Okonomiyaki is the savory pancake that Osaka is famous for. The Tokyo version is called monjayaki and it’s the style I prefer. Not as much flour in the batter so parts of it are crispier. Konaya is a chain of restaurants where most diners do an all-you-can-eat plan. On weekends 1880 for 90 minutes ($14)….
Category: Chūō line
Taiwan Dumplings in Kichijōji
Taiwanese food is trendy in Japan. In Kichijōji is an addictive roasted dumpling filled with beef and pepper (I think it was beef) at Roryu Koshi Mochi. The meat is highly seasoned with spices and pepper. The leeks are sweet and I think the dough was a little sweet. The dumplings are cooked like Indian…
Okutama Tamagoyaki Omelet
Ranway near Okutama station in Western Tokyo serves dashimaki tamago made with so much dashi that the savory omelet is juicy. The menu is simple. Select from three types of eggs. We did ukokkei (Gallus gallus) red junglefowl chicken eggs (1,700 yen) and the white eggs (1,300 yen). The ukokkei set lunch comes with a…
Odamusubi Breakfast in Shinjuku Station
新宿駅のおにぎりモーニング。 Onigiri breakfast at Shinjuku station. Odamusubi is part of Odakyu department store. Diners have a selection of onigiri filled with tart umeboshi, pickled takana greens, spicy mentaiko cod roe, and more. The breakfast is rounded out with three small dishes and miso soup. I love that some of the onigiri is made with rice…
Kokubunji Tonki Tonkatsu
Tonki is a famous tonkatsu shop in Meguro, which dates back to 1961. It has a sister shop in Kokubunji, on the Chūō line, about 20 minutes west of Shinjuku. There was a line in front of the shop when we arrived, but not nearly as long as the lines I have experienced at the…
Onsen Spas, Books, and Chilling Out
Some weekends we spend half a day chilling out at onsen hot springs. It’s relaxing to soak in the warm waters, especially rotenburo outdoor hot springs with the cold breeze in the air. There are several types of hot springs to try. Ryusenji no Yu is a chain of hot springs centers. It’s like a…
Tachikawa Rainbow Spice Curry
Rainbow Spice, just one minute from Tachikawa station’s South exit, is sliver of a shop. Seven counter seats overlooking an itsy-bitsy kitchen. Rainbow Spice makes the curries from scratch and doesn’t use flour but yogurt as a thickener. This lunch was a double curry of a pork vindaloo, tart from wine vinegar with tender meat,…
Our Local Burger Shop
I love a good burger. While I was born in Tokyo, I grew up in Minnesota eating burgers and fries. There are some good burger shops in Tokyo, but it’s nice to have a local spot that we can decide to go to at the last minute and not have to make a special trip…
Vegetarian Sushi in a Traditional Japanese Home
Just south of Nishi-Ogikubo station on the JR Chuo line is a quaint kominka, traditional Japanese home, with a restaurant and retail shop. Re:gendo offers nutritious meals in a rustic setting that is worth a trip out of the city. A good friend put this shop on my radar and she even knew to pre-order the…
Asagaya Kakizawa 柿ざわ
Asagaya’s shōtengai is a covered street filled with many small shops for food, confectionaries, and essential items for daily life. It is a great neighborhood to visit if you are looking for an insight to how suburban Tokyoites shop. Just off the main shopping street is a gem of a soba shop, Kakizawa, named after the owner….
Shinjuku Kaijin 海神
Kaijin literally means the God of the Seas, a perfect name for this ramen shop that does not use meat. The seafood soup at Shinjuku Kaijin changes daily based on what seafood is in season. The broth, while rich in flavor, is light and refreshing on the palate. The fish that goes into the broth is…
Musashi-Sakai Passage a Niveau
My favorite baguette in Tokyo is found along the Chuo line near Musashi-Sakai station. Passage a Niveau does a three-grain baguette that has a lovely crumb with a chewy crust. The bakery opens at 8 a.m. but the baguettes do not come out until a bit later in the morning. Passage a Niveau is worth…
Ogikubo Takahashi Soba 高はし
Takahashi is a about a ten-minute walk from Ogikubo station on the Chuo line, but worth the journey through the residential area west of Tokyo. I was meeting a girlfriend for lunch on a Tuesday. For whatever reason, many soba shops are closed on Tuesdays. But my friend had been to Takahashi before and we…
Kokubunji Tonkatsu Katsura 国分寺とんかつ桂
Katsura is a homey tonkatsu shop about a kilometer north of Kokubunji station on the Chuo line. There is a perpetual line out the door. But the other day while biking by the line was shorter than usual and I joined the queue. There is a small table in the back and a counter with tight…
Koganei Kakigori Cafe Cula
Tokyo has just gone through the longest heat wave on history, eight days of temperatures over 35 degrees. One way to cool down in Japanese summers is with shaved ice, kakigōri. Look for the simple kanji sign 氷, usually written in a bright red kanji on a square blue and white flag. We live out on the…
Shinjuku Station Berg
I love that Tokyo is so big and filled with so many restaurants that new gems keep presenting themselves. On a recent television program Berg in Shinjuku Station came up as a great B Gourmet restaurant, cheap and delicious. It is open from 7 a.m. and stays open until late at night. It is located…
On a Mission to Find Tokyo’s Best Banh Mi
I still find it hard to believe that I can get a better banh mi sandwich in Minneapolis than I can in Tokyo. I was on a mad hunt about eight years ago in Tokyo for banh mi and then gave up after making special trips throughout the city only to be disappointed. I moved…
Le Pain Quotidien at nonowa Higashi-Koganei
I lived in Brussels for a year and one of the things I remember the most is the Le Pain Quotidien down the street from my apartment. The bakery opened up early in the morning so I could stop by and get a croissant or pain au chocolat to start the day. The large communal…
Spoon Curry
Japanese curry, one of the country’s comfort food dishes, is something we make at home all of the time. Often using packages of curry roux that now come in a wide variety of flavors and levels of heat. I am a firm believer in not going out to eat food that can be easily made…
Sanukiya – Kaiseki Udonya and Saké
Tokyo is filled with a wide variety of izakaya, places with food and saké. Recently I got together with friends, two editors from a popular food magazine, DANCYU, and a famous saké and shōchū authority for a night out. I was told that we were going to Sanukiya in Kōenji. Sanuki is a region in Japan famous for…
Food Sake Tokyo 