Harajuku & Aoyama
Commune is a food and event space, with a daily farmers market plus vendors selling fresh bread, curry, cold-pressed juice and herbal teas to eat and…
Must-see restaurants in Tokyo
Asakusa & Sumida River
Chef Hosokawa Takashi grinds buckwheat fresh daily for the soba he kneads and cuts by hand. Get them in hot broth (kake-soba) or at room temperature on a…
Harajuku & Aoyama
Gyōza (dumplings) are the only thing on the menu here, but you won’t hear any complaints from the regulars who queue up to get their fix. Have them sui …
Tokyo
Those who subscribe to the Muji lifestyle will be delighted to know that the 'no name brand' experience goes beyond neutral-toned notebooks and linens…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
Proving that Tokyo is only expensive for those who don't know better, this all-night joint serves up bamboo steamers of delicious noodles for just ¥320…
Ginza & Tsukiji
Come sample the delicious tamago-yaki (Japanese rolled-egg omelette) sold at this venerable purveyor conveniently on a stick. They come in a variety of…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
Tokyo's best French bakery (it apparently imports the flour from the motherland) serves up sandwiches and pastries to take away or you can eat them in the…
Harajuku & Aoyama
The weekend farmer's market, held in the plaza in front of the United Nations University on Aoyama-dōri, is Tokyo's best. Dozens of farmers come from…
Tokyo
Given the wholesome, organic meals, heavy on vegetables and delicately seasoned with no additives, you'd assume Monk's Food was named for a humble priest…
Ueno & Yanesen
In business since 1925, Shinsuke has honed the concept of an ideal izakaya (Japanese pub-eatery) to perfection: long cedar counter, 'master' in happi …
Harajuku & Aoyama
Maisen is famous both for its tonkatsu (breaded, deep-fried pork cutlets) and its setting (an old public bathhouse). There are different grades of pork on…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
Come early for pastries, sandwiches and coffee (made with beans courtesy of either Fuglen or Little Nap, naturally); the croissants are famously good, but…
Tokyo
A key ingredient of the stock dashi is flakes of katsuobushi (dried bonito), which the Nihombashi-based Ninben has been making and selling since 1699. The…
Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
Sougo is one of the few restaurants in Tokyo that prepares shōjin-ryōri (Japanese Buddhist vegetarian cuisine – what the monks eat). Not everything on the…
Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
Tokyo restaurants with camel, ostrich and kangaroo (that most non-African of marsupials) on the menu can be counted on one hand. Safari's speciality dish,…
Tokyo
Pokémon fans will find it hard to pass on this chance to sample Pikachu-themed food and drink, made with classic kyara-ben (character bentō) techniques …
Ebisu, Meguro & Around
Locals love this retro arcade chock-a-block with food stalls dishing up everything from humble yaki-soba (fried buckwheat noodles) to decadent hotate-yaki…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
It's easy to see why everyone loves this izakaya (Japanese pub-eatery): the young chefs put on a dramatic show in the open kitchen and the creative takes…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
Maru is a meal made easy: at lunch the restaurant does good grilled fish teishoku (set meals), among other things; in the evenings, courses with sashimi,…
Odaiba & Tokyo Bay
One of Tsukiji's most famous sushi restaurants has made the move to the new Toyosu Market. The course meal includes seven pieces of nigiri (hand-pressed)…
Harajuku & Aoyama
Maru has hit upon a sweet spot with its casual reinterpretation of kaiseki (Japanese haute cuisine). With the seven-course meal (which changes monthly)…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
You know tonkatsu, the deep-fried breaded pork cutlet that is a Japanese staple; meet gyūkatsu, the deep-fried breaded beef cutlet and currently much…
Ginza & Tsukiji
This restaurant in the back of gourmet food store Akomeya serves great value set meals of several small dishes, including meat, fish and vegetables –…
Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
Donjaca, in business since 1979, has many telltale signs of a classic Shōwa-era (1926–89) izakaya (Japanese pub-eatery): red vinyl stools, lantern…
Kōrakuen & Akihabara
The karashibi (カラシビ) spicy miso-rāmen here has a cult following. Choose your level of kara (spice) and shibi (a strange mouth-numbing sensation created by…
Asakusa & Sumida River
This branch of the famous Kyoto-based pickle shop provides tastings of its traditional preserves done in a variety of ways, including with salt, vinegar…
Ginza & Tsukiji
In the evenings Maru offers a contemporary take on kaiseki (Japanese haute cuisine) fine dining. The chefs are young and inventive and the appealing space…
Tokyo
Yanagi-kōji is a classic nomiyagai (eating and drinking strip) and this one is particularly beloved for its nostalgic (read: crumbling) atmosphere. It's a…
Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
Wedged inside the fashion-forward Lumine Est department store (itself inside the frenetic Shinjuku Station), Berg stands still. The cramped, cult-status…
Asakusa & Sumida River
Centuries ago, when Fukagawa was basically a tidal flat, hungry locals would gather clams at the shore, resulting in the neighbourhood's signature dish:…
Kōrakuen & Akihabara
This pocket of Kanda has several long-running restaurants in vintage wooden buildings. Isegen, in business since the 1830s, occupies a handsome one from…
Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
Ensconce yourself in your hori-kotatsu (low table with hollowed-out space in the floor for your legs) or on a log bench, and drape a napkin made of kimono…
Ebisu, Meguro & Around
Fried chicken – which in Japan is lightly coated in a very fine starch – is having a moment and Rangmang Shokudō has a lot to do with that. Each order…
Kōrakuen & Akihabara
In studenty Jimbōchō, Japanese curry cafes are everywhere and fiercely competitive. Ethiopia is a seasoned champ, offering jumbo serves and curries packed…
Tokyo
Anago (seafaring eel) has long been considered a super-food, rich in vitamins A and E (and fortunately, not endangered like its freshwater cousin unagi)…
Ginza & Tsukiji
Monjayaki is a Tokyo speciality, a batter, veg, seafood and meat fry-up with a loose, scrambled-egg-like texture. This place dating back to 1950 is said…
Fugu-dashi Ushio Hachidai Keisuke
Ginza & Tsukiji
In the stylish basement-restaurant floor of Tōkyū Plaza Ginza, this standard-looking ramen stall has the usual vending machine for paying at the entrance…
Odaiba & Tokyo Bay
The original Mosuke, a street vendor, began making dango (soft rice-flour balls) in 1898, back when the fish market was in Nihombashi. Now on its third…
Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
The latest Tokyo outpost from boundary pusher Mensho has two appealing options: really good vegan tantanmen (Sichuan-style spicy noodles), the broth…
Ueno & Yanesen
Sasa-no-Yuki opened its doors in the Edo period and continues to serve its signature dishes with tofu made fresh every morning using water from the shop’s…
