Tokyo

I like the InterContinental Tokyo hotel. This was my 5th stay at the hotel having stayed here in 2015, 2016, 2017 and at the start of this trip before I headed to Toyama.

The last day of my 4th Japan trip had arrived and after popping into Bic Camera in Akasaka I strolled back towards my hotel and along the way I knew I’d be heading past a restaurant called Masamune which specialises in tonkatsu, crumbed pork cutlets.

After my offal yakitori I headed pretty much next door to the Ottotto Brewery.

If you don’t go out of your comfort zone every now and then when you travel you are possibly missing out. On a rainy Friday evening in Tokyo in the Hamamatsucho area I pulled up a map looking for yakitori and there was one with pretty good reviews less than 100 metres away.

After Barley Wheat I wandered over to the Hamarikyu Gardens for a relaxing stroll and then I headed back towards Hamamatsucho to find a bar called The Lower Right. As you go down the stairs the bar is on the right – hence the name The Lower Right.

My final full day in Tokyo became a bit of a beerfest over in the Shibadaimon area. For lunch I went to Barley Wheat.

Pongala Curry is a small chain of Sri Lankan curry restaurants – 2 in Tokyo and one in Osaka. The one I visited in Tokyo is in the north Ark Hills building next to the InterContinental hotel.

On the ground floor of the building immediately outside the east entrance to Shimbashi Station is a small standing bar with room for around 20 people standing up around the small bar.

There’s two things I like when I travel – beer and meat. Today’s lunch at Craft Meat in Shibaura would satisfy both. In the morning I’d headed upto Asakusa for a quick look around and jumped on the ferry service to Hinode Pier. From Hinode Pier it was a nice walk to Craft Meat getting … Continue reading Craft Meat, Tokyo, Japan

After a couple of beers at the 82 Ale House I’d headed out looking for dinner which proved to be harder than I thought it would be on a Wednesday evening in autumn. After a couple of tries I found Toritetsu, a yakitori restaurant, near Akasaka subway station and headed in.

In the early evening I headed back into Akasaka looking for a drink and some dinner. I had a bit of a shortlist of bars – one I couldn’t find, the other wasn’t open yet so I headed to the 82 Ale House.

After exploring some more of Akasaka in the morning with a visit to the closeby Hie Shrine I headed into the Yona Yona Beer Kitchen that’s situated pretty much right on top of Akasaka-mitsuke subway station. DSC04437 (October 17, 2018)

I was now back in Tokyo for the tail end of my trip. In the past I hadn’t explored the Akasaka area so was determined to do so this time. A search pointed me to a restaurant / bar with very good reviews about 200 metres from my hotel by the name of Sansa.

When I first stayed at the ANA InterContinental Tokyo several years ago I stumbled across a great little katsu restaurant, Tonkatsu Wako, in the adjacent Ark Hills complex but when I went looking for it last year I found that it had closed. Good news though, another great katsu restaurant, Kanazawa Katsuzo, has recently opened up in the … Continue reading Kanazawa Katsuzo, Ark Hills, Tokyo, Japan

I’d arrived in Tokyo the previous evening for my 4th holiday in Japan and after exchanging my JR Pass I’d hopped on the Yamanote Line heading towards Shimbashi Station and started walking back towards my hotel. As I was heading through Toranomon I bought up the magnificent map of Japanese craft beers to see what was … Continue reading Craft Beer Market, Toranomon, Tokyo, Japan

My final day in Japan had arrived and I jumped on the train and headed out towards Meiji Jingu. I wandered up the slight hill from Meiji-jingumae Station towards Omote-sando Station with no firm intention other than to have one final great meal. A quick recon of my map app showed me there was a highly recommended … Continue reading Tonkatsu Maisen Aoyama Honten, Omote-sando, Tokyo, Japan

During my 3 trips to Tokyo I still had not been able to see Mt Fuji from the city. It’s at always been to mirky or cloudy to see much. On my last evening in Japan for this trip I decided to head down to Roppongi Hills where there is an observation deck on the … Continue reading Rigoletto Bar and Grill, Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan

For my 2nd lunch after the yakitori at Kanoya I went upto the restaurant floor at Yodabashi Camera in Akihabara and headed for Craft Tap Beer. I’ve been here once before and I thought it was overpriced that time… that’s now been confirmed.

