Feb 5, 2025
With the Trigun Exhibition coming up, I put together my recommendations for the Ikebukuro area. I hope everyone has a great time! I can't wait to see pictures
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With the Trigun Exhibition coming up, I put together my recommendations for the Ikebukuro area. I hope everyone has a great time! I can't wait to see pictures
初めて行った幽霊居酒 // Yurei Izakaya Ghost Pub Gosh, this was so goofy and fun. Every jump scare had me on the ceiling because I am ridiculous, but I’d love to go back. Highlights include:
A severed hand that you use to call the servers (they can’t see the back counter seats because of the bloodstained paper window screens, so you slam the hand in the window to get their attention)
Skeleton cups and general spooky decor, including a life-size coffin that you can get inside (from which you can listen to the staff conducting a funeral service for you)
Noise-activated spiders that drop from the ceiling onto your head (ours was named Jonathan, I think?)
A giant mural with GeGeGe no Kitarō characters
A special Russian roulette course, including wasabi-stuffed fried chikuwa, wasabi-stuffed cream puffs, wasabi-stuffed gyoza, and mystery shots that are either melon soda or green tequila. Whether you get the roulette food or the real food tells you whether you go to heaven or hell, and if you’re going to hell, they bring you a special little hat. (I got all three wasabi bites in a row, landing me in the third circle of hell, with three little hats that I arranged in a crown. By the third one, I cried a little; I ate a lot of wasabi.)
You’re going on the vacation of a lifetime — Two weeks in Japan! If you’re the one going then why is your boyfriend more excited than you are about it? After...
You’re going on the vacation of a lifetime — Two weeks in Japan! If you’re the one going then why is your boyfriend more excited than you are about it? After you told him your plans, he doesn’t hesitate to give you some suggestions based on his experiences. You end up daydreaming a little about potential experiences as described by your boyfriend.
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Based on a recommendation from @todayintokyo, I went to Dandelion Chocolatory in Kuramae. It was amazing! The smell of the chocolate factory was beyond my imagination; it was like floating on a chocolate cloud all day. It’s also a gorgeous and comfortable place to get some work done.
I got a Mission Hot Chocolate (which is only mildly sweet, but almondy and noticeably spicy), and it came with a yummy chocolate chip tuille cookie, and(!!!) as many homemade marshmallows as I wanted. (I think I had three.)
They also do carry-out; my friend got hot chocolate mix for his very lucky partner, and I brought home the best chocolate chip oatmeal cookie of my life so far and a frankly enormous brownie... which was actually, maybe, a little too chocolatey? If such a thing exists. I had to eat it over four sittings and it was still overwhelming. I absolutely will be going back, though.
河童橋でカフェタイム // Teatime in Kappabashi Scones and jam and clotted cream, plus a reeeally refreshing lavender iced tea. This place is so good.
猫のラテアート // Kitty Latte Art Spent a few hours working at Caffice in Shinjuku (cafe + office – a portmanteau that doesn’t really work in English). I like that they have outlets at all the seats, and also decent-looking food. The drawback is that their drinks are about twice the price of a Starbucks and they require you to order something every two hours. But, on the other hand, they have bottomless wine: ¥1500 (~$14) for two hours. Which, while not conducive to getting work done, is nonetheless very good to know…
An Ongoing Quest: The Best Bread in Tokyo
I’ve been meaning to get this up for literally forever, but here is a running list of places in Tokyo where the bread is actually worth eating, assembled thanks to exhaustive research from bread sommelier @todayintokyo and some input from me. THE BEST BREAD IN TOKYO Backerei Kaffe Linde (multiple locations) City Bakery (multiple locations) Gouter Le Ble (multiple locations) Le Pain Quotidien (multiple locations) Maison Kayser (multiple locations) Ozo Bagel (Nihonbashi; currently on hiatus 😢) Paul (multiple locations) Saint-Germain (multiple locations)
HONORABLE MENTIONS & SWEETS Andersen Bakery (multiple locations) Beard Papa (huge chain; cream puffs; possibly the best smelling place in Japan) Donq (multiple locations) Fujiya (pastry; huge chain) Ginnoan (taiyaki/croissant taiyaki; huge chain) Higurashi Garden (book cafe(!), Nippori) Levain (Yoyogi-Hachiman) Inamura Shozo (patissiere/chocolatiere; Yanaka) Tarui Bakery (Omotesando)
To be updated as further discoveries are made...
Quest for non-sweet prepackaged coffee
I recall having this issue the last time I was in Japan in 2019 as well, but why is every coffee can and bottle in a vending machine always sweetened?? I like milk in my coffee, but not sugar. But from what I have found, it's either black coffee or sweetened coffee with cream/milk. Same deal for hot and cold coffees and lattes. I would expect a latte to not be sweetened but nope, they are almost all sweet!
This is not an issue when ordering coffee in cafes. They usually ask if I want it hot or cold and then if I want sugar. I actually have a new favorite type of coffee for when sitting down at a café: ウインナー・コーヒー (Vienna Coffee). When I look up the romanization, a different style of coffee appears on google, but this is definetly translated to "Vienna coffee." I tried ordering as it is spelt (Wainna cohi) a couple times, but the staff just asked "Vienna cohi?" At least in Tokyo this is a black coffee or expresso base with a dollop of thick cream on top. It's not usually sweetened so I like it a lot. Very smooth and creamy. Even when it is a sweet cream, it is very very mild.
In 7/11 I have found a refrigerated latte in prepackaged cup that is sometimes labeled as non-sweet. Today I tried a metal bottled latte that was not sweet but tasted very watery.
I'm always on the hunt for coffee that tastes decent and has no sugar 😪