Today, we had plans to meet up with our friend, Nihei, for a yakitori lunch but, unfortunately, a last minute meeting derailed those yakitori plans - and sent us to Butagumi, my favorite tonkatsu restaurant, instead! Tucked away in a little side street in Nishi-Azabu, the rustic restaurant offers varieties of tonkatusu (golden-fried pork cutlets)…
November 10, 2013: Tokyo Day #5! Shaky shaky! Pork and promenades! Dinner at L’Effervesence!
We sure are experiencing a lot of turbulence, I thought to myself in my sleep-addled state. Suddenly, I stopped brushing. Wait a minute. I'm in my hotel room. "Did you feel the earthquake?"asked Akemi as I stepped out of the bathroom. The national news was already reporting on the 4.0 quake, a relatively minor that,…
October 31, 2012: Tokyo Day #3! Sawada! Shinjuku! Butagumi!
Last night, Akemi and I returned to our favorite sushi restaurant in Tokyo: Sawada. It's always more than dinner, it's a show, with Master Sawada-san presenting a feast of varied sushis and sashimis, from sweet Hokkaido uni to grilled sea eel, all expertly prepared and utterly delicious. The restaurant itself is small, seating six at…
December 10, 2010: Tokyo Trip Day #4! Butagumi pork-out! Omotesando dessert run! Izakaya Tofuro!
My feet hurt. I figured this trip would be a great opportunity to break in those new shoes but, instead, they seem to be breaking me. We've been doing a fair amount of walking these past couple of days and if it weren't for the endless array of desserts that have given me the much-needed…
November 26, 2008: Tokyo Trip Day #4, Kaiseki Feast, Porking Out, Sweets and Such, and The Weird Food Purchase of the Day – Japanese Ice Cream Edition
Hop into a taxi in Tokyo and you’re in for a wild ride because it’s pretty much a given that your driver will have no idea where he’s going. Chalk it up to the city’s antiquated address system, its winding side streets, or its crisscrossing thoroughfares - whatever the reason, cabbies seem to be veritable…