I'm in the home stretch. Tomorrow night, I'll be boarding a flight back to Vancouver and the departure will be bittersweet. While I'll be glad to set aside the fine dining for the foreseeable future (I am so looking forward to a simple bowl of Steelcut Irish Oatmeal), there are many, many things I'll miss: …
December 7, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day #13 – Sawada, The Tapas Molecular Bar, a Maid Cafe AND a Cosplay Lounge!
It was an atypically warm, sunny, beautiful day today so I ditched my jacket and coat in favor of my leather jacket and headed out. I was on my way to Sawada, a Michelin two star sushi restaurant within walking distance of my hotel. Despite the fact that I was armed with a map and…
December 6, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day #12 – Yonemura, Ryugin, and Soused on Sake.
Holy crap it's cold in Tokyo! I don't remember it being this cool or rainy the last time I was here. Of course, my memory aint what it used to be. Still, I can't recall wearing my coat out so often. Like today, for instance, when I headed out under overcast skies to meet my…
December 5, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day #11 – Miravile, Ristorante Aso, Avoiding the Anal Colica.
So while I was uploading blog pics last night, I received an email from my friend Akemi asking me if it would be alright if she dropped by in the morning. I told her sure. Well, this morning, at around 10:45 a.m., there was a knock at the door. It was Akemi - and she…
December 4, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day #10 – Quintessence, Monnalisa Marunouchi, I hit the wall – and I’ve still got 11 restaurants to go!
Some restaurants in Tokyo require a reservation be made three months in advance. Others won't accept reservations until a week before the requested seating. This year, just to be on the safe side, I forwarded the concierge at The Peninsula my list three months prior to my trip. When he sent me my finalized schedule…
December 3, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day #9 – Hirosaku, La Rochelle Shibuya, and the outfit I almost got Carl.
I've yet to visit a bad restaurant on this trip. The places I've been to have ranged from quite good to spectacular. As of yesterday, I'd put three of those sixteen restaurants in the latter category. As for this morning, I can add a fourth. I was getting worried that critiquing lunches and dinners was…
December 2, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day #8 – Fukamachi, La Bombance, and Fugu me once, shame on you. Fugu me twice, shame on me.
What with all of the focus on the higher end dining in Tokyo, I thought it might be nice to take in something a little more simple like, say, tempura. Of course, not just any tempura but the high quality offerings served at Fukamachi in Kyobashi where I lunched with two other people: my fellow…
December 1, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day #7 – Gordon Ramsay, Mo Shibuya Stroll, Ishikawa (and I mean it this time!)
Success! Following five success days of post-feasting pre-day sloth, I actually managed an entire half a work yesterday morning! After showering up, I peeked outside and noted it was overcast, gambled, left the sunglasses behind and donned my coat. Later that day, as I was walking through Omotesando, one of my coat buttons came off…
November 30, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day $6 – Ginza La Tour, Michel Troisgros
On my first morning in Tokyo, I awoke to find the sky overcast. I put on my coat, left my sunglasses behind, and ventured downstairs where I asked the concierge if there was a chance it could get sunny at some point. "Oh, no,"she replied, straight-faced. "It won't get sunny until January." So I headed…
November 29, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day #5 – Faro, Kadowaki, and the Sights of Ginza!
I honestly don't know how I did it on previous trips here. Between all the eating and the drinking and the strolling and the not-much-sleeping, when the hell did I ever have time to blog? Anyway, another full day yesterday. I spent the morning uploading a whack of pics and videos, then headed out. Lunch…
November 28, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day #4 – Dai San Harumi, Tokyo Big Sight, Les Creations de Narisawa! Now With 60% More Robots!
Okay, I've got a lot of ground to cover so let's get right into it. First off, the mystery of Ginza line-ups solved. Every year I come down to Ginza, I see these enormous line-ups. We settled in at which point Chef Kazuo Nagayama made his grand entrance. I'll tip the review by telling you…
November 27, 2009: Toko Travel Day #3 – No Pepsi Cucumber, Coke! Aroma Fresca! A Sneak Peek at Tomorrow’s Gear-eat Entry!
No, I haven't tracked down Pepsi Cucumber yet but I assure you I've tried and will continue to keep looking. In the meantime, here are a couple of other interesting items I aim to sample while I'm here... I swung by the Mori Art Museum yesterday, but the next exhibition doesn't begin for a few…
November 26, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day #2 – Aronia de Takazawa, Chikuyo-tei Honten, and more strolls and sweets.
So, what better way to include a day of eating than eating some more? After a memorable lunch at Chez Matsuo, a late afternoon snack at Pierre Herme, and a pre-dinner appetizer at the Pierre Marcolini Cafe, we headed off to Akasaka and dinner at Aronia de Takazawa. According to the direction I got from…
November 25, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day #1 – Fit Over Fat, Lunch at Chez Matsuo, Strolling up an Appetite!
Needless to say my sleep schedule is all screwed up. By the time I got to bed last night, it was a little after 11:00 p.m., and even though I was thoroughly exhausted, I lay awake, wound up as tight as a fancy new watch. Finally, about 1:00 a.m., I gave him and took some…
November 24, 2009: Tokyo Travel Day
As per Air Canada’s suggestion, I got to the airport well in advance of my scheduled flight time and, as a result, ended up arriving at the departure gate with plenty of time to spare. And by plenty of time, I mean about two and a half hours. It would’ve been a full three but…