a restaurant, not a cooking tool) is an interesting mix of new, borrowed and adapted ideas. Grill Aoi, a family-owned diner tucked away on a quiet side street between Gojo and Shijo, has no shortage of such ideas. Aoi is ...

Voices | OVERHEARD May 9, 2015

Let's do lunch

I can't talk at the moment; I'm on a train. I can call you in two minutes though. Is it important?

Voices | OVERHEARD Apr 11, 2015

Blowing one's lunch

You know, I think ebi (prawns) have gotten bigger over the past 20 years.

Food & Drink | OSAKA RESTAURANTS Jan 27, 2015

Flavor without the fireworks at Osaka's Ajikitcho

by J.J. O'Donoghue

Rene Redzepi, currently Denmark's second most famous export — behind Lego but ahead of Carlsberg — in an interview with Japan Times food columnist Robbie Swinnerton paid high compliments to the wait staff in Japan calling them "some of the best on Earth." I was ...

Food & Drink | OSAKA RESTAURANTS Dec 24, 2014

Early morning sushi in Osaka that's a cut above the rest

by J.J. O'Donoghue

If someone were to ask me where the best place in Osaka to go for sushi at 5 a.m. is, I would answer — immediately and unequivocally — that it's Endo's. Of course, it might also be the only place open at such an ...

Food & Drink | THE PERSISTENT VEGETARIAN Dec 24, 2014

Le Pain Quotidien serves up a hearty, organic vegetarian lunch

by Ananda Jacobs

I try not to over-associate being vegetarian with being somehow fancy or trendy — organic-diet this or macrobiotic that. While I prefer to think of it as a rather everyday lifestyle, the oshare (hip) association in Japan runs strong. Still, I'm not going to deny ...