Crazy Tokyo nights / Mediocre Tokyo Brunches @ Trump Room / On The Corner, Shibuya

With great sadness I said goodbye to my partner in crime as he departed on the remainder of his overseas trip and realised I was once again being left to my own devices in this great city. On previous jaunts overseas I was always worried about time alone and not having anyone to call to go out with on a night out. However, this time I am more often than not relishing the opportunity to go out and do my own thing.

So it was Friday evening and I had finished another week in the office, and had a great night lined up. My usual co-conspirator was stuck in the office crunching a deal and after a quick meal I had to make the call. Do I go out by myself or just take it easy at home? I know back home what my answer would have been, but this is Tokyo and you only get opportunities like this so often in your life. So I showered, put on my Friday night best, polished off a couple of eye-opening Asahis, rugged up, picked up my Google maps print out and jumped on the subway to Shibuya.

I got off the subway and trekked through the biting cold in search of the Trump Room. I remembered from the last time I went how difficult this place was to find and my map was proving to be little use. So I tucked it away in my pocket, surveyed the street and told myself: "You are just going to have to do this the old fashioned way." After scoping a vaguely familiar landmark and a hill, I realised I was close and shortly thereafter noticed a small sign in a darkened alley which said 'Trump.' You enter by just a tiny door in a basement of what looks like a run-down office building, pay your cover charge, walk up a flight of stairs to be greeted by an unassuming door. But once you open the door (Alice in Wonderland style), you see that this is no ordinary office building. The room is decked out with chandeliers and a DJ booth/stage at the front, with low ceilings so you feel packed in. The floor above has an almost identical setup and the floor above that is the same but all white.

So I picked up a drink at the bar, and sat alone, thinking: "Was this a good idea?" No longer had that thought crossed my mind that someone asked me for a lighter, and then I sat down with a group of local Japanese crew. They told me I had big eyes!! (which was not the case 4 drinks later). I bought a round of drinks, chatted a bit more, then went to the bar and noticed another Gaijin and got chatting. He happened to be the DJ who was playing (Dangerous Dan - or Dan Single of Ksubi fame). I told him I had 5 pairs of their jeans in my closet at home (probably not the best given their financial difficulties) and wished him luck for his set.

By now the place was jumping with people going crazy - bottles of Jose Cuervo Tequila were being passed around and Dan started his set. The crowd got up and pushed forward like a mosh and I hit the dancefloor and let loose. There was also a famous Japanese MC called Verbal playing on the floor above so I took a break to check him out - the guy was wearing a Fez and sunnies and had the crowd in a rapture. But leaving aside patriotic bias, I thought Dan had the points so I walked the single file back down the stairs through the door and got back into it. 3am came and I thought it best to leave it there and jumped a cab back to my apartment, congratulating myself for going it alone and thinking what I would have missed had I decided to stay home.

After sleeping in on Saturday morning, I really felt like a solid coffee and brunch. Unfortunately, the one thing Tokyo does not do well is just that. For a nation of heavy coffee drinkers, finding a good strong well brewed cup is next to impossible. I ventured back to Shibuya to a cafe called On The Corner which, from my research had a barista out the front from a renowned sister cafe in Shimokitazawa called Bear Pond. The place looked promising but alas the coffee was disappointing. There is just no such thing as a Long Black in this country and its sickly American cousin, the "Americano" is a watery grave.

I had been told that On The Corner does a solid brekky but a woeful lunch. Aesthetically the placed looked no different to a well fitted out Melbourne establishment. I sat down and the first thing I realised was that brekky had finished at 11:30am - most people don't come to work till 10:30am on a weekday so you can imagine how many people are having brekky at 1130 on a Saturday. None.

I ordered the least offensive item on the menu - a sandwich. Beyond average - the bread was filled with this omletty number with cheese and chicken (or probably pork) drenched in a tomato sauce and was making me regret the Tequila from the night before. The side of shoestring fries was manageable but the little tub of yoghurt with honey was a bad mix with all of the above.

Anyway that is how it seems to go here in Tokyo so make the most of your poached eggs with avocado/fetta mash in the leafy streets of Melbourne because you certainly can't get it here!! Note anyone who has the financial ability and interest in funding a good brunch spot in Tokyo, I reckon you would make a mint!