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April 02, 2025
 

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Robbie Swinnerton
Robbie Swinnerton has been living, eating and writing about food in Tokyo for over 30 years. His column, Tokyo Food File, has run in The Japan Times since 1998.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 6, 2020
Fakalo Pizza Gallery: New digs, same heartfelt pizzas
Fakalo Pizza Gallery remains a labor-of-love operation with a half-dozen varieties each of red (tomato) and white (cheese) on the menu.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 16, 2020
Ode gets playful with three new takeout brands
Craving classic bistro fare, loaded sandwiches or good patisserie? You're in luck: Yusuke Namai's new menu covers all those bases (and more).
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 16, 2020
Specialty ramen straight from the masters
Ramen shops aren't well suited to COVID times. Fortunately, some top Tokyo ramen specialists have delivery solutions that spare us from cup noodles.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 2, 2020
Japan’s top artisan bakeries are delivering from dough to door
Japan is blessed with a growing number of artisan bakeries around the city that can fill that pain de campagne-sized hole in our diets.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 18, 2020
Locale and Eatrip offer takeout and veggie boxes to support their suppliers
COVID-19 implications are reverberating up and down the food chain, and those with strong links to the restaurants they supply are definitely feeling the effects. Several Tokyo chefs are taking steps to protect their valued farmers, fishermen and other food producers.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 18, 2020
In the face of COVID-19, Narisawa gets busy
Restaurant Narisawa is still operating a full lunch and dinner service, albeit with generous table spacing and curtailed evening hours. But he has also formulated various menu iterations for takeout and home delivery ranging from u00a515,000 to a hefty u00a535,000 a head.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 4, 2020
In Tokyo, self-isolation doesn’t mean you can’t eat well
Self-isolating doesn't have to mean you can't eat well. It also doesn't mean you can't eat food prepared by your favorite restaurants. In fact, if we want to see those restaurants back in action once the worst is over, it is essential that we keep up our patronage, to carry them through this crunch time.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 3, 2020
Japan's restaurants in crisis call for government support
Lockdown or no lockdown? Voluntary restraint or #juststayhome? Tokyo is teetering on the edge of uncertainty. We're urged to avoid bars and nightclubs, live houses and pachinko parlors. But where does that leave restaurants? Two words: In crisis.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 27, 2020
Asia's 50 Best Restaurants is a somber countdown for an industry and continent in crisis
In the latest edition of the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants rankings, Singapore's Odette has retained its No.1 position for a second straight year, ahead of The Chairman in Hong Kong and Tokyo's Den. But the announcement on Tuesday was overshadowed by the escalating coronavirus pandemic that has swept the continent.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 14, 2020
Caveman: The best opening of the year? So far, at least
Little more than two months into 2020, already we have a strong candidate for the best opening of the year. And, at the same time, a probable shoo-in for most memorable restaurant name. After all, who's going to come up with anything better than Caveman — least of all in the casual-fine-dining category?...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 14, 2020
B: Basement bar brings brews from NYC to Nihonbashi
B is for beer. B is for buzzy basement bars. B is the name you'll find on the door at Brooklyn Brewery's brand new flagship outlet, tucked away like some insiders' secret juke joint at the bottom of the refurbished K5 building.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 29, 2020
Izakaya Aobadai: Classic soba, new-wave sake and cherry-tree views
It's an excellent sign when the first sight that greets you at a restaurant is a gleaming refrigerator filled with some of the best sake in Japan. When the next thing you see is a room set aside for rolling out and cutting soba noodles, it's even better. To find both of these as you enter LDH Kitchen...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 15, 2020
Eiki: A remarkable stage for a young yakitori master
All good meals incorporate elements of theater, whether in the table setting, the waiters' movements or the way each dish is unveiled. Dining out in Tokyo often adds an extra dimension: watching the chefs at work on your meal from a kitchen-front seat. At Eiki, the dramatic tension builds before you...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 1, 2020
Tsuta: The original Michelin-starred ramen shop returns, better
Yuki Onishi is clearly not a chef who is ready or able to rest on his laurels. His flagship ramen restaurant, Japanese Soba Noodles Tsuta, is one of the best-known in the city, drawing legions of fans from near and far. He has won accolades, grabbed global media attention and opened several overseas...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 25, 2020
Top 5: The best gyoza restaurants in Tokyo
In the past, gyu014dza dumplings were a simple side dish — now, they're the star of the plate. Here are five of The Japan Times' favorite gyu014dza spots, some old-school, some new and innovative.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 18, 2020
Echoes of Esquisse in the elegant new Elan
Elan is the new restaurant of the young and impressive Ryoma Shida, formerly of the two-Michelin-star restaurant Esquisse. Here, Japanese ingredients meet contemporary French cuisine.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 4, 2020
Taishu Sakaba Raincolor: Start the decade with the down-home and delicious
The first meal of the year is always important. When it's the first of the decade, though, it surely takes on even weightier significance. So what's it to be? Fine dining or casual? Traditional or contemporary? Homegrown Japanese, something from overseas or perhaps some nifty fusion? Wait, don't overthink...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 1, 2020
Dining out in 2019: The world came to Tokyo, and the city answered
Before we leave 2019 behind, there's just time to look back on the past 12 months of dining out in Tokyo. And to wish all The Japan Times' readers good luck, good health and good eating in the year ahead.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 14, 2019
Chaos Kitchen: Yokochō culture reimagined with 2020 vision
Occupying the entire basement level of the sparkling, reborn Parco luxury mall in Shibuya, Chaos Kitchen is not a food court. Nor is it anything like a typical department store dining floor, all straight lines and bland, standardized decor. In fact, it's like nowhere else in the city.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 14, 2019
Delifucious: The cult-classic fish burgers are reborn in Chaos Kitchen
Delifucious has resurfaced inside Chaos Kitchen, the casual basement dining floor in the hulking new Shibuya Parco building. And it already feels like it could be a perfect fit. While it lacks the rough-and-ready retro charm of the old digs, the new location brings with it both cachet and a much larger footfall.
As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
Japan, South Korea and China vow to strengthen trade ties amid looming U.S. tariffs
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoji Muto (left), South Korean Trade Industry and Energy Minister Ahn Duk-geun (center) and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao during a trilateral meeting in Seoul on Sunday
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
Nankai Trough earthquake could kill 298,000 people, government says
Residents participate in an evacuation drill held with West Japan Railway in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, in January 2024 to prepare for a Nankai Trough earthquake and a possible tsunami following the quake.
Osaka Expo's Japan Pavilion completed
A ceremony is held to mark the completion of the Japan Pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka on Saturday.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.
On defense, Japan may avoid Trump's worst impulses — for now
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth chat after reviewing an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Sunday.
No longer a 'bridesmaid': Yuki Tsunoda prepares for the Red Bull pressure cooker
All eyes will be on Yuki Tsunoda as he makes his Red Bull debut at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.
Tokyo tech failures lean into misfortune, mistakes and missteps
Tsuyoshi Domoto in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on March 28. As an entrepreneur, Domoto experienced plenty of setbacks but maintains a positive attitude and continues to pursue his dreams.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
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