Restaurants in Japan
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A
Café Carinho
This excellent little café near Ginkaku-ji is one of the only places in town where you can find proper bagel sandwiches. It also serves daily specials, light meals and excellent tea and coffee (from ¥400). There is wi-fi for those with laptops. The owner speaks English and Portuguese, which makes ordering a breeze. All told, this is one of the best spots in the neighbourhood for a drink or meal.
reviewed
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B
M2
This kitschy place around the corner from the Fuji-Yoshida Youth Hostel serves Western and Japanese diner food, like fried shrimp and curry rice; look for the orange awning.
reviewed
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C
Porto Caro
Colourful, 2nd-floor trattoria specialising in pasta dishes with local seafood, and pizzas; look for the English sign two blocks down from the post office.
reviewed
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D
Sai-ji-ki
This vegetarian restaurant serves an all-you-can eat buffet of mostly Japanese food for ¥1799. If you go at lunchtime, be prepared to sit in line.
reviewed
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E
Tiger Café
Fashionistas grace the windows of this faithful re-creation of an old-style Parisian bistro, with tiled floors, white-shirted staff, sidewalk seating, art deco details and people smoking (even though you can't smoke in Paris bistros anymore). The smoked-salmon sandwich and croque-monsieur (toasted ham and cheese sandwich) are favourites, as are the good-value lunch specials.
reviewed
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F
Kasagi-ya
At Kasagi-ya, on the Ninen-zaka slope near Kiyomizu-dera, this funky old wooden shop has atmosphere to boot and friendly staff. It's a great place for a cup of green tea and a Japanese sweet to power you through a day of sightseeing in Higashiyama. Matcha tea with a sweet costs ¥700. It's hard to spot; you may have to ask someone in the area to point it out.
reviewed
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G
Gompachi
The Glien Passage theme-park is home to every conceivable type of restaurant, though this traditional izakaya gets top marks for its sweeping views and delicious robatayaki (grilled skewers). There is an English menu here, though with wafting aromas of roasting meats, chickens, fish and seafood filling the air, it's not necessary to look at a menu to figure out what you want to eat.
reviewed
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H
Kujiraya
We'll leave it to you and your dinner companions to debate the ethics of this surprisingly popular restaurant, which serves nothing but whale meat. Conservation, environmentalism and morality aside, there are few places in the world where you can sample whale sashimi, fried blubber and fin steaks, though you're going to have to leave your politics at the door.
Although there is no English menu, you can order set menus based on price - whale meat isn't cheap, which is probably to do with the fact that they're endangered.
reviewed
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I
Ōzawa
On the most beautiful street in Gion, this restaurant offers good tempura in traditional Japanese surroundings. Unless you choose a private tatami room, you'll sit at the counter and watch as the chef prepares each piece of tempura. Lunch available on advance request.
reviewed
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J
@Home Café
Wanna walk on the wild side of Tokyo’s fetish for kawaii (cuteness) ? Try being served coffee by girls dressed as French maids! You’ll be welcomed as go-shujinsama (master) the minute you enter this cafe. It’s titillating, perhaps, but it’s no sex joint – just (more or less) innocent fun for Akihabara’s otaku. Dishes such as curried rice are even topped with smiley faces. And business is expanding: @Home Café now occupies four floors, with themes from pop princess to old Japan, with varying opening days. From Chūō-dōri, turn left where you see Sofmap.
reviewed
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Ajimori
There's no English menu but all you really need to know is that this classy, multistorey shop claims to have invented kurobuta shabu-shabu. Set meals come with handmade udon noodles and side dishes depending on the price. There are also tonkatsu (deep-fried pork cutlet) meals (from ¥650 at lunchtime).
reviewed
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Akita Kakunodate Nishinomiyage
Although it's generally packed with tourists, there's lots of room to spare at this massive warehouse, built by the Nishinomiya family almost a century ago. The food is average, best described as Japanese comfort (tempura, noodles), but dining at long tables under hulking wooden beams, surrounded by authentic period pieces is part of the experience.
