RyuGin Side Roppongi Bldg, 1st Floor 7-17-24 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0032 Dining date: 11/20/12 My first meal at RyuGin was one of the best meals in 2012. Towards the end of that meal, I was told that they store the menus of all of the diners they seat so that they can ensure a unique…
Tempura Kondo Sakaguchi Building 9F 5-5-13 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061 Dining date: 11/7/12 Tempura is easy to find in America, and it’s something I really enjoyed eating as a kid (especially the shrimp). In Japan, tempura is taken to another level, with restaurants solely focused on the style. Diners sit around a bar while a…
Each year, I do a blog anniversary post listing my top 5 meals of the previous 365 days. I wanted to create a post highlighting the individual dishes that made me smile and kept me coming back for more. I haven’t really ranked anything, nor created a limit for the number that can be shown…
Dining date: 12/25/12 Christmas is perhaps the oldest family tradition I know of (well, maybe Chinese New Year). It’s a very similar setup to Thanksgiving, but we’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember. Lunch is at my aunt’s with my mother’s side of the extended family, while dinner is with my…
La Boutique de Joel Robuchon Marunouchi Brick Square 1F 2-6-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005 Dining date: multiple Perhaps the one category of food that struck me the most in terms of differences between Japan and America was the countless options of quality pastries, chocolates and all types of sweets. I don’t really have a sweet…
Chateau Restaurant Joel Robuchon Yebisu Garden Place 2F 1-13-1 Mita, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-0062 Dining date: 11/18/12 I wasn’t initially planning to dine here. I went to L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon at the beginning of my stay and was content on trying more of the Japanese food that I couldn’t get in America. At some point…
Kohaku 3-4 Kagurazaka, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-0825 Dining date: 11/15/12 Kohaku is the younger sibling restaurant to three-star kaiseki restaurant Ishikawa. Chef Koji Koizumi worked under Ishikawa for years, becoming his right-hand man. When Ishikawa decided to move his restaurant, it was time for Koizumi to take over the old space to create something of his…
LudoBites 10 Gram & Papa’s 227 E 9th St Los Angeles, CA 90015 Dining date: 12/10/12 Last week LudoBites returned in its 10th incarnation, dubbed a sort of “Best Of” celebration bringing back many dishes from previous iterations of the pop-up. Adding to the hype, it was also announced that this would be the last…