Restaurant Review
Suba, Kyoto: THE contemporary soba shop
Soba shops (or buckwheat noodle bars) are as popular as ramen shops in Japan. One of a few […]
Restaurant Review
Restaurant Review
DIG THE LINE, Kyoto: European beer bar at ShinPuhKan
DIG THE LINE (or DIG THE LINE BOTTLE & BAR) is a stylish European beer bar at Kyoto’s […]
Restaurant Review
Bisan: Tokyo’s only Palestinian restaurant
Bisan (ビサン) is Tokyo’s only unequivocal Palestinian restaurant by Chef Sudki Mansour Sudki from Bisan (or Beit She’an […]
Restaurant Review
Rutubo, Kyoto, Japan: Smoked food bar in Gion
Downtown Kyoto’s prominent Gion (祇園) neighborhood is where Rutubo is at. Past the antique store-ish facade of Rutubo […]
Restaurant Review
Daidokoro Tenya, Kyoto, Japan: Downright cozy izakaya
A discreet alley behind Kyoto’s poshest shopping mall ‘BAL’ is where a cozy izakaya ‘Daidokoro Tenya (台所 てんや […]
Restaurant Review
The Kosher Wok, Brookline, US: Best Chinese schnitzel ever!
During my 3-year stay in Israel, I was basically a Japanese diaspora who was craving for pan-Asian food. […]
Restaurant Review
Imai Shokudo, Kyoto: Legendary simmered fish shop
Simmered fish (煮魚/nizakana or 魚の煮付け/sakana no nitsuke) is a quintessential seafood dish in Japan. Especially with mackerel (鯖の煮付け/saba […]
Restaurant Review
Ki: Kyoto’s only Lebanese bistro
Ki (汽) is such a sophisticated, fast casual bistro in chic Gojo in Kyoto City. It’s impossible to […]
Restaurant Review
EAGLE TOKYO & EAGLE TOKYO BLUE: Best Gay Bear Bars in Japan
EAGLE TOKYO and EAGLE TOKYO BLUE are the best gay bear bars / the most tourist-friendly gay bars […]
Restaurant Review
Sameya, Hyogo: Kobe Chinatown’s shark ramen
Jaws! That’s what I said when I saw Sameya’s signboard. Lame, I sounded naive: I wasn’t ready to […]
Restaurant Review
Pyongyang Reimenya, Hyogo: North Korean-inspired cold noodles
Pyongyang Reimenya (Ganso Heijo Reimenya Honten / 元祖 平壌冷麺屋 本店)’s founder is said to be the first to […]
Restaurant Review
Vegan Ramen UZU Kyoto: THAT teamLab ramen shop
Vegan Ramen UZU Kyoto is sort of understood as a teamLab ramen shop. teamLab is a Japanese company […]
Restaurant Review
O Thanasis: Athens’s best kebab shop
O Thanasis in Athens is probably the most famous kebab shop in Greece. If not, definitely in Athens. […]
Restaurant Review
Nasco Food Court: Japanized kebab at Tokyo’s Islam Alley
Nasco Food Court on Islam Alley (イスラム横丁) in Tokyo’s Koreatown “Shin Okubo (新大久保)” offers traditional, Japanized Turkish-ish doner […]
Restaurant Review
Mustafa’s Gemuse Kebap: Berlin’s best kebab
Here’s what Mustafa’s Gemuse Kebap (Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebap) in Berlin looks like. There are also a menu, a […]
Restaurant Review
Komakata Dojo, Tokyo: THE loach specialty restaurant
Komakata Dojo’s founder Sukeshichi Echigoya (越後屋助七) is said to have invented dojo nabe (dozeu nabe / どぜう鍋 / […]
Restaurant Review
Tsurutontan Soemoncho: Osaka’s most luxurious udon chain
Tsurutontan is an Osaka-based Japanese udon chain. Here’s what the original location of the chain “Tsurutontan Soemoncho (つるとんたん […]
Restaurant Review
Falafel Garden: Kyoto’s only Israeli restaurant
At Demachiyanagi Station (出町柳駅), one of the Kyoto-est stations, it’s a signboard of Falafel Garden that first welcomes […]
Restaurant Review
Men Tenten: Tel Aviv’s best ramen bar
In Tel Aviv, Israel’s Tokyo (but not the capital city), sushi is as popular as sandwiches in Tokyo. […]
Restaurant Review
Nautika Restaurant, Dubrovnik’s most famous restaurant
Nautika Restaurant is prestigious: Pope John Paul II dined there, the first female president of Croatia “Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović” […]
Restaurant Review
Seirinkan: Best Neapolitan pizza in Tokyo
Seirinkan (聖林館) is considered as one of the best pizzerias in Japan partly because it appeared in a […]
Restaurant Review
Best restaurants at Ace Hotel Kyoto
Ace Hotel Kyoto is the first Asian location of an American hotel chain “Ace Hotel.” Here’s a list […]
Restaurant Review
Mr. Gyoza, Kyoto, Japan: Realest chuka joint
Chuka joint (中華食堂 / chuka shokudo) means Japanese-Chinese restaurant. It’s got a vibe. Like people don’t call diners […]
Restaurant Review
Uri Buri, Acre: Best seafood in Israel
Sashimi, Coquille St. Jacques, and more. *I last visited the restaurant in 2018. Uri Buri is a legend […]
Restaurant Review
Totto Ramen, Boston: Japanese chicken paitan ramen chain
Here’s what I ate at Totto Ramen at South Bay, Boston. Totto Ramen T-shirt at the entrance of […]