reviewed
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K
Amu Plaza
Amu Plaza at JR Kagoshima-Chūō Station has good seated dining options on the upper floors and a variety of stalls, takeaway and fast food in the basement-level food court.
reviewed
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Aoba
Behind the yellow noren (door curtain) two-minutes' walk left of the station, this cheery shop serves satisfying kurobuta roosukatsu (black pork cutlet) teishoku (¥1320) or, if you dare, Satsuma jidori sashimi (raw sliced chicken, ¥780).
reviewed
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Aomori-ichiba
The best place in Aomori to grab a snack is at this fish and produce market near the station. Aomori is famous for a number of local and regional speciality items including scallops, codfish, apples, pickled vegetables and many, many others. You can easily spend an hour perusing all of the food stalls, stopping here and there to sample the bounty from sea and land.
reviewed
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Ashibiunā
Perfect for lunch after touring Shuri-jō castle, Ashibiuna has a traditional ambiance and serves staple set meals like gōyā-champurū (bitter melon stir-fry; ¥840) and okinawa-soba (¥840) around a picturesque garden. Facing the entrance to the Kankai-mon gate, turn left and follow the road until just before the intersection. It will be on your right with a black and white sign and plants over the gate.
reviewed
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L
Asian Kitchen KAPI
Next door to Mori-no-Kokage (look for the English sign), this trendy Pan-Asian bistro is a good choice if your Japanese is limited. In addition to the local cuisine, KAPI also offers an impressive range of Asian favourites, from Korean-style hotpots to fiery Indonesian curries.
reviewed
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M
Asian Night Market
Part cafe, part humble-jumble Thai clothing and knick-knack shop, this storefront is at once sweet and hip. It has English-speaking staff, beer, cocktails, soft drinks including Thai coffee, Thai food, and nooks for browsing.
reviewed
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Bamboo Coffee Bar
On the left as you exit Hakuba Staion, this recently opened Aussie-run cafe has great specialty coffees and panini sandwiches.
reviewed
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N
Banco
This cafe could have been airlifted straight from Greenwich Village. It's an intimate spot to fill up on caffeine to start a day of shopping or an evening of bar hopping.
reviewed
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Barn
Housed in a modernist rendition of an old Hokkaidō barn, this self-described French Alpine Bistro sets the bar on the Hirafu dining scene. Signature dishes apply French reductions to locally procured meats, fish and vegetables, which are accompanied by hearth-baked bread and freshly made ice cream. As if this wasn't enough to make die-hard foodies rejoice, you can also order up a bottle of Boyer-Gontard, which comes from the owner's personal vineyard in Burgundy, France. The visually striking steel-and-glass barn is located two blocks south of the Seicomart in Hirafu.
reviewed
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Bier Hall
- Gifu, Japan
- Restaurants › Bar
For a nightcap, join expats and locals at the wabi-sabi-cool Bier Hall, which specialises in Guinness, pizzas, fried snacks and beef stew. It's a few doors behind the clothing shop 'Bad'.
reviewed
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O
Bijin-tei
Smiling mama-san sees all at this discrete, seafood izakaya. Point to the menu items already plated – the pickled taco (octopus) is a mouthful – or ask for an o-susume (recommendation). It's on the ground floor of a building containing several snack bars and karaoke joints. Look for the sign with the shop's name on it in kanji: 美人亭.
reviewed
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P
Bills
This popular new outpost from Australian celebrity chef Bill Granger proves that Yokohama still has an appetite for foreign flavours. There's a glass terrace and a long line for Sunday brunch.
reviewed
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Q
Bosco
Just outside the covered arcade (look for the pink lit signs), this cosy trattoria has an open kitchen, two large tables and a long counter. Ebi-abokado spaghetti (with shrimp, avocado and clams) has legions of fans.
reviewed