Greggman.com Category (restaurants_japan)

Bio Ojiyan Cafe

I've been meaning to post this for a while but the last couple of months before I left Japan the Bio Ojiyan Cafe became one of my favorite cafes.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but Ojiyan is actually the name of a dish that I believe consists of taking rice and cooking it with an egg and some soup stalk. What you get out if it is like a thick egg-rice soup. I'm guessing it's common to put toppings on that. The bio ojiyan cafe offers bbq pork + onions, raw tuna + kimchi, fried chicken, tuna salad among other things as toppings.

They also include some extras like a soft boiled egg, some toast and a small weiner cut to look like an octopus. That's a common thing for moms to do for their kid's lunch.

It is one of those things that even though I had never had it before came across as totally delicious comfort food.

They have other stuff on their menu as well if ojiyan doesn't sound like your thing. They also have setup a table with breads and pastries on it. I didn't quite get the relationship between the cafe and the bread. Whether they were just putting the products of another company on the table or whether they were making those bread items there and just selling them with a different brand name.

In any case their bread logo is hella cute

The Bio Ojiyan Cafe is in Harajuku at the end of Harajuku street. That in itself is just a fun and interesting area that I was always happy to be in. Directions and a map can be found here

Vietnam Frog

If you want Vietnamese food you could probably do better than here.

I don't mean to be mean. This place isn't *bad* per se, it's just not good. Maybe I'm expecting something different from having eating lots of Vietnamese food in Orange County but my impression was the food had been blanded down for Japanese palettes.

If that's your thing it's in the Shiodome complex.

Manrikiya

More Kiwa / tantan-men goodness!

I found this place completely by random luck. I was going to a club called 香 (kou) in Nishi-Azabu and I decided to walk there from work.

From where I work it's a 15 minute talk to Roppongi and from Roppongi it's about a 10 minute walk to Nishi Azabu.

I like to try different paths so as I was approaching Roppongi Crossing I decided to cut into some smaller street and try to work my way across the back streets to my destination.

As I was walking through I found this place. I could see the sign in front said "east river tantan-man" so I took the picture above to remind myself to go check it out.

When I did I found out it too is another Kiwa Group store like Wan-Zu-Ji. In fact it has a very very similar menu. It's actually got a bigger menu and I'm not sure there is anything on the Wan-Zhu-Ji menu that is not also available here.

Being a tantan-men freak I tried their tantan-men and it tasted substantially similar to Wan-Zhu-Ji's which means it was delicious! Several other things like the Pitan-doufu (Chinese 1000 year old black eggs and tofu) were pretty close to the same as well.

On the other hand I was disappointed with the annin-dofu. It wasn't bad, it was fluffier than most places but it was not even close to a match for the heavenly annin dofu at Wan-Zu-Ji. On top if which their buta-bara-raman was actually pretty bad.

Still, if I need my tantan-men fix it's another good place to go.

Chinese Cafe Eight

I was looking through a guide of late night places in Tokyo and Chinese Cafe Eight was on the list. I had wanted to check it out just a couple of weeks before I read it was open 24 hours when I passed by it with some friends so I finally went and checked it out.

I wish I had found this place 3 years ago. Finally real Chinese food in Japan! I've harped on this before but Chinese food in Japan is nearly as disappointing as Panda Express is in the states. Sure, I know some people like Panda Express which is fine but it's Americanized Chinese. Here in Japan most Chinese food has similarly been Japanified and is no longer really Chinese.

Well, I can thankfully report that Chinese Cafe Eight is real Chinese. Of course at first that was just my opinion from comparing it to the good Chinese restaurants I miss from Los Angeles so in other words I wasn't 100% sure it was real but it was what I liked. But then, I met a lady from Hong Kong who has been living in Japan for 6 years and she said she had completely given up on Chinese food in Japan and just stopped even trying to find anything good. I told her about this place that I thought was good although I explained I only had LA Chinese food to compare to. Well, she decided to take and chance and thankfully she confirmed what I'm telling you. It's real Chinese. She was very happy :-)

Even more than that, for Tokyo it's super cheap. One other problem with most Tokyo Chinese restaurants is they are so expensive that you can't eat a real Chinese meal where you order lots of different things and have a little of each. Not so here. They have a giant menu and reasonable prices. For example one of the first things on their menu is sui-gyoza (sorry, I don't know the Chinese word for gyoza 餃子). They have 26 different kinds and they are 3 to a plate, one plate is 100yen! Yea, you heard that right. 1 plate 100 yen. Any other place in Tokyo would likely be 1 plate 400-600 yen.

