February 27, 2009
When I first got my own apartment in Tokyo, I could barely cover the moving expenses with my measly wage and couldn’t even afford a fridge. Luckily, it was mid-winter and I was able to make an impromptu fridge out on my balcony. Just in time for spring, I became a proud owner of this […]
February 22, 2009
Tori-ina made me a yakitori fiend. I now crave yakitori whenever I see the word chicken or am reminded of anything wooden and cylindrical. This tiny, unassuming joint is located on a side street one minute from Hatagaya Station (near Shinjuku) in Tokyo. Every day is Friday at Tori-ina, so expect to stand in line […]
February 16, 2009
I had qualms about blogging the Homo Sausage. Was I really a near 30 year-old woman with the humor of a 7 year-old boy? Yes. Was Umami Mart too sophisticated for a juvenile post such as this? Yes. But then again, maybe not. I met Homo Sausage last week at my friend’s party. Someone had […]
February 13, 2009
My bonus saw a drastic cut for December 2008, and less business men are taking taxis clear across Tokyo on company tab. But yesterday I was reminded that the Japanese aren’t taking the financial crisis that seriously. I knew this was so when I saw Jean-Paul Gaultier Evian water at my local supermarket. I will […]
February 6, 2009
Although my stomach was feeling weird, it didn’t stop me from my Friday night Half-Price Sushi ritual. I got to the store around 20:00, which is well after the markdown at 19:00. But there were still some varieties of sushi left. Something drew me to the beautiful cubes of maguro. Mmm. Marked down from 580 […]
January 23, 2009
One of my favorites ways to unwind after a long five-day week in salaryman hell is to gorge on supermarket sushi on a Friday night. If I am lucky enough to be done at work at 6pm, I rush out of Ginza to make it back to my neighborhood supermarket in Shimokitazawa just before 7:00:00pm. […]
January 13, 2009
…when Tsukiji is bubbling over with them. To check out what’s in season, or to simply when I feel like salivating profusely, I walk around Tsukiji on my lunch break. Today I found crabs: short-legged ones, long-legged ones, hairy-legged ones, white ones, red ones, ones in a tank, and buggy-eyed ones. Unfortunately, I can not […]
January 11, 2009
On the first day of the season forecasted for snow in Tokyo, I knew I wanted something warm and spicy. I thought Korean would suffice, but I couldn’t shake off my hankering for nabe. So I decided to do a search for hinabe on google. Hinabe is a style of nabe (hi meaning fire, and […]
December 21, 2008
Missed this in yesterday’s post, from Tokyo- miso ramen with scallions marinated in spicy-as-hell chilly sauce. So intense.
December 17, 2008
There’s a little Korea-town in the Akasaka section of Tokyo, just a little side street filled with Korean-owned and operated restaurants. Here, my friend Maho took me to one of her favorite spots, Ton-chan. There are a few Ton-chan’s scattered all around Tokyo- it is bbq, but they specialize in pork (ton, in Japanese means […]