Tokyo restaurant guide

[Samurai]

I think I'm somewhat out of place here.
A 19 year old girl said I was too old for her.
I understand that.
I'm definately not a roll-model here.

"bribing a chick to get in their pants"

I don't think I'm doing this intentionally.
But even if it seems to be so, I don't care and don't feel guilty.
I'm not looking for a marrige partner.

[randomcow]

I think it's a bit more complicated than that. Sometimes you get a girl all bribed-up, just to put her in a taxi and tell her goodbye. Forever.

RC

[Samurai]

You don't have to say goodbye to her forever at that point.
It's sometimes nice to have a private whore.
Okay, I'm a dirty old man.

[KansaiVet]

You kill me Samurai!

[kuroneko]

RC,

I do see where you're coming from and in principle I agree...
but on the other hand, my typical Roppongi date is more like this:

Meet for a drink - 2,000 yen
Dinner - 10,000 yen
Another drink to take things past last train - 3,000 yen
Taxi back to my place - 710 yen

Total: 15,710 yen.

If I was dropping 40,000 on one date then I'd only be able to have one or *possibly* 2 dates a month. As it is I prefer 1 a week.

[sakaya_slag]

I didn't mean to turn the thread into another "I never ever pay for girls, all those who do are FOOLS!" debate

We are all at different stages of life. If I was working long hours in a banking job, maybe I'd feel like splashing out a little. As it is, I am in the position of being rich on time and poor on cash. Also, when in Japan I'd usually have several dates per week so they needed to be cheap

At the end of the day, getting laid or not will depend more on your game than anything else. I hope it didn't sound like I was being critical of how guys choose to spend their money. The amounts involved just came as a surprise.

Izakaya date

1)Izakaya by MY STATION: 4000-6000 yen each.
2)Beers/Chuhais back home: 1000 yen

The second step went wrong once when we decided to get hammered at my place and I fell asleep next to the girl without doing anything

Cook yourself

Alternatively, cook for the girl (Samurai, I usually just direct the conversation towards food and how I can cook Italian etc etc..then it seems less weird for them to come around to "try it out"..maybe this is an advantage of being a "weird foreigner").

1)Food: 1000-1500 yen total

[DWTH]

Izakaya date

1)Izakaya by MY STATION: 4000-6000 yen each.
2)Beers/Chuhais back home: 1000 yen

The second step went wrong once when we decided to get hammered at my place and I fell asleep next to the girl without doing anything

Cook yourself

Alternatively, cook for the girl (Samurai, I usually just direct the conversation towards food and how I can cook Italian etc etc..then it seems less weird for them to come around to "try it out"..maybe this is an advantage of being a "weird foreigner").

1)Food: 1000-1500 yen total

This is pretty much what I do too. I do avoid Izakayas though as you end up paying more for less as you order all those little dishes and those add up. I was out last night in Shinagawa on a date, I went up to the top of the prince hotel to this restaurant up there. The total cost to me 2,000 for dinner (my share) she offered to pay 1,500 which was half the total bill of 3,000 and I paid a little more because I ate more of it so it was only fair that I pay more. So 2,000 for me plus transportation to get there are back around 430 yen or so, grand total: 2,430. About average cost for a date for me. I like to keep it under 3,000 or so. Again not to sound cheap but like Slag mentions I like to have a lot of dates so I have to keep it cheaper. I have been lucker here for a while and there have been some good posts about doing it even cheaper like that guy banging chicks on the banks of a river with just a couple of chu hais and that guy who takes chicks to parks. Things I might have to start trying.

I like the home date too. Right from first date start asking about what she likes while you order and or eat, perfectly natural topic of conversation and then move on to ask her if she can cook etc and what she can make. Finally hopefully she will ask you about what you can make (if not just tell her anyway and bring it up), build interest in your "cooking" as this sets the stages for a later date. Don't suggest anything just yet, I like to just plant the seed for now. Save it for the next date!

[kuroneko]

What the fuck did you eat in Top of Shinagawa that costs 3,000 yen for 2? A plate of fries with nothing to drink??

[tokyobloke]

Maybe I enjoy going to nice places and spending money on nice things?
I'll still occasionally spend Y50,000-Y80,000 on a fancy dinner with my wife and hell, I'm married! I get laid whether I take her to L'Osier or McDonalds.

No problem with that... hey if you enjoy the time out and spending money on nice things (like a wife for example) then all the power to you. I would be OK with spending money and having a good time with a wife if I had one. That is much different than just dating girls, especially when dating girls on a first date.

I don't think it's different at all. Back when I was dating fairly regularly I'd still go to nice places because I enjoyed going there. And if the bird was impressed by going somewhere good then that's a bonus, but certainly not my primary intention.

[DWTH]

What the fuck did you eat in Top of Shinagawa that costs 3,000 yen for 2? A plate of fries with nothing to drink??

