Tokyo 2024 day 2: pizza day

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After a night of insomnia, I really needed some coffee this morning. I had planned to hit a few Instagram-famous places on this trip, and it starts with a kissaten (喫茶店) famous for its crème caramel (プリン). Hekkerun (ヘッケルン) opened more than 50 years ago, and the place certainly looks like it's been around for a while... even from the outside.

Unfortunately while I was rearranging our itinerary and moved this visit from another day to this morning, I had forgotten to check which days of the week this place actually opens... and they're closed on Saturdays. So I've come all this way for nothing! Well, we still needed coffee, and ended up at a Caffé Veloce nearby.

I took a classic "Morning Set" that is common in cafés in Japan, with a cup of coffee and a ham and cheese toast. This did the job of getting some caffeine in me so I could get through the rest of the day.

We had plenty of time before lunch, so I decided to walk to our destination via Shiba Park (芝公園). This was our first encounter with autumn leaves this year, and we saw some beautiful trees.

We also took a quick walk through Zojoji (増上寺), with the iconic Tokyo Tower and the new Azabudai Hills nearby. My last visit here must have been during my teenage years when I lived in Tokyo, and I honestly have no memory of that visit...

We walked through the Unborn Children Garden with numerous sentai kosodate jizoson (千躰子育地蔵尊) for the first time. The statues may look cute with their red caps and pinwheels, but the reality behind all the cuteness is nothing but heartbreaking sorrow.

Lunch was at the Higashiazabu branch of Pizza Studio Tamaki - a place I probably should have visited 10 years ago. I finally decided it was time to figure out what the hubbub was about... just a few years late.

We sat at one end of the L-shaped counter and watched the chefs prep each pizza, and occasionally feed more fuel to the wood-fired oven. Two pizzas would be more than enough for us.

Domestic beef cheek braised in red wine special pizza - we decided to order this as it was one of the monthly specials. I did not expect it to arrive with big chunks of beef cheeks sitting on top...

The pizza crust was thin and soft, more dry and crispy, not quite like the classic Neapolitan dough that is significantly more wet and soft. The beef cheek was very tender and tasty, if slightly under-seasoned.

Special bianca - we've got mascarpone, fresh mozzarella bufala, and a whole ball of fresh burrata on top in the middle.

I gotta say... the white truffle oil they drizzled on top really did work well here. Very cheesy, and very fragrant. Very satisfying.

I don't usually drink at lunch but took a glass of sangria.

That was a pretty good lunch, and I'm glad I finally tried this place out. Seating was a little tight at the counter, and I kept sticking my elbow into the Japanese lady next to me. Oh well...

Despite dropping some braised beef cheek on myself and permanently staining my clothing, we decided to trudge on to Kappabashi Dougu Street (かっぱ橋道具街) so we could shop for some supplies... especially as we wanted to pickup more tools for lefties. After walking through the long stretch as we did last year, it was time to head back to our hotel and do some laundry.