Good Food and Views are Worth the Journey
If you’re in Tokyo, I think it’s worth it to spend an hour or more visiting Takashi Murakami’s The 500 Arhats exhibit at the Mori Art Museum in Roppongi Hills. Murakami is probably best known for his commercial work – such as the colourful Louis Vuitton monograms that adorned its bags. His recent work – The 500 Arhats – is tremendous and reveals that he is much more than just a pop artist. The exhibition has been running since Oct. 31 and will end on Mar. 6.
Recommended by a 3-star Michelin sushi chef, I knew that Gotetsu in Tokyo's Akasaka neighbourhood had to be good. And it was simply that. Gotetsu specialises in chicken yakitori served in an unassuming restaurant that seats probably not more than 25. We had all parts of the chicken including some of the best innards I've tried.
The restaurant is less than a five minute walk from the Akasaka subway station and located on a street behind Akasaka's main street. The clientele was local...
On a recent business trip to Tokyo, I had a couple of free hours and decided to drop in on Asakusa, an old part of the city with a historic temple. The thing about Tokyo is that for historical cultural landmarks, it just can't compare to Kyoto. Some of this is because a number of temples and shrines and their surrounding areas have been rebuilt. This is certainly true of Asakusa. The place was also incredibly crowded - full of tourists as well as locals going to make their Sunday...
A friend just asked me for some restaurant recommendations in Tokyo and although there are numerous great places to eat, I always make a point of going to tonkatsu (pork cutlet) specialist Butagumi. This is seriously gourmet tonkatsu where you get to choose the type of pork you want. Butagumi describes the taste of the various kinds of pork in their menu (light, rich, flavourful, etc.), with cuts that come from all over Japan as well as overseas, including Berkshire, Iberico and Bigorre....
There is a lot of good food in Japan - essentially places that mainly locals go and Sasagin would be one such neighbourhood izakaya. Izakaya, in my mind, are like pubs or tapas bars where the focus is on the drinks and generally decent food happens to be served as an accompaniment. In Sasagin's case, the food is also excellent while sake is the owner's forte.
A Japanese foodie friend recommended we come to Sasagin - good food without having to pay a lot for it. While not much english...