Restaurant Review
Ogawa Coffee USA, Boston: Japanese cafe chain from Kyoto
Kyoto is the sister city of Boston and the capital of tourism in Japan. It’s also the capital […]
Restaurant Review
Tsurutontan, Boston: Japan’s udon chain from Osaka
I tried their signature udon, perfect sushi, and New England Japanese appetizers at Tsurutontan Udon Noodle Brasserie, Boston. […]
Restaurant Review
Okonomiyaki Mizuno: Osaka’s Michelin-listed soul food eatery
Here’s Okonomiyaki Mizuno’s signature okonomiyaki. Japanese yams, pork belly, and scallops. Yum. *I last visited the restaurant in […]
Restaurant Review
3 best Israeli restaurants in Osaka
Israeli food is often interpreted as Middle Eastern food in Japan. That means homogenized Turkish-ish Japanese doner kebab […]
Restaurant Review
PIKAPOLONCA: Japan’s only Slovenian restaurant in Kyoto
A Kyoto house disguised as a Slovenian eatery. It’s a real-life Studio Ghibli movie. – Sushi Sandwich PIKAPOLONCA […]
Restaurant Review
LE CAFE V, Osaka: The first Louis Vuitton cafe in the world
In 2020, Louis Vuitton opened LE CAFE V in Osaka, Japan. LE CAFE V, Louis Vuitton’s first cafe, […]
Restaurant Review
Tacofini, Osaka: Mexican Japanese taco stand izakaya
Tacofini (タコフィニ / Tacos Del Infinito) offers authentic tacos and classic izakaya repertoire with a Mexican twist. It’s […]
Restaurant Review
Walden Woods Kyoto: The white cafe of Henry David Thoreau
Inspired by Walden; or, Life in the Woods written by Henry David Thoreau from Concord, Massachusetts, Walden Woods […]
Restaurant Review
4 coolest coffee chains in Kyoto
Kyoto City’s coffee consumption is the biggest in Japan (according to nikkei.com). It’s the war zone for coffee […]
Restaurant Review
Ohsho vs. Tenkaippin: 2 Kings of Chinese food chains in Japan
Ohsho (Gyoza no Ohsho / 餃子の王将) and Tenkaippin (天下一品) are the most famous Chinese food chains in Japan. […]
Restaurant Review
Umayarou, Kyoto, Japan: Horse meat izakaya
Horse bastard! That’s what Umayarou(馬野郎) means in Japanese. The name screams everything about what Umayarou has to neigh: […]
Restaurant Review
Video Pub: The only gay bar in Jerusalem
“LGBTGIF and L’chaim.” – Sushi Sandwish Israel’s most populated city Jerusalem might not be the most popular destination […]
Restaurant Review
RESTAURANT KIEV, Kyoto: Ukrainian/Russian eatery in Kyiv’s sister city
A Studio Ghibli anime-like eatery, legendary RESTAURANT KIEV (レストラン キエフ), offers exquisite Soviet cuisine with a Japanese Chinese […]
Restaurant Review
Piano Bar at The Walled Off Hotel, Bethlehem, Palestine: Queers with beer
My queer buddies and I grabbed a Palestinian beer at the “worst-view-in-the-world” hotel’s bar in the West Bank. […]
Restaurant Review
Natsumame, Kyoto: THE natto specialty restaurant in Japan
Kyoto’s only natto specialty restaurant, Natto Sosaku Cuisine Natsumame (納豆創作料理 夏豆) offers Japanese comfort food ingeniously concocted with […]
Restaurant Review
Itosen, Kyoto: Japan’s geisha-optimized Chinese food in oldest geisha district
Itosen (糸仙) in Japan’s oldest geisha district Kamishichiken (上七軒) offers Kyoto Chinese Japanese cuisine (KMC / Kyoto machi […]
Restaurant Review
3 best Israeli restaurants in Tokyo
Here are the 3 best Israeli restaurants and 5 other famous Levantine / Mediterranean / Middle Eastern restaurants […]
Restaurant Review
Furusato, Kyoto, Japan: “Welcome home” izakaya
The syncretic Japanese promised land Furusato (ふる里) offers authentic Japanese homespun meals. How about some whale bacon? “Welcome […]
Restaurant Review
Ikura Mokuzai, Kyoto, Japan: Understated, lumber supplier izakaya
Who knew a lumber supplier could supply exquisite Japanese seafood? It’s so Kyoto. In Kyoto, being understated seems […]
Restaurant Review
Aketotemoro, Kyoto, Japan: WTH izakaya
A contemporary izakaya with a red light. Japanese bar food at its best. A red light at Aketotemoro. […]
Restaurant Review
Miznon, Tel Aviv: Israel’s most famous street food
In Tel Aviv, the first location of an internationally renowned Israeli street food chain, Miznon by Eyal Shani, […]
Restaurant Review
Koin Agaru, Kyoto, Japan: Exquisite pork butakushi in the ’80s dreamy vibe
Japanese pork skewer (butakushi) izakaya, Koin Agaru, offers bistro-esque Japanese contemporary dishes. It is to savor pork tongue […]
Restaurant Review
Mo-an, Kyoto: Local legend Japanese cafe in mountain hideaway
Atop a Hayao Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke-esque mountain is Japan’s Cultural Heritage site also known as Mo-an, the Japanese […]