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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Jun 24, 2014

Yokohama 'museum' marks 20 years curating ramen royalty

Now that ramen has taken its place alongside sushi as the world's favorite Japanese food, it's easy to forget what the noodle landscape was like just a couple of decades ago. Back in the 1990s, foreigners knew ramen — if they knew it at all — as cheap fuel for all-night study sessions or as a belly-filler...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / THE PERSISTENT VEGETARIAN
Jun 24, 2014

Deep-fried veggies are happiness on a stick

Summer evenings are here, and so are the slow hours spent cooling off with a cold beer and crisp fried vegetables at a kushiage restaurant.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jun 24, 2014

Baan Suki: Relishing the spice of Thai cuisine

One of the most memorable, cheapest and spiciest dishes I've ever had was also the first bite I ate in Thailand. It was a few years back, on an island south of Bangkok. We had just arrived at our hotel and bolted to the beach. A cook had a cart set up (it was more or less a wok) on the sand and the aroma...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jun 5, 2014

Celebrating kaiseki cuisine; world foods for the World Cup; original cocktails mark 20 years

Celebrating kaiseki cuisine The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo in Roppongi will hold a special kaiseki dinner titled "Sake Journey," at the Hinokizaka Japanese restaurant on the hotel's 45th floor, on June 27.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Jun 3, 2014

Tokyoites needn't be sheepish about New Zealand cuisine

New Zealand is famous for its lamb, pasture-fed on the country's rolling green hills. Lamb being hard to come by in Japan, a New Zealand restaurant is a good bet if you're craving lamb chops. There are two big ones in Tokyo: Wakanui (B1F, 2-23-14 Higashi-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo; 03-3568-3466; www.wakanui.jp)...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
May 27, 2014

Que Rico: Bless this tasty Mexican mess

In the spirit of creating fashionable statements that promptly wither out of mode ("Orange is the new black," "Spring is the new summer"), here's one for the list: In Osaka, "Tenma is the new Fukushima." The two areas have much in common: Both fan out in warrens and lanes beneath the city's elevated...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
May 20, 2014

Why not add a little booze?

Mirin is a staple of Japanese kitchens, yet few people know what it actually is.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 20, 2014

Nihonbashi Dashi Bar Hanare: Take stock of the best broth

Next January, the eyes of the gastronomic world will be fixed on Nihonbashi as Denmark's Noma restaurant, recently voted top again in the World 50 Best list, opens for an extended pop-up inside the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. No need to wait that long to discover this rapidly reviving neighborhood, though:...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / NATURE'S PANTRY
Apr 29, 2014

A natural miso and soy factory that is always full of beans

Although rice is certainly the king of Japanese food, soybeans are the queen. Small makers of miso, soy sauce and tofu dot the landscape of Japan, but blink once and you will notice that the local shops are closing up as supermarket culture takes over daily life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Apr 22, 2014

Japan's freshest ready meals can be found in the basement

If there's one thing all Japanese guidebooks, concierges and expats can agree on, it's that tourists from overseas should make an effort, at some point during their stay, to visit the basement food floors of a major department store.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Apr 8, 2014

Inakatei: Local Kyoto cuisine heavy on the fish and veg

When faced with a six-page menu allied with a supplementary page loaded with specials and all in a language that makes less sense to you than abstract art, what do you do? Get up and leave is one answer, as proven by the nearby holidaying couple, American I assumed by accent and attire, who left shortly...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / A TASTE OF HOME
Apr 1, 2014

Pining for the communal flavor of Israeli cuisine

I thought I missed hummus. By which I mean: I missed being able to pick up a tub at the supermarket. But to hear an Israeli acquaintance talk of it is to learn that there is so much more to miss.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 6, 2014

Japan's top chefs grapple with sustainable eating

After the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants awards ceremony in Singapore last month, chef Yoshihiro Narisawa was in high spirits, despite the late hour and the tropical February heat. His Tokyo restaurant, the eponymous Narisawa in the Aoyama district, had been named Best Restaurant in Japan for the second...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / EVERYMAN EATS
Feb 25, 2014

Prize-winning local dishes are the real taste of Japan

With memories of the Winter Olympics still fresh and with the Academy Awards just around the corner, Japanese food lovers are saluting some medalists of their own — prize-winning dishes from cooking competitions, public opinion polls and government surveys around the country. Here's a guide to some...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KYOTO RESTAURANTS
Feb 11, 2014

Okudohan: Fresh ingredients would be on the menu if there was one

In the hierarchy of Kyo ryōri, or Kyoto cuisine, obansai is at the bottom. Essentially it is home cooking that has wound its way from the homestead to the restaurant. At Okudohan it remains uncomplicated and comforting — as it should be.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 11, 2014