A margarita pizza and shrimp pasta. Total cost: 3,000. It was decent, there was enough of it such that we were both full after it. No drinks as you said, I am not a drinker when on dates (no German beer around!) and my girls never order anthing to drink either. Works for me. Also on this date I took her to a river bank in Shinagawa for a walk, a trick I pulled off this site that that guy in Osaka posts about. Thank you!!

I don't think it's different at all. Back when I was dating fairly regularly I'd still go to nice places because I enjoyed going there.

Well for me it is different, I do not have the money to shell out for a girl I just met on the first date (still even if I did I would not either on a first date or with a girl I was just dating casually). As long as you guys are doing it and enjoying it and not doing it because you feel you have to do it to get into a girl's panties or paying for everything like a sucker "meishi kun" and getting nothing out of it while she is off banging her real boyfriend. This is the key difference as far as I see.

[randomcow]

Cook yourself

*snip*

1)Food: 1000-1500 yen total

See even this, I can't see how you can prepare anything for 1500 yen. Unless you already have an awesomely-stocked kitchen, I'm looking at 3000 yen for a basic spaghetti bolognese, Italian dressing salad and crusty bread. Add wine to that and you're back up to 5000 yen. Admittedly for this price you will have some left over, but it assumes you have some ingredients already, like olive oil.

I have been lucker here for a while and there have been some good posts about doing it even cheaper like that guy banging chicks on the banks of a river with just a couple of chu hais and that guy who takes chicks to parks. Things I might have to start trying.

You might have to also start trying to remember the names of the regulars around here, instead of just referring to everyone as "the guy". After all, you *have* been a lucker (sic) here for a while.

RC

[twist]

Back to food.

The restaurants I listed in an earlier page aren't expensive. If you pay, you can always get great food in Tokyo. I like finding gems where the food is great, restaurant has some character, and doesn't break your wallet.

[Samurai]

As someone pointed out, DWTH and I are playing different games.
I'm not interested in his game.
How many times do I have to say, "to each his own"?

[Chrome]

Wow someone else went to Ninja Akasaka? I ended up there for a birthday party, it was OK but more of a cool atmosphere than anything. Definitely for the tourist (and a bit pricey).

Is The Lockup actually decent? Seemed interesting but not sure what the menu is like.

[twist]

The menu's below average izakaya stuff, tho I haven't been there in a while..

[Orgasmo]

Is The Lockup actually decent? Seemed interesting but not sure what the menu is like.

Yeah, I like it. That company has 2 other themed izakayas in that building. I once took two executives from a large chemical company to the space themed one - they had never been to a place like it in their lives, it's kind of like a sexy version of the star ship enterprise, with cocktails! Got a pretty juicy contract out of them that week.

However, my joke about the "where's the jibakudan cocktail?" in the Arabian themed place didn't go down too well.

[skillskull]

Am digging up this corpse of a thread to sing the praise of Sushi Mizutani in Ginza.

Some of you may have already heard of it as it got 3 Michelin stars this year.

Went there in August on the coin of a CEO friend of mine, and it was really spectacular. The chef, the eponymous Mizutani, obviously makes everything himself directly under your eyes and only uses the best stuff available (at least in Tokyo, 'cause to be fair some fresh-out-the-sea sushi I had in Miyagi-ken was even better).
He's sort of gruff, doesn't like non-japanese-speaking foreigners, but warmed up to us pretty quickly once he understood we weren't FOBs.

Wasn't mad expensive either, like 35 000 Y for two and getting a reservation wasn't really difficult.

And and and the half-Japanese-half-American-but-raised-in-Paris waitress is really stunning.
She's his niece too.

[sakaya_slag]

Thanks for the review. A bit out of my budget but I'm sure some the guys on here wouldn't blink at 4man for a meal.

For sushi, I personally stick to Sushi Sei in Tsukiji. Fantastic stuff. It has now become a chain but make no mistake, it does very good sushi. Shouldn't cost more than 1man for two, and that is with nihonshu.

Best I have ever had in Japan has to be Hakodate though. So fresh and a fraction of what you pay in Tokyo.

[skillskull]

Thanks for the tip man. Will try it out next time I'm in Tokyo -I'm a bit ashamed to say that in 7 years in Japan I never went once to Tsukiji.

Since we're on sushi, I can't understand why all the sushi places they have in Paris are so shitty, even the expensive ones that are crewed by real, pure-blooded Japanese. It's raw fish and rice for Christ's sake.

But Paris sucks on so many levels it's not a surprise they manage to fuck it up.

[tokyobloke]

Best I have ever had in Japan has to be Hakodate though. So fresh and a fraction of what you pay in Tokyo.

YES! The best Japanese meal I've ever had was in Hakodate at some semi-touristy place by the port area. It was absolutely mind-blowing. Super fresh sashimi, the most amazing crab, scallops, fish, etc etc. And cheap as chips as well, despite me and my old man drinking our weight in Sapporo Classic.