Vol. 2 - Tokyo
A Postcard from... Higashiazabu
Lucy, founder of Souvenir, sends us a postcard from Higashiazabu, the neighbourhood of Tokyo she called home during her family's 5-week trip through Japan.
“Staying here make you feel like you're living in Tokyo not just visiting”
Hello from…
Higashiazabu, in the south west of Tokyo. At first glance it’s a peaceful residential neighbourhood but look closer and its jam-packed with creative studios, tiny chef-owned restaurants and there’s an adorable local playground, too. Staying here makes you feel like you’re living in Tokyo not just visiting. ‘Higashi’ means ‘East’ and it’s a micro enclave of the Azabujūban area which is a stone’s throw from the bustling Roppongi area with all of its big-name hotels and gallery institutions.
Where we’re staying…
We're staying in a 2-bed apartment called Ken's Place. It's nothing extraordinary but it's clean and well-equipped and has a lift.
The best meals we’ve had…
A friend of a friend generously babysat for us, and we managed two glorious evenings out. Une Pincée is a tiny and chic counter French restaurant, run by smiley chef Naoya Mahori who skilfully prepared us a menu of seasonal French-inspired dishes with a Japanese eye for incredible ingredient-sourcing, presentation detail, and ceramics. Dessert was the yummiest oozing chocolate souffle I’ve ever had. After dinner we settled in at Bar830 where the server and my husband enthused about Japanese whiskeys, and we were introduced to a couple of small-batch whiskeys that aren’t exported outside of Japan. Another evening, I took a friend to Hinichinichi, another heavenly owner-run neighbourhood restaurant that puts the perfect level of creative spin on classic Japanese dishes, with natural wine and sake pairings.
The most fun things we’ve done…
We’ve loved wandering around the backstreets of Azabujūban and discovering little gems like Rice & Design, a graphic design studio-turned-rice shop that will prepare your choice of rice varieties from specialty farm around Japan as you watch. In goes your husked grains into a rickety but charming machine, which spits out your perfectly polished white rice.
One evening, my husband did dinner and bedtime with our toddler, and I took my eldest for a five-course ice cream dinner at Glace L’Etoile, complete with a vegetable ice cream course and lots of liquid nitrogen which she loved.
Some things we learned…
We learned that rice is not just rice, oh no. It’s graded for softness, sweetness, chewiness and shine!
The souvenir I’m bringing home…
A pack of ‘Milky Princess’ rice from Nagano, some Japanese interior design magazines from Tsutaya – both for me, and a beautifully presented box of pretty biscuits from Tsuredure Kashi as a gift.
What the kids will remember most…
They had to be torn away from the Sakurazaka playground between Azabujūban and Roppongi because of the colouful tube slides and long roller track that winds down the hill.
Lucy's full 4-day itinerary in Tokyo with young kids
