food/ May 26, 2026
The Endless Aisle
A food critic walks the department-store basement, where a ¥10,000 gift melon sits one counter from a ¥300 croquette.

A food critic walks the department-store basement, where a ¥10,000 gift melon sits one counter from a ¥300 croquette.

Not a weird-Japan novelty but a designed answer to the missed last train — stacked pods, shared baths, and exactly enough room.

A food critic's case for the dim, wood-panelled coffee houses where one hand-dripped cup takes four minutes and nobody hurries you out.

What does sakura actually taste of? Not cherries — it never did. A critic's autopsy of the pink season.

A critic's guide to the izakaya: the toriaezu beer, the small plates in waves, the otoshi ambush, and the etiquette of the shared table
