Here’s a concept that appeals to me: a daily or near-daily rundown of what one had for lunch, with a picture of the food, and a review of the joint with useful information like cost and location. You can find such a site at Chuushoku hourouki (“Diary of lunch wanderings,” loosely). Of course, it may not appeal to you if you don’t live in the Tokyo area or read Japanese (I only qualify on one count, but there’s always Excite’s barely adequate translation service).
The author, who goes by the nickname of “Taicho” or “commanding officer,” so named according to him because people think his face and aura are that of Japanese Self-Defense Forces member, makes a point of visiting a different establishment every day, and as of January 2003, had compiled an amazing 670 reviews of different lunch places in Tokyo (he started his site in 1999). Taicho also has a handy index of all the lunch places he’s reviewed up through 2001 (over 500), grouped by Tokyo subway line, with links to his review of each place.
It’s not clear what Taicho does for a living (though I think it’s safe to assume he’s a “salaryman” of some sort), but his job requires him to visit clients in various parts of central Tokyo, and therefore affords him the opportunity to visit so many different places. Occassionally there are gaps in days, for as Taicho explains, sometimes his co-workers are with him, and as his site is a secret he keeps from them, he isn’t able to take photos on such days. And sometimes he doesn’t write when he’s drunk, he explains.
Taicho isn’t interested in ranking the places he visits, and to him, they’re all good in their own way, so Zagat’s he’s not. His aim is to simply “convey to my readers the joy I experience when I come across delicious food.” If he’s ever negative, it’s usually couched in the form of a suggestion. Here’s a representative sample of his reviewing style, taken at random (admittedly loosely translated):
….By the way, the dish I had was a good idea [trying to make an autumn Korean dish with winter season food], but the impact of the taste was a little insufficient. If they add salmon to the dish, I think it would be more delicious, perhaps.
As I said, all of his reviews are accompanied by photos of the dish he ate. Taicho explains that he doesn’t ask for permission from the shop owners to take his pictures, and he admits he’s somewhat of a shoushinmono (coward) when it comes to taking them (one can imagine the looks he gets when he whips out his camera and snaps a shot of his lunch, not exactly standard salaryman behavior). He says anyone is free to use his photos, without permission — it would make him happy. As much as I enjoy his site, I can’t say I’ll be using the photos, as they do leave something to be desired, and well, make the food a little unpalatable. But Taicho can be forgiven. As I well know, it’s very difficult to take photos of food in a way that makes one want to eat what’s depicted. I’ve always been very disappointed when shooting food. (For some wonderful pictures of food, see HeidiSwanson.com. Adjectives like delectable, scrumptious, and mouthwatering come to mind.)
I’ve often thought of doing something like what Taicho has done, but with the kaiten-sushi places I go to (admittedly, it would be a fairly sporadic blog), but I can’t really write about food other than to say “it was good” or “it wasn’t good”, unlike others out there. (And of course, I don’t really need to, as others have long beaten me to it).