Tourists offered a rare glimpse of the Japanese dining table

For visitors to Japan, a ride on the subway or the high-speed shinkansen can take you to almost any corner of the country. But those who want to learn about the daily lives of the Japanese rather than look at temples may find it difficult to gain access to the sanctuary of a Japanese home.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 14, 2014

Maishin: Safe haven in Shibuya for sake-loving adults

Shibuya is not a neighborhood where you head for haute cuisine. But all that window-shopping, people-watching, hanging out and having fun can be hungry work. So it's good to have a few places up your sleeve that offer sustenance and respite from the crowds and noise.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 7, 2014

Winter is the tastiest time to visit Tsukiji fish market

January is a delicious time for local seafood, as fish naturally fatten up to survive in icy waters. A visit to Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo's Chuo Ward will give you a first-hand view of winter seasonal seafood, as well as a chance to savor it in the area's restaurants. Here's a guide on what to look...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 31, 2013

Cork: Meals start from the wine list at this L'As spinoff

As we gallop into 2014, how better to start this Year of the Horse than with a toast? Sake may be traditional on this auspicious day, but wine is just fine — as long as the setting is as bright and shiny as this brave new year, and if there's great food to match. Cork fits the bill perfectly.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Dec 26, 2013

Start a tasty new kitchen tradition this New Year's

We're entering the most traditional time of year in Japan in food terms, starting on New Year's Eve and through the New Year's holiday period, when families gather to dine on osechi delicacies and bowls of symbolic soba noodles. That doesn't mean that there's no room for other kinds of foods, though....
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 5, 2013

Don't choke on your traditional Japanese New Year's meal

Suffocating on osechi, Japan's selection of traditional New Year's dishes, really does happen. Which is why Osaka-based food manufacturer Fukunao Medical Foods Co. is holding an event on Dec. 7 where osechi cuisine specially prepared for people with chewing problems and dysphagia will be available for...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / FOOD MATTERS
Nov 28, 2013

Quality rises above the menu scandals

Since the first Tokyo Michelin guide was published in autumn of 2007, the unveiling of each new edition has become one of the major events of the gastronomic calendar. Despite the initial indignation that a foreign tire company could dare to judge Japanese restaurants, the local media have embraced the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 31, 2013

Smokehouse: Harajuku lures foodies to the smoked BBQ pit

Low and slow: The much-loved mantra of American barbecue culture is more than just a slogan. It's an attitude, a badge of pride in a way of cooking and eating that's still little known to people here in Japan. If Smokehouse has anything to do with it, that situation looks set to change in a big way....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 17, 2013

Shokkan Solamachi-ten: Meals with a view in the Skytree complex

Timing is everything at Tokyo Skytree. In daylight the urban sprawl below just looks banal; at night, the city lights gleam with romance, but you can't see to the far horizons. Get there for sunset, though, and if conditions are right, the view can be little short of magical.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 3, 2013

Anis: Chef brings kitchen flair from Lyon to Hatsudai

Hatsudai has a lot going for it. This quiet low-rise residential neighborhood just minutes west of Shinjuku boasts a friendly traditional shōtengai (shopping street) and a lively annual Awa Odori dance festival. Now add to that a really outstanding restaurant.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / SWEET INSPIRATIONS
Oct 3, 2013

A modern twist to traditional snacks

Nowhere is the intersection of Japanese food culture and style more obvious than in the genteel, refined world of wagashi. For centuries, Japanese confectioners, especially those associated with Kyoto and the rituals of the tea ceremony, have produced sweets of astounding intricacy and beauty.
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Aug 22, 2013

Translating Japan's top cooking site

The Internet isn't all kitten videos and saucy stuff, you know. In Japan, food and cooking makes up a large part of the Net — and recipe-sharing site Cookpad is its biggest juggernaut. With 20 million users — including an astonishing 80 to 90 percent of all Japanese women in their 20s and 30s —...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 8, 2013

Eat yourself broke at Grand Front Osaka

You've gotta love a city whose primary motivation is to accumulate wealth then promptly squander it through the time-honored pursuit of kuidaore (eating oneself to bankruptcy). Now, with the opening of the massive Grand Front Osaka commercial, residential and entertainment complex on the north side of...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 21, 2013

Gallus: Torishiki spinoff is a chick of the same feather

It's always exciting when a favorite restaurant sprouts an offshoot, especially if that restaurant is among the best of its kind in the city. And even more so when it's such a hot table that reservations are nigh-on impossible.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / HOTELS & RESTAURANTS
Jun 21, 2013

Beer garden in Shiba Park; Turkish cuisine at Hilton Nagoya; photo exhibit at ANA Tokyo

Prince hotel beer garden in Shiba Park

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