This post was written in 2006. Shop details and prices may have changed since then.
Today I headed into Tokyo to buy a bunch of things my friends had asked me to pick up, since the exchange rate is good right now.
The problem is that my own salary has effectively been cut… Oh well… I guess I just have to blame my bad luck.
I had so much to buy that there was no way I could carry a camera around. I’m planning to get a phone with a decent camera
soon. Until then I’ll just have to put up with it…
First I went to Ginza and had lunch at Taimeian, a famous soba shop. In a Tokyo winter, when clear, dry, mild days
go on for days on end, a piping hot bowl of soba suits the weather better than udon. (It’s a bit of a shame they don’t give you a spoon, though.)
Honestly, Kanda Yabu Soba is about 30% tastier, but I was still perfectly happy. I really should have had the curry rice bowl,
the house specialty, but today I settled for the hot soba and left. When will I ever reach the level of eating two meals in one sitting…
After lunch I wandered around aimlessly and stumbled on Ginza Big. It’s a liquor store tucked away in a corner of Ginza, and unlike most of Ginza,
the prices are reasonable. I bought Moët & Chandon Rosé for 5,000 yen and Bowmore 17-year-old single malt whisky for 4,800 yen. For reference,
Takashimaya sells the Moët & Chandon for 6,000 yen and the Bowmore 17 for 8,000 yen.
About two blocks from Ginza Big there’s the wine shop Enoteca. After Enoteca put a wine bar in at the front entrance,
I assumed the shop had closed and hadn’t been for a while, but I finally went in for the first time in ages. -_-;; As expected, a superb wine list.
Among the bottles on display, the Montes Alpha Chardonnay is a wine I highly recommend… but since I only drink red these days, I left without buying anything.
I popped over to Akihabara to buy a few things, then came back to Ginza and looked up Ginza Swiss, the place that
originated the katsu curry rice bowl. If you expect too much you might be disappointed. The curry was just so-so, the tonkatsu was just so-so,
and it was hard to call it truly excellent. I’m not saying it was bad… but it was also hard to say it had much character.
I’d actually meant to go to a place called Restaurant Hayakawa, but it was closed, which was a letdown. Next time I’m definitely going…
With the exchange rate in the gutter, I walked around all day and only bought a single CD. -_-;; Why are there so many things in this world that make you want to slump over…
I need to hurry up and make a trip to Korea to recharge…