A no-nonsense guide to getting from Narita Airport to central Tokyo — trains, buses, taxis, and the tips I wish someone had told me before my first trip.
9.0 A Shinkansen ride to Kobe for fusion cuisine that smashes Japanese and Western traditions together — and an A5 wagyu steak that nearly brought me to tears.
9.0 I woke up at 5am, took the train to Toyosu Fish Market, stood in line for an hour, and sat down at Daiwa Sushi. Seven pieces of the freshest fish I've ever eaten — and a tamagoyaki that made me rethink eggs entirely.
I grew up in Indonesia and keep coming back to Bali. Here's an honest guide to the island — the parts tourists get right, the parts they get wrong, and the spots I actually recommend.
I used Marriott points to book the Ritz-Carlton Bali and got upgraded to a 145 sqm suite. Here's an honest look at what you get — the stunning parts, the practical trade-offs, and whether it's worth the trip.
10.0 After countless phone calls and a Ritz-Carlton booking trick, I got a reservation at Sukiyabashi Jiro's Roppongi location. 20 pieces of the best sushi I've ever had — and a photo with chef Ono Takashi.
9.6 A tonkotsu ramen shop in Tokyo where you eat alone in a booth, customize everything on a form, and walk out wondering why all ramen doesn't taste like this. Here's what Ichiran at Ueno Station is really like.
8.0 An omakase-only sushi bar in Los Angeles where the chef decides everything, the wasabi is real, and you don't touch the soy sauce. Here's what it's like to eat at Sushi Zo.
9.5 A Korean drama sent me down a rabbit hole. A Japanese restaurant in Houston gave me one of the best bites of my life. Here's how foie gras sashimi at Kata Robata earned a 9.5.
9.0 A tiny, packed Korean restaurant in LA's Koreatown with soondubu that lives up to the Anthony Bourdain hype — and bibimbap that might be even better.
9.5 A head-to-head comparison of two of Austin's best ramen spots — one a former food truck turned brick-and-mortar, the other a tiny, authentically decorated gem worth the wait.