There are probably a few other things I could tell you about but it's best you find those out on your own.;-)

Chinese Cafe Eight is behind Roppongi Hills directly across from Grand Hyatt Tokyo hotel.

Souryuutoukyokudou

I'm in love with Tantan-men and this is a good place to get it.

This place has about eight kinds of tantan-men. brown soup tantan-men, white soup tantan-men, no soup tantan-men, with pork or with beef. It's all good!

It's run by the Kiwa Group just like Wan-Zhu-Ji so many of the side dishes taste the same. That's not a bad think at all though.

At the moment I could eat tantan-men several times a week so it comes as no surprise that I would give this place a 4. If you're a tantan-men or spice food fan then give it a try. It's just about 3 or 4 minutes from Roppongi station across the street from Roppongi Hills.

Origin Bento

Origin Bento isn't a restaurant it's a take out only place but since I've been here these 3 years in Japan they have grown and grown and gotten more and more popular.

I'd be curious to know if there is any research on the changing eating habits of various cultures. The Japanese have clearly become dependant on the thousands of convenience stores which you can tell by visiting one any time between about 7pm and 12am.

You'll see tons of people of all types. College students, salary men, business women, OLs, you name it standing around trying to decide on their dinner for the night. Well, someone got the bright idea to open a bento shop and serve better food than the convenience store but be just and convenient and better tasting.

Origin Bento is like a takeout salad bar. Above you can see they have about 16 kinds of salads from tomato and eggplant salad to potato salad, tofu salad, okra salad and more. Next to they have a bunch of hot foods, more then 25 types like karaage (fried chicken), meatballs, sweet potatoes, yakisoba, onigiri, fried shrimp, white rice. Everything is priced the same, 150yen for 100grams so you just pile as much as you want in the containers provided, bring it up to the counter and they can ring you up very easily.

Finally they have over 30 kinds of bento sets you can order and it will be freshly prepared.

It's actually very good. For a while there was one just a block from my apartment. It closed but 2 others opened in its place. They are a little further but one is near the station I use to go to work so if I don't manage to get out to eat it's an easy stop on the way home and I've never been disappointed yet.

Loco Moco

Loco Moco is a restaurant that serves loco moco which is the Hawaiian surfer version of donburi or a rice bowl.

Loco moco is a bowl of rice with a hamburger patty on top followed by an over easy or fried egg and all covered in beef gravy. It sounds like the kind of thing some dude living in a shack saving all his money to surf everyday and who can't really cook well would think up. Fortunately it's great!

Anyway, wandering around Shibuya I found this place called Loco Moco. It's in the basement of a building in the alleys behind the Shibuya Fridays.

They not only have traditional loco moco but they also have 20 or more kinds of donburi. Instead of being completely the traditional kinds they've gotten just a little more creative. Some older Japanese people might sneer but us younger people would have no problem.

For example, I picked up the karaage chicken bowl with a tangy mayo sauce. It included the egg as well. Karaage chicken is fried chicken.

It was good, cheap for Tokyo, the portions were big and the place is surprisingly big for a Tokyo restaurant. The place could probably hold 80-100 people.

Pumpkin Cook Katsura

My friend brought up this restaurant that bases their entire cuisine on kabocha or Japanese pumpkin so I just had to try it.

It's this little tiny hole in the wall place on Takeshita Dori in Harajuku. You get off the Yamanote line from the Takeshite Dori exit and walk down Takeshita Dori. Cross Meji Dori (a big street) and it's about another minute on your right.

Like the ad said, everything on the menu features kabocha. We opted for a course menu so we could try more things

pumpkin lasagna

pumpkin doria

pumpkin dessert

We got a kabocha salad followed by kabocha lasagna, kabocha doria which is a casserole like dish, this one served in half a kabocha and finally we got 3 desserts made with kabocha.

