Solitary Gourmet — Season 2

Oct 201224m

On a hot day, Inogashira travels to Shin-Maruko. While waiting for his female client (a passionate owner of a dance studio) he decides to kill time in a dessert shop called "Showa-do" and orders a refreshingly sweet creamy concoction. Later on, after his appointment, Inogashira finds himself thinking about a certain busy eatery he had seen earlier in the day. It was a casual diner called "San-chan Shokudo." It was full of lively customers, all eating and drinking alcohol in the middle of the day. It could be a good place to eat and yet he does not drink. He wonders if it's worth a try....

Oct 201224m

Inogashira goes around the old cultural town of Ningyo-cho, looking for Japanese gifts to send to his European female friend. Since his friend is expecting a child, Inogashira wants to get her something for her pregnancy as well as an item that denotes Japanese culture. While looking for shops, he stops by a tea shop called "Mori no En" and tries out their sweets made with green tea. Later on, as he was browsing in a shamisen shop, he feels the need to eat something that's classically Japanese... and so, tempura comes to mind. He goes around the area searching for a tempura-ya until he smells the aroma of frying foods. It was coming from a shop called "Tempura Nakayama"...

Oct 201224m

Inogashira meets with a client at a cafe called "Alcolic Cafe Roje" in front of Numabukuro station. His meeting ends on a positive note, so he decides to remain in the shop and celebrate by ordering a slice of tart and some tea. However, his second business meeting does not seem to bode well. It is with a young female entrepreneur who is described as too flighty by her own loquacious mother. Afterwards, he wanders in the residential neighborhood in search of a place to eat, and much to his surprise and relief, he stumbles upon a yakiniku shop called "Heiwa-En"...

Oct 201224m

Inogashira travels outside of Tokyo, this time, to Brazil, that is, a Japanese-Brazilian community in Oizumi, Gunma Prefecture. He meets with an old senpai of his who wants to set up an aesthetic salon. He marvels at how different his senpai, who was once conservatively uptight, had become. However, Inogashira is unceremoniously set aside as an unexpected meeting arises for his friend. His friend's teen-aged daughter gets asked to show Inogashira around town, a task which doesn't seem too pleasing for the young girl. Still, she obliges and takes him to a kiosk that sells Brazilian confectioneries. Later, before going back home, he decides to have a late lunch, and since he's in "Brazil"... he tries out a shop called "Restaurant Brazil..."

Nov 201224m

Inogashira visits Kanagawa University in Yokohama City to meet with a client, an eccentric professor and horse enthusiast. He later tries the soft ice cream of the campus' sweets shop, "Chiffon." Afterwards, he checks out the nearby old shopping district in Rokkakubashi wherein he experiences an odd reverie while taking a break inside a quaint coffee shop called "Cafe Bunmei." Strolling through the narrow passageways lined with small stores, he decides to have a meal at "Kitchen Tomo," a shop serving Western-style cuisine...

Nov 201224m

Arriving early at Koiwa, Inogashira kills some time by strolling through the area's shopping district. He also had a sweet time-out at the confectionery shop, "L'Atelier De Sucre." The town's warmth and sense of community makes him feel at ease so much that he almost forgets his appointment with an owner of a photo studio. Later on, he decides to partake of a spicy dinner at "Zenzen" a restaurant that offers Szechuan home-style cuisine.

Nov 201224m

Inogashira's sleepiness caused him to make a mistake during his out-of-town meeting with a client. He was already on his way home at a stop-over in Choshi, Chiba when he realized he had taken the wrong product item with him. Since he could not go back to his client until the afternoon of the next day, he decides to stay overnight in the coastal town of Iioka. Before he checks into a guest house, he strolls around, checking out a sweets cafe called "Light House." The next day, the relaxing view of the Pacific Ocean inspires Inogashira to have a seafood feast at a surfers' favorite hang-out called "Tsuchiya"...

Nov 201224m

Inogashira's next appointment is in the "Sumo Town" of Ryogoku. A fan of sumo, our solitary gourmand is eager to go sight-seeing around the area but gets sidetracked by "Ryogoku Kokugido" a shop that sells sweetened beans crackers and other sweet delights. Later, he goes to his "small sale" meeting but is surprised to see that there is nothing "small" about his client, an owner of a barber shop. Of course, after his meeting, he starts to crave for a Sumo style feast, and out of all the chanko shops in the area, he chooses "Oouchi" a restaurant that also offers single servings of traditional chanko....

Dec 201224m

On a particularly busy day, Inogashira is in Sunamachi, Koto Ward, meeting up with one client after another. Despite his heavy schedule, he still finds time to help out a lovely client with a sprained ankle in setting up things in her coffee shop. He also takes a break inside a Samurai-themed cafe called "Coffee Dojyo Samurai," where he encounters a fascinatingly somewhat bumbling kind of customer. After his meetings were done, he still has more work to do and decides to buy some take-out food to eat at his office. He goes back to a shopping district which he spotted earlier in the day, the Sunamachi-Ginza Shopping District. There, he drifts from one store to the next, basking in the sights and aroma of their hot and ready-to-eat street food delights...

Dec 201224m

On a cold day, Inogashira is in Jūjō, looking for a certain shop that sells lanterns. Despite the weather, he orders an icy concoction from a sweets shop called "Darumaya." Then, later on, a sudden hunger strikes Inogashira, abruptly cutting off his meeting with a lantern store owner and goes off in search of a place to eat. As he scours the shops along Jūjō's shopping districts, he finally stops in front of a tavern... The eye-catching red lantern hanging in front of it says "Taya..."

Dec 201224m

Inogashira heads for a certain destination in Adachi Ward. However, hunger strikes as soon as he arrives in Senju, so he goes in search of a place to eat. He stops in front of a Thai restaurant called "Laikanok." He is reminded of a recent conversation he had with a lady friend of his regarding a potential business deal involving Thai products. "This could be field research," he surmises. "It's like killing two birds with one stone." He decides to have Thai cuisine for lunch. He steps inside but feels hesitant. The restaurant is full of female customers only. No, wait... there is one male customer - another lone wolf like himself...

Dec 201224m

It is almost the end of the year and Inogashira is in Mitaka City to visit a client in the area, an owner of a bar. He stops by a tea and sweets area called "Kanmidokoro Takane" for some relaxing tea and taiyaki. Later on, after his meeting, he plans to eat soba at Jindai-ji (Temple) in the nearby city. However, his urgent feelings of hunger tell him he won't be able to make it. So he scours the immediate vicinity for a diner that could appease his appetite. He finds it in a shop called "Itsuki," an eatery that offers home-cooked set meals...