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Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / OSAKA RESTAURANTS
Jan 21, 2014

At Ikkaku, it's fine to ask a chicken its age

Ikkaku is located in a 12-story building with more bars and restaurants than I imagine there are in most towns in West Texas or West Cork. And the building is in Shinsaibashi, which probably has more places to eat and drink than all of Wyoming. This is, after all, Osaka, the city that celebrates over-indulgence...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Dec 23, 2013

Secrets, lies, gaffes, glory: 2013 in quotes

A mix of scandals, achievements, political missteps and commemorations highlighted 2013. Here's a rundown of the quotations that shaped the Year of the Snake.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 5, 2013

Kagurazaka GiroGiro: Kyoto import brings a youthful buzz to kaiseki

The plate is a deep turquoise blue, hand-thrown and uneven. The sliver of fish on top, its skin grilled to a burnished copper, sits on a jade green sauce. The place mat depicts a neon psychedelic geisha. Welcome to the Technicolor world of dining, GiroGiro style.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / SWEET INSPIRATIONS
Oct 31, 2013

Sweet new fad pops up in Omohara

Want to know what's new and hot in the sweets world? Just head to "Omohara," the district where the youth fashion of Harajuku intersects with the high-end consumer culture of Omotesando. You can spot the trends from a block away: Just look for the lines.
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 / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 5, 2013

Bépocah: Just like they cook it in Peru — but in Tokyo

It's not easy for a new restaurant to stand out, or to even gain a foothold, in a city of the scale and sophistication of Tokyo. Bépocah manages that feat with ease — and in two very different ways.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Aug 26, 2013

Kaizen and the art of human wa maintenance

Kaizen here is organic, ubiquitous and attuned to the physical and psychological needs of human beings. At its best, this 'human-scale kaizen' eliminates or eases many of the mundane uncertainties, annoyances and embarrassments of daily life.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Apr 19, 2013

Abrazo a la Oaxaqueña: Mexican moles under wraps in Shimokitazawa

You never know quite what you're going to find in the busy back alleys of Shimokitazawa. It has music bars and shisha pipe dens, old-school yakitori, the latest in craft beer, tofu doughnuts and bohemian barista coffee. So why not artisan tortillas and mole sauces from the far south of Mexico?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Apr 12, 2013

New additions to the Kansai food map

Restaurants open and close all the time in Japan's ever-changing dining landscape. Here's a selection of a few noteworthy new places in Kyoto and Osaka.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 15, 2013

Wana: Pay like a pauper, eat like a lord

"It's still gibier season," proclaims the sign on the street corner outside Wana. And who could argue with that? There's no reason why game meats and wildfowl should only be eaten in winter. If they're readily available, why shouldn't we enjoy them all year round?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 11, 2013

Overseas restaurants set up shop in Japan

Call it the Pancake Revolution.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 19, 2012

Ginza Okuda: Kaiseki master invites you to his second home

Autumn is the golden season. Fruit and hearty root vegetables; mushrooms, nuts and new-season rice; plentiful fish and seafood, too: This abundance is the palette from which Japan's top kaiseki chefs draw in creating their intricate, elegant multicourse meals. Few are as accomplished at the art as Toru...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 18, 2012

Fuglen: Serve yourself at an Oslo import

Just as the daytime staff are trained baristas — and they pull an excellent espresso using their own proprietary roast of beans — the evening crew specialize in mixology.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 4, 2012

Akasaka's Taj serves up light Indian street food

In the early 1980s, you could count the number of Indian restaurants in Tokyo on the fingers of one hand. Top of that list, by dint of its size, prestige and the standard of the cuisine, was The Taj, close to Akasaka-Mitsuke. Sadly it went under, following a fire.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 2, 2012

Iri: Hidden pan-European eatery is one of a kind

Neighborhood restaurants are different from those where the lights are brighter and overheads (and expectations) higher. Almost by definition they're more casual and down-home, rougher around the edges, simpler and less stylish. Iri doesn't fit that pattern at all.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 19, 2012

Bottoms up: Discount takeout sushi less than meets the eye

With bargain sushi you usually get what you pay for.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 21, 2011

Fujiya Honten Grill Bar: cheap and tasty eats on your feet

Now that the holiday feasting is just a fast-fading memory, it's time to tighten the belt and rein in the spending. No more high-end splurges: These days we're staying strictly street level.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Dec 17, 2010

Casa Vinitalia: High-end Italian for the spontaneous gourmet

Snaring a reservation at a top-end Tokyo restaurant is hard enough at the best of times. Now, with the yearend celebrations in full flow, it's nigh on impossible. But even if you haven't booked that special dinner yet, there could still be a glimmer of hope. You can always try your luck at Casa Vinitalia...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 19, 2010

Kankyo Shuten: Crab with wine in Ningbo style

This is the golden season, the time for feasting and thanksgiving. Here in Japan, we celebrate the rice harvest, persimmons and pumpkins, mikan mandarins and matsutake mushrooms. Over in Shanghai, though, the autumn delicacy par excellence is freshwater crab.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 2, 2010

Matsuyoshi: Old-style eel with a neighborhood feel

Throughout Tokyo and the rest of the country, eel restaurants are gearing up for the annual "Unagi Day" feeding frenzy. The exact dates are determined according to the old almanac on the midsummer Day (or Days) of the Ox, which this year falls on July 26. And the longest lines will be outside some of...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Mar 20, 2009

Cucina Amano: With eager eyes on the kitchen

One of the particular pleasures of dining out in Tokyo is sitting at the counter of a small, owner- chef restaurant, gazing into the kitchen and watching your meal — and others', of course — being prepared.
JAPAN
Mar 19, 2009

Tokyo-area restaurants join Africa water drive

One way to spend the government's cash handout this three-day weekend is to dine out — and in the process donate clean water to African children to celebrate World Water Day.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jan 9, 2009

Tokyo's miso soup: quality, variety and style

Traditionally in Japan, miso shiru soup represented the taste of home cooking. Each family would have its own recipes, prepared using local or homemade miso but served up with favorite combinations of ingredients. Vegetables, seafood, mushrooms, tofu, seaweed and even small quantities of meat all find...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 17, 2008

Rakushokushu Maru: Modern kaiseki the Maru way

The simple truth has become a global cliche: It is hard to get a bad meal in Tokyo. Whether you're eating humble noodles or a rarefied kaiseki banquet, it's likely to be more than just satisfactory — there's a good chance it will be prepared with flavor and flair.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 17, 2008

Sleek and soulless, the new Shunju ain't what it used to be

Since the very early days, we have been fans of the Shunju group. After all, these were the restaurants that pioneered the idea of modern washoku Japanese dining back in the late 1980s. So we were interested to check out the latest branch, dubbed Shunju Yurari (literally "gently floating"), that opened...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 6, 2008

Maru 3-kai: Maru steps up one more floor

Location, location, location. It's the cardinal rule, the holy trinity of real estate, the prerequisite for success in many a trade — and almost an essential for any restaurant. So how come one of Tokyo's most happening little diners is in a part of town that few people would ever consider their first...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 6, 2007

Eating your way along the coast

The ocean sparkles; the beach beckons; a breeze stirs the appetite. And the Shonan coast — an hour or so south of Tokyo by train — looks mighty appealing, especially the secluded inlets down the peninsula in genteel Hayama. That's where you'll find the Food File.

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