All in all it was good and it was certainly fun.

Dessert Company

I found out about this crazy little dessert cafe place called the Dessert Company buried in the middle of the Harajuku and Omotesando area so hidden I'd be surprised if anyone would ever find it without word of mouth.

I actually got lost trying to find it even with a map in my hand but in the end I found it down this side alley from the main alley inside a small cul-de-sac. Without the small street sign out front I may never have found it.

Turning the corner into the cul-de-sac there was a more clear sign above the door way although even with that sign I wasn't sure I had found the place.

The cafe is actually in a very plain looking building stuck in between a bunch of other residential buildings.

You can't see any kind of real entrance or a cash register or any other indication you are at the right place.

Near the entrance there is a funky little custom built refrigerated dispenser machine were you can get their desserts to go. Their gimmick appears to be that all their desserts are extremely small although I suppose not that small for Japan. They serve lots of them in little tiny glass jars. Others are just small but because of that you can safely try more than one :-D

That's not the only interesting part though. If you decide to eat there you end up walking up these impossibly thin steps into the top of a strange designer room where you sit on other steps and stair at the ceiling while enjoying your dessert. There's something strangely peaceful about it.

If you are in the area you might want to check it out. There's a map here.

Journal Standard

The Journal Standard is a chain of ultra expensive trendy clothing stores in Japan. There's actually quite a few of these kinds of chains. Beams, United Arrows, etc.

The Journal Standard in Shinjuku has reasonably priced cafe.

It's directly across from the Shinjuku Station NEW South Exit. The part of the station that's between the main station and Takashimaya / Times Sqaure.

It's actually kind of funny because the ordering area looks like a fast food joint and not very cafe like but they do have outdoor seating. They even have heaters when it's cold outside which is not common for Tokyo.

Probably the thing that sticks out the most they have a trailer parked on the patio. That is there burger kitchen. If you order a hamburger it is cooked in a small kitchen inside the trailer and then delivered to you. I guess it's that fresh Tokyo air that's support to make them taste better :-D

Frangipani

Behind Roppongi Hills, across from the Tsutaya Bookstore / Starbucks is another great Tokyo cafe. Frangipani

It's open in the front making it not feel stuffy and it's different by parking a 1970s Volkswagon bus in the center of the store. You can even sit in it if you no one is already using it.

Nothing here that's way out of the ordinary but it's a good place to get away from the mess that is Roppongi Hills. Or, just a good place to hang out before or after a movie.

DexeeDiner

I found this place walking home from clubbing. If I leave the clubs early I have to take a cab and for some reason, I guess to save a little money, I walk over to NHK and catch one over there. This place is in-between and I happened to pass it one day. It looked interesting so I took a picture to remind myself to try it out.

It took a couple of months to get around to trying it but it was pretty good. I had a tuna, wasabi and avocado spread which was great and I had their pork with melted cheese and tomato sauce. They have lots of magazines on the walls so you can grab something to read. Pretty much just what I was hoping for.

They are open until 3am so if you are looking for a place to eat in Shibuya late at night this is a good place to go. It's a fairly typical cafe type of place but the food is better than average and it's got a good vibe.

Carne Station

Need a cheap meat fix? Try Carne Station

Once in a while when my friends and I feel like bursting our stomachs on the cheap we head over to this place called Carne Station.

It's in Akihabara directly under the train tracks for the Yamanote Line. You exit from Akihabara Station and then walk toward Ueno down the main street of Akihabara until you hit the second major intersection were the Suehirocho station (末広町) of the Ginza metro line is. Turn toward the train tracks and you'll find it under there. It's less than a 10 minute walk.

For lunch it's amazingly cheap for Japan. Something like 1000 yen for all you can eat yakiniku. 1200 if want soft drinks too.

But it's not just yakiniku. They have 5 or more kinds of meat. They have lots of veggies and salads. They have rice and curry. They have egg rolls and shumai and French fries and other fried foods. They've even got dessert including 4 to 6 favors of ice cream, almond jello, fruits and various other things.

This is what happens when 6 guys go pile on the grub. Not a pretty site but no complaints either. It's not gyu-kaku but it's still good!