I was in Ueno after visiting Asakusa and started feeling peckish. I stumbled across a yakitori restaurant and had what would turn out to be my last yakitori meal in Japan this trip, and what would also turn out to be my first of two lunches today.

After a couple of beers at the Toranomon branch of the Craft Beer Market I went looking for dinner. About a block away was Toriyasu, a yakitori restaurant.

During my previous stays at the Tokyo InterContinental I’d not explored the Toramonom area, but tonight that would change. I made the small walk to Toramonom in about 15 minutes and headed to the narrow streets to the south of the main road, Sotobori Dori. There were heaps of small eating establishments, but as it … Continue reading Craft Beer Market, Toramonom, Tokyo, Japan

After a quick ride on the Yurikamome, formally the Tokyo Waterfront New Transit Waterfront Line, from Shimbashi to the island of Odaiba via the Rainbow Bridge I arrived at what I can only describe as a a mixture of a mega shopping centre and a themepark. I had a quick walk around and was mostly underwhelmed so … Continue reading France-Tei, Aqua City Odaiba, Tokyo, Japan

You might have heard of Omoide Yokocho by another name – Piss Alley – charming hey! Piss Alley is a small area adjacent to Shinjuku Station in Tokyo with about 70 small eating establishments crammed into a space not much larger than a soccer pitch.

For the second year running I was in Tokyo in late August, and the Yona Yona popup beer garden was again in action in the Ark Hills shopping centre next to the InterContinental Tokyo ANA.

After a couple of beers at TAP x TAP and Craft Beer Market Kanda I headed off to find dinner with my phone in hand.

After TAP x TAP I proceeded to the Kanda outlet of the Craft Beer Market chain. Probably no further than 200m from TAP x TAP if you don’t get lost.

After the 90 minute Shinkansen trip from Nagano I was now back in Tokyo for the final couple of days of my trip. Before I’d flown to Japan I’d found an article talking about the craft beer scene that was popping up in Japan, and in Tokyo around the Kanda Station area. True to form … Continue reading TAP x TAP, Kanda, Tokyo, Japan

A great hotel, great location, a quick walk to Tameike-Sanno Subway Station and a little further away from Akasaka Subway Station.

Having landed at Narita Airport at the start of my 3rd Japan trip, I jumped on the next Keisei Skyliner for Nippori Station where I transferred to the Yamanote line arriving at Hamamatsucho Station just in time for the last shuttle bus to my hotel. I wanted to stay in Tokyo rather than Narita as … Continue reading InterContinental Tokyo Bay, Tokyo, Japan

I’m a sucker for Tonkatsu – Japanese crumbed and deep fried pork cutlets. Yummy! On my first trip to Japan I stumbled across this restaurant (which I later found out was a chain) on my last night in Tokyo, so when I came back to Tokyo for my second trip I knew I’d be having a couple … Continue reading Tonkatsu Wako, Ark Hills, Tokyo, Japan

Ark Hills in Tokyo has a good selection of restaurants and bars to chill at after a day of exploring Tokyo.

One thing that you miss when you travel in Asia is a decent coffee. And NO, Starbucks is NOT coffee!

It was my penultimate day in Tokyo and had decided to head over to Akihabara to check out the gadget shops on a Sunday afternoon.

I’d arrived at Haneda Airport for my flight to Sydney a little early and the Qantas check-in wasn’t open yet. I opened up TripAdvisor to see what were my options were for one last Japanese feast and I found that there was a Yakitori close by. At the back of the public international departures concourse … Continue reading Suginoko, Haneda Airport, Tokyo, Japan

After Kyoto I returned to Tokyo and decided to stay at the other InterContinental property near Roppongi. As soon as you walk into the lobby you know you’re in a classy place. Check-in was super efficient and I got a personal welcome from the manager due to my IHG Ambassador status.

Having just arrived in Tokyo and being totally overwhelmed by the mega city of Tokyo, I arrived at my hotel for the first part of my Japan holiday. I’d planned on how to get to the InterContinental Tokyo Bay from Narita Airport but that all went to pot when I only bought a train ticket … Continue reading InterContinental Tokyo Bay, Tokyo, Japan