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Saturday, March 21, 2015

OMOTESANDO: NARF Bar... simply fantastic!

NARF!  Little did I know how cozy awesome this bar was.



Meg and Nanako... the owners of NARF.

I met Nanako in 2007 during the CLSA Tokyo Forum... she was just an intern at CLSA and now a full fledged banker. Finally had a chance to check out her and Megs new bar in Omotesando








This place is just a gem.  Large windows, high ceilings, super friendly owners and the customers all so very friendly cool... If in Omotesando you must go!  Its located near Le Baron.

Restaurant Bar: NARF
Address J: 南青山3-8-2 青山OGビル3F
Address E: Tokyo, Minato-ku, Minami Aoyama 3-8-2, 3F
MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/Ke9Um

Japan, Japanese, Tokyo, Bar, Standing Bar, beer, whisky, cocktails, foodie, canon s120,

Friday, March 20, 2015

OMOTESANDO: Sushi Izakaya Hachibei... so well balance we went twice! Sushi and Izakaya all in one spot.

This has got to be a first... I've never found such a well balanced restaurant serving sushi and having a great selection of Izakaya food items.  Went twice in a month with visiting co-workers from our Asia offices.

Tuna (Akami) in rolls and regular sushi style.

Panda Sake... not too shabby.

Long counter seating with a great view of the 4-5 sushi chefs, table seating along the wall and one private dining area,

Zukemaguro... seasoned Tuna sushi.  Gotta try this!


My 1st time with a co-worker from HK and UK.


Lots of Sushi selections.

Now my 2nd time with 2 ladies from HK and my Japanese boss... Was so glad she did all the ordering.  We tried so many interesting items.  Negitoro, Toro-Taku and Cucumber Anago was a hit!

Fresh "new" potatoes. 


Huge beans!

Zukemaguro (seasoned tuna)

Bamboo




For my company dinners I always order all the desserts... this night had a scoop of every ice cream one the menu.  Strawberry, rose and berry?


If you ever have foreign guests this place is a must!  You can indulge in proper sushi from the sushi chefs, eat casual Izakaya items and they even had Yakitori and beef items.  I'm sure I'll be back here for another company dinner.

Restaurant: Hachibei Sushi Izakaya Aoyama Branch
Address J: 東京都港区南青山3-15-13 青山グリーンヒルズ 1F
Address E: Tokyo, Minato-ku, Minami Aoyama 3-15-13
MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/hu6D3

八兵衛, 青山本店, はちべい, 寿司, 割烹, 小料理, 居酒屋, 表参道, Japan, Japanese, canon s120, foodie, tokyobelly, yelp, beer, shochu, jiro,

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

NERIMA: Watami Izakaya... this franchise has the best food PLUS 1,800yen very generous All You Can Drink!!


I have a good friend that drinks like a horse... so in order to keep our budget under check we always hit up a all-you-can-drink Izakaya.  This night we checked out Watami's 1,800yen 2 hour drink menu.

Quality menu starting from about 300 yen.

Gyoza was like 350yen... very good deal.

But this was the most awesome part of the huge all you can drink menu.  Normally when you order grapefruit sour they just add grapefruit liquor but Watami uses fresh Grapefruit!  We had about 3 each.




Huge glass of Imo-Shochu on the rocks... sure was extra big.


Menu items are mostly all pics.



So at the 2 hour point the waitress asked for our last drink order... we went for anther grapefruit sour with a Shochu chaser.  Its very unusual to be able to order 2 drinks to close and normally this happens at the 90min point. 



I've only had great experiences with Watami vs. comparable franchise Izakaya's.  Definitely a must if you don't read Japanese as the menu has lots of pictures and even more of a must if you are a heavy drinker.   

Restaurant: Watami Nerima Branch
Address J: 東京都練馬区豊玉北5-19-1 フジヤビル 1F 2F
Address E: Tokyo, Nerima-ku, Toyotamakita 5-19-1
MAP: https://goo.gl/maps/u7oTN


和民, 練馬店, わたみ, 居酒屋, Japan, Japanese, food, foodie, canon s120, beer, sake, sushi, sashimi, yakitori, yelp, tokyobelly, cheap,