 |
| Ueno Park and Sky Tree with snow (February) |
 |
| With cherry blossoms (April) |
 |
| With green lotus leaves. So bright! (June) |
 |
| With my little prince in traditional kimono |
June 15, 2014
Season has changed...and baby has come!
It has been a long time since the last update in December. In this six months, season has changed from winter, spring to early summer. In the winter in 2014, Tokyo had the heaviest snowfall in 45 years. In spring, cherry bloomed in the end of March as usual, but gone right away by strong wind. Now, we are in rainy season and early summer with historically much rain.
In the same way of season, my situation has also dramatically changed... cause baby has come to me; I had a baby boy! I have been so busy looking after him day and night and had no much time to write and eat out so far. From now on, when I have time, I would like to continue updating this blog on eating, traveling, baby, etc. for a change.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I really missed your posts!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and all best from Berlin, Germany!
Many thanks for your kind words, which made me motivated so much!
ReplyDeleteIt is also very wonderful for me to know someone living in Berlin is interested in this blog. I would like to continue posting as mush as I can!
Congrats for the baby and welcome back. I was missing your posts as I am dreaming to visit Tokyo and eat its great food, so reading your posts kept me up to date
ReplyDeleteDear S Lloyd san,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your warm message! I am delighted at your interest in food in Tokyo, which brought you to this small blog! I started this for self-contentment and English writing, but now someone like you who live abroad also kindly see posts. It is impressive, indeed! Though I still have no enough time to post, I am really motivated:)
Dear Megumogu-san, congratulations! Wish you and your babyboy all the best!
ReplyDeleteI've found your Blog a few days ago and really love it. I especially like that you feature haute-cuisine Restaurants as well as reasonable Shops. It's nice to have recommendations for both, since you may not be able to afford going to expensive ones only while you are travelling for a longer period!
I'm going to Tokyo in two months and will deffinetely check out some of the Restaurants you recommended!
May I ask you to recommend me which inexpensive Restaurant ( under 2000 Yen) I shouldn't miss to visit for lunch? I would appreciate your advice for both japanese and western cuisine.
Thank you very much,
Warm greetings from Germany :)
Dear Katharina san!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your heartwarming message! I'm so happy that you found this blog by chance. Are you coming to Tokyo in two months? Cool! Definitely, I'd love to be a small help for you as much as possible!
But as for inexpensive restaurants in Japan, we have countless number of them with good quality. In particular, chain restaurants are value for money. Unless you have bad luck, most of them are good/tasty enough for the price. By your inspiration, you can choose. To put it other way around, it is a bit difficult to recommend specific restaurants of this price range.
Even so, I'll try to recall memories of my list of restaurants! Let me consider a little bit.. I'll recommend by another comment! If there are specific area(s) you plan to visit, let me know! Many thanks!
It is a continual response to Ms. Katharina. Sorry for my late response cause I still have little own time. Hope you will revisit this blog and see this comment.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, lunch at JPY2000 does not require reservation. (though some of them accept reservation. In the case of Lunch from around JPY3500, it is better to make a reservation.)
I've selected following Japanese restaurants as recommendation from criteria of (i) being famous but not a big chain, (ii) being around sightseeing places and (iii) yet introduced in this blog. As may you know, Japanese restaurants are divided by specialty (sushi, tempra, etc.) except big chain family restaurants.
(1) Okonomiyaki Kiji (お好み焼 きじ) in Marunouchi :Okonomiyaki
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/a634201/lang/en/
Located on the underground of TOKIA near Tokyo or Urakucho Station. There is
always a queue. "Modern-yaki (JPY1000)" is must-eat!
(2) Inageya (稲毛屋) in Sendagi :Unagi (eel)
http://www006.upp.so-net.ne.jp/inageya/ (Japanese only)
03-3822-3495
Unagi is popular cuisine in summer. But expensive! Inageya offers reasonable
but delicious unagi. They accept reservation. Better to go when you walk around
Yanaka, a old downtown.
(3) Meisan' Iseniku Butasute (名産豚肉 豚捨) in Marunouchi: Gyudon (beef bowl)
ReplyDeletehttp://r.gnavi.co.jp/gd1n615/lang/en/
Very famous beef restaurant of Ise (伊勢).Ise-beef, relative of branded Matsusaka
beef is very tender and delicious. Most of their menu is expensive, but gyudon is
available at JPY1500. Very tasty and totally different from yoshinoya!
(4) Tamahide (玉ひで) in Ningyo-cho: Oyakodon (Chicken and egg bowl)
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g316700/lang/en/
Old-established restaurant since 1760. Always long queue in front of the
restaurant (quite often, people give up...). Orthodox chicken bowl is JPY1500.
Bowl of BJP2000 and 2200 are added of white liver (life foie gras) and grilled
chicken breast.
