Ponta Honke, a Yoshoku Restaurant in Ueno
I went to Ponta Honke, one of Ueno’s big three tonkatsu restaurants, which proudly charges over 3,000 yen for what is, after all, just tonkatsu. Unlike the other famous places, this one is well known for…
I went to Ponta Honke, one of Ueno’s big three tonkatsu restaurants, which proudly charges over 3,000 yen for what is, after all, just tonkatsu. Unlike the other famous places, this one is well known for…
Saturday morning means a visit to Tsukiji Market. Tsukiji on a weekend is packed with tourists, but I didn’t pick another day, and I didn’t go early either. As long as you dodge the tourists, you c…
AFURI is another ramen shop that’s easy to drop into. It’s open until 4 a.m., and it’s close to Ebisu Station, too. Before heading to bed – with the last train cutting it close – …
At last, the mains arrive. Roast pork shoulder It’s pork, but it isn’t cooked well-done ^_^ The portion is generous and the flavor is bold. On top of that, every single piece of the garnish tastes…
Neighborhoods like Asakusa, with centuries of history behind them, are full of hidden gems that the guidebooks barely know about. Most of them are old-school, untrendy Japanese places serving soba, sushi or yo…
This is Tsurutontan, the udon shop in Shinjuku that I’ve posted about before. The food is good, it’s open late into the night, and being in Shinjuku it’s easy to get to. Naturally, the more c…
I took my camera along, only to find out the memory card wasn’t in it. Some days are just like that… sob… Feeling that hollow emptiness of losing a whole day’s worth of photos, I’…
I heard there was a Vermeer exhibition in Ueno, so I went. I’d been laid up with a high fever for a few days and was in terrible shape, the sky was overcast like it might rain any minute, and on top of t…
I meant to update at least once a week, but it just isn’t working out that way. That’s the downside of freelancing: when work gets busy or doesn’t go as planned, you can’t take a break….
Nezu is a neighborhood behind Ueno Park. I’d heard there was a great udon place there, so I went on a Monday, only to find that every single shop in the area closes on Mondays. Just like how all the shop…
I suspect not many people know there’s a huge garden in Shinjuku. About a 15-minute walk from the South Exit of Shinjuku Station, there’s a place called Shinjuku Gyoen. It used to be an imperial ga…
I’ve barely been able to go out to good restaurants lately, and it’s a bit of a letdown even to me. Work is so busy that I just don’t have time to head out anywhere far for a meal. The only t…