Re: Romantic restaurants in Tokyo etc.
Thanks to all for the advice and various suggestions. On the basis of a
thoroughly unscientific survey of romantic and not-so-romantic
establishments in Tokyo over the weekend, here are some plus/minus
points for some of the places we went to for anyone who cares.
1. The Fukuoka Kaikan just down the road from the British Embassy is not
a good place for a romantic lunch, though the actual lunch itself was
pretty damn good. We ended up eating there because the section of the
British Embassy I needed to visit was closed until mid afternoon. (In
case any one is curious, the British Embassy is also not a good place to
start romancing. While she thought the architecture was rather
natsukashii, the security at the gate shocked her a little. I had to
drag her in there because I had to file some papers. We then had to head
to the Irish Embassy, which inevitably perhaps, was actually quite fun)
2. A high ceiling, peace and quiet and some smoke free space is not
usually what comes to mind when you say "The Shamrock" near Kichioji
station. We were killing time before dinner. Her first ever Guiness was
poured and brought to the table by a young gentleman wearing and
speaking green. "What language was he speaking Dekuran?", "English
darling, English", "It wasn't Irish?", "No darling, it was English",
"Are you sure?", "Yes dear, it wasn't Mikawa-ben, so it must have been
English", "But what language did you reply in?" etc etc etc.
3. Niraikamei Okinawan restaurant also in Kichioji was kinda fun, except
that you are packed in elbow to elbow. The beer from Ishigaki was damn
fine, and if you are reading this Ryan, I found that I actually liked
eating fried pig's ears. The bar staff apparently also read fjlij - as
Ryan's awamori based cocktail recipe was doing the rounds. In most cases
with a dash of blue curacao, even though I couldn't see any gaigin
around resembling Bryan.
4. Kubakan in Aoyama was simply heaven.
5. The bar at the top of the tower of the New Otani Hotel was
surprisingly small and noisy, probably due to a table of 8 or so
eurotrash gaigins across the way from us. Nice yakei views, though
motoakasaka was just a great black hole. Enjoyed a very nice Fonseca
port, but its not the sort of place to go down on one knee in.
6. Tete-a-Tete (mega thanks to John Yamamoto Hyphen Wilson) was also
good. We didn't arrive until late, and with the exception of another
couple had the place to ourselves. The duck was good, the wine better,
the dessert wonderful. Very nice atmosphere.
7. Garden Lounge at the New Otani has a nice brunch. Its a nice place to
slowly wake up in when you sleep in until 11. I hadn't been to the
garden there before and was interested in its history. The garden itself
is nice-ish, though nowhere as nice as the Ii family's other garden down
in Hikone. About the only thing spoiling the place was a noisy sepponian
photographer screaming and shouting instructions to the family he was
shooting pictures of.
8. At Tokyo station, a lazy lunch/afternoon downstairs in Mikuni. The
only time I've ever seen kaiten sushi look appetising. Dessert in the
train style dining cars - a good idea as you have a lot of privacy but
don't feel boxed in.
--
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The captain is brave, he's a fearless man,
And Gilligan help him all that he can.
The wheel, she break, and lose all control;
S.S. Minnow do the rock-and-roll!
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