Tag - tokyo-food-file

 
 

TOKYO FOOD FILE

Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 18, 2016
Rituel: A pilgrimage site for patisserie devotees
Almost exactly one year ago, fans of French pastry were celebrating the opening of Rituel, the Tokyo headquarters of French artisan baker Christophe Vasseur. Just like his main shop in Paris, Du Pain et Des Idees, this store near Omotesando Station has become a place of pilgrimage for those in search...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 4, 2016
Gem by Moto: Simple, stylish and seasonal — with sake to match
Whenever you find a place that serves good sake, there is a high chance it has quality food, too. No matter if it's an upscale Japanese restaurant, a down-home izakaya tavern or an obscure bar for sake geeks, this rule of thumb rarely fails. It certainly applies at Gem by Moto.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Nov 4, 2016
Bills Ginza: Laidback Australian dining in the heart of the city
Ginza. It's where you go for classy cake shops, high-end sushi and some of Japan's priciest cuisine. But surely not for vegan cauliflower fritters and spelt risotto, or porcini-rubbed steaks and truffled arancini (rice balls)? Absolutely, thanks to the newest branch of the laid-back — and still lower-case...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 14, 2016
Bistro Marx: Casual, classic cuisine high above the streets of Ginza
There are several good reasons why Bistro Marx is one of Tokyo's hottest new openings of the year: The excellent cooking and high quality ingredients; the spacious dining room and comforting absence of table cloths; plus the fact it's under the imprimatur of one of France's finest chefs. But when all...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Oct 14, 2016
Siam Shokudo: Honest Thai flavors on a busy downtown crossing
You can't miss Siam Shokudo. It's right above Yushima subway station looking out over a busy crossroad, with its front entirely open to the street whenever the weather is warm. From outside you might take it for just another bar in this old-school carousing district. But it's not only bigger than you...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 30, 2016
Celaravird: Edible works of art from an adventurous chef
Dinner at Celaravird runs to a strict schedule. At 6:30 p.m., guests start to converge on the restaurant. Some climb out of taxis; others make the uphill hike from the nearby train station. By 6:45 they are expected to be at their tables, the buzz of anticipation growing as preprandial drinks are served....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 30, 2016
Meating at Anis: Monthly gatherings for carnivore connoisseurs
Nobody in Tokyo cooks meat like Susumu Shimizu. Whether it's beef, pork, lamb or poultry, he prepares it all over a plancha — basically a hot plate with super-sensitive controls — in his chic little restaurant, Anis, on the western edge of Shinjuku.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 16, 2016
Yakitori Ogawa: Traditional 'yakitori' served like high-end sushi
There's no mistaking the kind of cuisine offered at Yakitori Ogawa. All 15 seats in this compact, one-counter grill look directly onto the open kitchen where skewers of premium poultry are slowly, carefully tended to over glowing charcoal.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 16, 2016
Tempu: A cluttered hole-in-the-wall with incredible 'takoyaki'
Tempu is in no way a destination restaurant. It's a six-minute schlep beside the tracks from JR Shibuya Station, and when you arrive all you'll find is a cluttered hole-in-the-wall that fits eight at a pinch, all standing. But it's this funky setting that makes it such a favorite with the locals —...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 2, 2016
Falo: An Italian take on the 'izakaya'
Arriving at Falo, prepare for a few surprises of the most pleasant kind. The first is that this sleek-looking new Italian restaurant, which opened in May in Daikanyama, feels and functions like a traditional izakaya tavern.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Sep 2, 2016
Cam On Pho: No-frills pho and banh mi done right
Spring rolls, pho noodles, and banh mi sandwiches: the menu at Cam On Pho is anything but extensive. But those are the classics of Vietnamese street food. And if they're done well, like they're done in their homeland, what more do you need?
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 19, 2016
Tinsagu nu Hana serves up a melodic mix of Okinawan cuisine
It's a long way from Tokyo to the balmy, subtropical Ryukyu Islands — approximately 1,500 kilometers as the crow (or plane) flies. But Japan's southernmost prefecture feels a whole lot closer when you're out in the residential suburbs of Suginami Ward. At least it does when you're sitting in Tinsagu...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 19, 2016
Handels Vagen's frozen treats will have you singing Handel's 'Messiah'
Premium ice cream is never out of season. But the timing could hardly have been better for the arrival of Handels Vagen at the start of this summer. Located in the basement of the new Tokyu Plaza in Ginza, it boasts a modest footprint that seems appropriate to the artisan production scale of very superior...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 5, 2016
Kazami: A noodle joint that's hard to find but worth the hunt
It takes considerable confidence to open a new restaurant at the hottest time of the year, when people's appetites are at their lowest ebb. To locate it down a narrow alley hidden from sight of Ginza's passing foot traffic seems even more foolhardy. But ramen shops work according to different rules —...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 5, 2016
Tabela: A touch of North Africa in central Tokyo
When eclectic indie film distributor Uplink moved across Shibuya to its current location, it did more than add extra screening rooms. It created a cultural hot spot, a meeting place for people looking beyond the mainstream. From the start, the focus for that was its restaurant, Tabela.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 15, 2016
Narikura: 'Tonkatsu' that should be on every foodie's radar
There's nothing gourmet about tonkatsu. Those deep-fried cutlets with their crisp, appetizing exteriors concealing juicy chunks of rich, fatty pork are, for many, the ultimate expression of Japanese comfort food. But, as with other types of downhome cooking, the best purveyors often become the object...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 15, 2016
Mikkeller Beer Garden: Denmark's rich, fruity and dangerously alcoholic brews are back
One of the disappointments of spring was the demise of the brilliant, buzzy Mikkeller Tokyo craft beer bar in Shibuya, a mere nine months after it was launched. The problem was administrative, and certainly not due to a lack of customers or problems with the beer. So it's cause for celebration to see...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 1, 2016
Unagi Fujita: The lowly eel comes up in the world
Not so many years ago, unagi, the humble freshwater eel, was considered a plebeian pleasure — a delicacy fit for Tokyo's townsfolk rather than rarefied levels of society. Much has changed. This once-lowly fish now commands high-end prices worthy of even the most upscale parts of town. This meant that...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jul 1, 2016
Menya Nukaji: Righteous ramen on the fringe of Shibuya
In many ways, Menya Nukaji is the archetypal artisan noodle counter. Run by a ramen enthusiast who developed his own recipes and set up with his wife, it barely seats eight people and is tucked out of sight on a quiet side street. But the word has been spreading in the two years since owner Hiroshi Nukui...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Jun 17, 2016
Kotaro: A modern 'izakaya' in the backstreets of Shibuya
All anniversaries should be celebrated, and hitting the five-year mark holds a special importance. But for Kotaro Hayashi, reaching that milestone a few months back carried even more significance. That's because he opened his diminutive restaurant a scant few weeks after the massive 2011 Great East Japan...

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