Lunch at Pierre Gagnaire
Last month I made the time to go to Pierre Gagnaire, said to be the best French restaurant in the country. I’d wanted to go for ages, but its opening hours never gave me a chance, until I heard a rumour …
Last month I made the time to go to Pierre Gagnaire, said to be the best French restaurant in the country. I’d wanted to go for ages, but its opening hours never gave me a chance, until I heard a rumour …
I’ve been to 2chef so many times by now that it’s starting to feel a bit same-old, but for a casual wine get-together there’s still no better choice, so I end up dropping by every time I̵…
I could only get one day off, so I had to be at work in the morning and got up early. After last night’s feast there was a hearty breakfast waiting too, so I couldn’t just rush off because I was bu…
Finally, the dinner I’d been waiting for. Good food is really the single most important thing that draws people to an onsen ryokan. If all you want is a hot spring, there are plenty near the city. The d…
For a friend who came all the way to visit, I booked a room at Kasuien Minami, the most popular onsen ryokan around here. With the wagyu course it came to a little over 20,000 yen per person, which is actually…
Going down for the hotel’s set breakfast is always a hassle. It’s nothing special taste-wise, and I want to sleep in anyway. So the day before, I’d picked up some futomaki to go from Naniwa S…
It felt a shame to just head home after the yakiniku, so I stopped at an izakaya near the hotel for one more drink. A glass of draft beer! I couldn’t drink at the yakiniku because I was driving, so I h…
A friend came to visit me where I live, and since it’s such a rural backwater, wagyu is about the only thing I have to treat people with. So after a bit of sightseeing at Izumo Taisha, I took them to Yak…
I’m a homebody by nature who hates being in the spotlight, and I work in a field where value for money is everything, so I’ve lived most of my life without much interest in designer brands. But at …
I’d read on some blog that a French butter specialty shop called Echire had recently opened in Marunouchi, and I made up my mind to go. Their croissants, made with loads of butter, are so popular that yo…
My trips always have a clear purpose, and the main purpose of this Tokyo trip was shopping. On past Tokyo trips I was so busy meeting people that I never had much time to shop properly. This time it was a thre…
I used last week’s three-day weekend to pop over to Tokyo. The very first place I headed after arriving was Taimeiken, a famous yoshoku (Japanese-style Western food) restaurant that anyone in the know ha…