DUG

Tuesday, October 8, 2024 (Tokyo)

I have never had bad food in Japan. Finding bad food, from fast-food joints to the highest-priced restaurants, is nearly impossible. One thing is equal: the quality and taste of Japanese-made dishes. 7-11, here is a gold mine of fun things to eat. What I miss from the Showa era of fast food is the potato salad sandwich on white bread. And then there was the spaghetti sandwich, but even that has disappeared from Tokyo citizens’s memory. Oh, and of course, cream/fruit sandwiches, which I guess are more of a dessert or sweet snack but are still very much in the tradition of the international sandwich. These sandwiches do exist, but they seem more challenging to find. Or maybe they run out of them before I get to the local convenience store.

Here, potato salads are smoother, with additional small pieces of ham or carrot, and quickly spread on bread. It doesn’t seem real because one thinks kids would eat that stuff, but looking at them makes my mouth water. Keep in mind this is the only food I would eat alone. I would never eat these sandwiches with my wife or friends. There seems to be something wrong with a 70-year-old man eating such junky food with great enjoyment. It doesn’t yell out sophistication. On the other hand, it is not that different from the great American sandwich, the Peanut Butter and Jam, which I ate when I was a young tot. I’m surprised to learn that this sandwich came from the American Forces during World War II.

We had dinner in Shibuya, not far from Tower Records, at a Tex-Mex restaurant where one would swear we were in California once inside.  Nakano, Kuri, Lulu, and Amore were with us, and I had a vegetarian burrito. Also, there are guacamole, chips, and various hot sauces with margaritas. This was the first time I had Mexican food in Japan. As suspected, foreigners are there with their Asian dates or a pair of Bros munching on the food. If this place were in Los Angeles, it would be wrong, but being in Tokyo, it was really something. In other words, I liked it. There were plans to go to a Morrissey-themed bar, but a sudden rain changed plans.

A reader of mine, Tyler King, suggested that I go to a jazz kissa in Tokyo. A jazz kissa is a coffee shop or bar primarily focused on music. In the past, I wrote about Le Lion in Shibuya, which is classical, but I have never gone to a coffee shop that focuses on jazz. Japan, in general, has thousands of excellent vinyl record stores, and one can efficiently devote one's life to locating and shopping at these stores. But there are also places where one can buy a drink and sit to listen to vinyl music being played. One of the classic Jazz Kissa joints is DUG. It is located in Shinjuku, not far from the East exit of the Shinjuku Station. One goes down to the basement, a reminder of Parisian Jazz clubs in the Post-War era underneath buildings, aesthetically a million miles away from the outside world. Once downstairs, one faces a very smokey room, with a bar and tables set aside from the bartender. I sat down at a small table, ordered a cup of coffee and red wine (a mixture of my choice), and opened the book Beastiary: Selected Stories by Julio Cortázar—a favorite writer and fellow Jazz lover. In my fashion, I wanted to let the pretty server who works here know that I’m a serious aesthetic person. One could taste the stale smell of cigarettes, but the music they were playing was wonderful. It sounded very MJQ or something by John Lewis, but the twist is that they had a cello in the band, and the sounds were lovely and equally unusual.

The photo above and below are of me and Lun*na at a Showa-era restaurant in Meguro that served the most magnificent sashimi. I only like raw fish, and I rarely desire cooked fish. Nevertheless, quite a few Boxers come to this restaurant, and one fighter donates their left-hand glove. Since I’m a Leftie (left hand and politics), it fits like a glove.