OGO Ono-Loa Hawaii

My friend Eric told me there was a Hawaiian restaurant near his place he had walked by many times and wanted to try. We both expected it would be the typical ""Hawaiian"" restaurant with basically some Hawaiian motif and pineapple in the dishes but it turned out it was REAL HAWAIIAN!!!! KICK ASS!!!

Like an idiot I was so stunned I didn't take any pictures of the food or the place. It's a small place and easy to miss in the densely packed area of Akasaka. It's pretty small with just 4 or 5 tables and it's run by the a Hawaiian guy that moved to Tokyo from Hawaii with his Japanese wife.

I ordered their Aki Poke which was great and their Kalua Pig platter which included roast pork and lomi samlon. We also ordered some Portuguese sausage fried rice, another Hawaiian staple. It was all good.

Unfortunately there was no poi. The owner said it was way too expensive to import. Also, I was really craving a lau-lau but he said they were seasonal and that he wouldn't have them until June or July. I'll definitely be going back. I'll try to remember to take some pictures for this page next time I go.

The closest station would be Akasaka station. Walk down the street Tilly's Coffee is on and toward Akasaka-Mitsuke, it's about a block and a half down.

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Pineapple County

Curry Carbonara. Yum!

Pineapple County is a pretty typical little cafe. I went on a date from a personal ad to Shimokitazawa and we ended up at this place.

On the menu was something called Curry Carbonara. Basically a carbonara pasta but with some curry added to the sauce. It was actually quite excellent so if you like curry and you like carbonara I suggest you give it a try.

Chinmabodofu

Punish your toilet!!!

I believe it's originally Chinese but Mabodofu (Mabo Tofu) is this spicy dish made with tofu and a spicy meat sauce. It's super common in Japan and quite a normal home dinner kind of food. I love it in the Japanese style in which it is not too spicy.

But, down in Odaiba, at Decks, a large shopping complex, there is this place called Little Hong Kong. It's the top 2 floors of one of the buildings at Decks. Those two floors have a theme of Hong Kong and there are around 14 Chinese restaurants.

One of them is this place call Chinmabodofu.

They basically only serve one thing. mabodofu and it's HOT!!!!!!!! For me it was too hot. I like spicy food but not so spicy I can't taste it. After a bite or two I could hardly taste anything and after eating about half I finally decided that I wasn't enjoying it so I stopped.

But, for my friends that go for the spicier the better they love this stuff which is why I gave it a 4. If you are that type of person this is probably a place you don't want to miss.

Ippudo

If you are in Roppongi give Ippudou a try

Actually they have quite a few but I've only been to the Roppongi store. Another good Tonkotsu Ramen place.

Agideji

Having gone to Japanese school in Shinokubo which is Tokyo's Korean town I got to eat Korean food several times a day. When I started working in Shibuya I hardly ever ate Korean food. Luckly I found this little place near were I was working.

If you are in that area and you want Korean food, especially for lunch, go check them out.

Kiryu

If you don't think you like fish you need to go to Kiryu.

This is this extremely small dive of a place in Ebisu. You walk up the main street toward Daikanyama / Nakameguro and just 2 or 3 buildings before Starbucks, if you are paying attention you might see the small sign for Kiryu. It's on the second floor above some non-descript ramen place.

It's almost like a bar because it's only got about 10 counter seats and then 3 small tables that only have Japanese traditional seating (no chairs). The owner always has some great tunes running and the food is just too good for such a dive.

There's nothing I've had there which wasn't just awesome. Especially the fish. If you are not a fish eater ask for a recommendation and ask for something that has no bones and I promise you will change your mind about fish.

Even if you can't get yourself to eat some fish they have plenty of other things so you should still go check it out. Be warned though, being so small it fills up quick!

Kaffir Lime

For whatever reason it *seems* like there's not much Thai food in Tokyo. If you are searching for some you might give Kaffir Lime a try.

I'm not Thai and I've never been to Thailand so I'm sure I don't know what real Thai food tastes like but I do know what Thai food is like in L.A. and Kaffir Lime brought back those memories.

It's not at all a fancy place. In fact it's not much above a fast food place even if you do sit down and order but if you need a Thai fix give it try.