Until very recently, shochu has had the reputation for attracting a target audience of elderly or homeless people, due to its cheap price and high alcoholic content (around 25%).  But back in 2003, shochu not only caught up with the more sophisticated sake (rice wine), but actually outsold its grown up cousin for the first…

Teppanyaki is a style of dining that came to be after World War II when Japanese chefs tried cooking Western foods on Teppan (literally iron plate or griddle.) This style of cooking became very popular with foreigners in Japan as the foods were more familiar to them than traditional Japanese fare. While most foreigners think…

If food is music, then this is the bass line. It underpins everything, holding the meal together as much as the seasonal theme of ingredients does. It runs through dishes and over your taste buds just on the edge of conscious thought. It makes your mouth water, but odds are that you seldom notice it….

You can change the stuffing, try a new gravy and even add some sautéed aubergines to the vegetable platter to mix things up, but at the end of the day a roast turkey is still a roast turkey. The chances are you’ve been there and done that – done it to death no doubt. Similarly…

The Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo opened in Tokyo’s revitalized Marunouchi district on March 2nd of this year. This hotel is committed to offering guests in Tokyo the same level of service and hospitality that Shangri-La is known for at all of their properties. The Shangri-La Hotel, Tokyo occupies the top 11 floors of the Marunouchi Trust…

blocky concrete buildings reach outwards in an organised jumble of unbroken monochrome until it reaches another neighborhood, another station. It is Saturday, almost noon, and commuters come and go through the streets of the typical shopping district behind the station. A couple of greengrocers compete for attention, plastic baskets of oranges and apples displayed to…

The long history of Japanese sake is one that continues to be hotly debated among connoisseurs of the revered beverage. While some claim that sake has been with us for about 2,000 years, others believe that Japanese sake, in its current incarnation, has existed for about 1,000 years. Either way, the history of sake stretches…

Known as one of the world’s most famous Dim Sum restaurants from Hong Kong, Tim Ho Wan opened a new branch in Hibiya, located near the newly opened Tokyo MidTown Hibiya, across from the new Godzilla statue. The restaurants Mong Kok, Hong Kong branch has been featured in the Michelin Guide since 2010 gaining internationally…

Those aficionados of Japanese cuisine who have snacked on sushi and slurped udon cannot consider themselves to be true gourmets until they have tried kaiseki ryori, that most traditional of traditional cuisine eaten in Japan. Kaiseki derives it’s meaning from the words for “hot stone” (seki) and “kimono pocket” (kai). Historically, it is said that Buddhist…

Although Christmas and its Western trappings have become more and more popular in Japan, New Year’s or Oshogatsu as it known locally is the Grand Daddy of all Japanese holidays. Leading up to the end of the year, many people will take part at bonenkai or “parties to forget the year” with friends, former classmates…