武蔵国分寺うしお蕎麦。A delicious meal at Musashi Kokubunji Ushio soba shop in Kokubunji (a short walk from Nishi-Kokubunji station). Can you see the hand-drawn menu of seasonal dishes on the wall? It shows you the heart of the restaurant. The chef has a selection of sake-friendly small dishes before ending with handmade soba. It’s a charming shop…
Tag: Chuo
Une Labo
Three curry plate at @une_labo. Une is the name of the small mound of dirt at farms where seeds are grown. The turmeric rice on the dish symbolizes the une at farms. The vegetables on top are all local vegetables fried, pickled, sauteed, and simmered. Charming cafe near Kokubunji Station for curry using #Kokuvege, local Kokubunji…
Honmura An
Honmura An is a charming soba shop with handmade buckwheat noodles and a tempting menu of side dishes. It’s all good. Today was a fabulous avocado salad (900 yen) thinly sliced onions, smoky katsuobushi flakes, and a shiso and tart ume dressing. Nukazuke rice bran pickles (850 yen) that are pleasantly sour and crunchy. Soba…
Sankouin
Shōjin ryōri, vegetarian Buddhist cuisine, has a rich history in the Japanese food culture. One of my favorite places to try it is at Sankouin temple in Koganei. The temple was founded in 1934 and is in a quiet residential part of Western Tokyo, north of Musashi Koganei Station on the Chūō line. There is…
Shikajika
Onigiri breakfast at Shikajika inside of Tachikawa Station. The rice is cooked in a donabe pot. The restaurant specializes in set meals based around rice including karaage fried chicken, grilled salmon, or simmered pork belly. There is an intriguing wagyū hitsuma bushi of thin slices of marbled wagyū beef over a bed of hot rice….
Kunio
Shio ramen and a tsukemen with a wonton dipping sauce. Plus a side order of chashu gohan, rice topped simply with sliced chashu pork with a splash of a sweet soy sauce. We have tried to dine here but there is always a line. As it’s raining today my brilliant child said, we should go…
Tonki
Tonki tonkatsu pork cutlets. This branch is in Kokubunji which is much easier to get into than the Meguro restaurant. The tonkatsu is very different as it isn’t covered with the shards of panko. My friend cooked at the Meguro restaurant. As I recall the pork was dipped in egg, flour, egg, then a fine…
Harunaya
Just north of Ogikubo Station on Kyōkai Dōri shotengai street is Harunaya wagashi shop. The small shop has a colorful selection of Japanese confectionaries. This time of year the seasonal selection includes 青梅 aoumé, a green apricot shaped mochi filled with shiro an white bean paste and tart green apricot. The other traditional sweet is…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Food Sake Tokyo 