On April 9, 1998, The Japan Times launched a new restaurant review column, introducing Hong Kong Garden, an unlikely, 1,000-seater gastrodome in Tokyo¡¯s Nishiazabu neighborhood. That restaurant is now confined to history, but the writer, Robbie Swinnerton, and his column, Tokyo Food File, show no sign of letting up. To mark the column¡¯s 20th anniversary, Swinnerton looks back at Tokyo¡¯s restaurant scene and how it has developed over that time.
How does it feel reaching two decades of Tokyo Food File? I¡¯m pretty stoked to have made it to 20 years. ... It¡¯s just a number of course, but I¡¯m also coming up on 40 years in Japan, and that¡¯s going to be another huge milestone.
Do you feel like you¡¯ve become somewhat of an expert on Japanese food in that time? If by that you mean someone who¡¯s in a position to consult on food then I guess I am. But Japan and the food scene here is changing so fast that I¡¯m always having to keep up. It¡¯s not that it¡¯s stayed static while I¡¯ve become more experienced. And yes, if you ask me somewhere to go in a certain area of town, I¡¯ll probably be able to give a couple of good recommendations. So in that sense I could be thought of as an expert.
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