(5) Isehiro Kyoubashihonten (伊勢廣 京橋本店) in Kyobashi: Yakitori
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g133300/lang/en/
A famous yakitori (grilled Japanese chicken cuisine) since 1922. It is also
known that Ozu Yasujiro, a film master loved this restaurant. Lunch is
reasonable. Near Tokyo station.
(6) Umegaoka Sushi no Midori in Ginza (梅丘寿司の美登利総本店）: Sushi
http://www.sushinomidori.co.jp/honkan.html (Japanese only)
Except cheap chain or go-round sushi restaurants, sushi is expensive. The more
you pay, the more delicious. Quality correlates price. But this restaurant offers
better quality than price. So, better to go before opening. Otherwise, you have to
wait long. Ginza, Shibuya or Akasaka branches are convenient to tourists, Sushi
set at lunch is just JPY2000!
(7) Gina Sato Yosuke (銀座佐藤養助) in Ginza: Udon (Japanese wheat noodle)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sato-yoske.co.jp/shop/ginza-en.html
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g078509/lang/en/
A famous udon restaurant since 1860. Actually, udon is not an expensive
cuisine and mostly delicious wherever you eat. But Sato Yosuke offers
sophisticated taste in the elegant atmosphere. Lunch is relatively reasonable.
Cold udon with two kinds of soup and tempura at 1900 (though the portion is not
so big).
(8) Date no Gyutan (伊達の牛たん) near Tokyo Station: Beef tongue cuisine
http://www.dategyu.jp/shop/contents?contents_id=228232 (Japanese only)
03-6273-4122(Grand Roof of Tokyo station) or 03-6256-0810 (KITTE)
If you never taste ox tongue cuisine, strongly recommend! Very tasty! It is a
specialty of Sendai, northern major city. There are two branches near Tokyo
station (one is in KITTE, the other one is in the Grand Roof of Tokyo station.
There is a queue at busy time.
(9) Kamiya (香味屋) in Negishi (or Okachimachi): Yoshoku (Japanese-style western
dishes)
http://www.kami-ya.co.jp/honten/ (Japanese only)
Yoshoku is a category of Japanese dishes. When Japan started trade with
Western countries in the 19th century, Japanese invented new cuisine
integrating western and Japanese essence. We have many good yoshoku
restaurants in Tokyo, but most of them are not inexpensive. Kamiya is also not
cheap, but very elegant in old downtown. If you walk around Ueno, you can visit.
Japanese curry and rice, omelette rice are around JPY2000.
Their casual branch is available in "Yoshiike" building in Okachimachi (Big
UNIQLO shop just in front of the station).
(10) Katsukichi(かつ吉) in Suidobashi or Shibuya: Tonkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlet)
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g763001/lang/en/
http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g763002/lang/en/
Generally, if you want to have tonkatsu, it is enough to go big chain
restaurants. They offers crispy pork cutlet at reasonable price. Not need to go
expensive famous restaurants located around Ueno. Even so, Katsukichi is a
good restaurant to visit. Tasty, reasonable and good atmosphere! Popular more
than 50 years.
Thank you very much for your detailed response!!! I appreciate it a lot!
ReplyDeleteI'll definitely check out as many of these restaurants as I can. I'm especially looking forward to the udon and unagi ones, sounds so delicious!
Please continue to blog, whenever you have the time to. But don't feel guilty for taking your time, you must be quite busy at the moment with your newborn :)
Thanks again and I will let you know where I went to after I come back from Japan in October!
Best wishes,
Katharina
Katharina san, I'm so glad you surely checked these recommendations!
ReplyDelete(sorry for several typos cause I rushed writing;))
Hope you'll enjoy nice meals and stay in Tokyo! (Now, Tokyo is becoming hotter day by day!!) If you have more questions, feel free to contact me at any time! Your inquiry motivated me a lot:) Yes, it is very kind of you! I'll keep posting using idle time while raising baby.
I also looking forward to hearing your feedback if you have time!
Best regards,
Megumogu
Megumoguさん、
ReplyDeleteお久しぶりです。おめでとうございまあす。先月末から、九州へ行ってきまして、Megumoguさんのblodgが読めまして、嬉しです。Miss you sooo much. 頑張ってください。Best wishes for your little prince and your family.
Joanne
Joanne さん、お久しぶりです！
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind words! I'm so glad to hear from you again and know you continually enjoy traveling Japan! Which part of Kyushu did you visit? There are a lot of nice local foods and hot springs in Kyusyu and I believe you spent a good time there!
Yes, I am now devoting myself to small (but fatty) prince;) It is tough but very joyful!
I'll try to keep updating to the extent possible. Kindly visit again this blog when you have time! Please keep up your Japanese learning, too!
Best wishes,
Megumogu