41 Best Restaurants in Tokyo, Japan

Ramen is the quintessential Japanese fast food: thick Chinese noodles in a bowl of savory broth topped with sliced grilled chashu (pork loin). Each neighborhood in Tokyo has its favorite, and in Ebisu the hands-down favorite is Afuri. Using the picture menu, choose your ramen by inserting coins into a ticket machine, find a seat, and hand over your ticket to the cooks, who prepare your ramen then and there. There's limited seating, and at lunch and dinner, a line of customers extends down the street, but as expected, the ramen is worth it. The signature ramen here is yuzu shio (citron and salt), but there are other options, including a vegan ramen.

Just south of the Shinjuku station, this chain ramen house serves up ramen with hints of citrus in the broth, turning this often heavy dish into something more refreshing. It's located on a basement food level of Shinjuku's Lumine I department store, so you can have the nearby Thai food instead should you peek in and change your mind.

This small, friendly roastery and café in a repurposed warehouse across from Ando Gallery serves excellent espresso, flat whites, and cappuccinos, plus simple snacks like cookies and toasted sandwiches. There are some seats inside, but if the weather is nice get a drink to go and walk a few minutes east to Kiba Park; a lovely green spot to while away an hour.

Ameya is a traditional sweet and snack store on Monzen-machi best known for a riff on the local soba theme. You don’t get soba noodles here, but rather "soba bread." Basically, it’s a steamed bun made with buckwheat (soba) flour, sugar, and rice flour, in which you can have one of four fillings: sweet red bean paste (anko), mustard greens (takana), daikon radish, and the very non-traditional keema curry.

This is possibly the best coffee in the neighborhood since that is essentially all they sell (save some branded merchandise). Sit on old wooden benches in this tiny establishment that feels as if it's both in the now, and from long ago. Look for the cute neon bear they have as their sign.

Many long lines in Shibuya are more about trendiness than quality, but Beard Papa makes some genuinely good cream puffs in all kinds of flavors. Pick up a single or a six-pack of freshly made pastries. Located in the underground shopping arcade known as Shibuchika. The location is roughly under the main crossing. Head down some stairs and follow your nose to the vanilla and butter smells.

In business since 1948, Cafe de l'ambre is a legendary haunt for Tokyo's coffee aficionados. The retro decor provides a snapshot of an older Tokyo, while the caffeine fix options include a dozen or so single-origin beans, including some that have been aged for years.

Associated with the funky clothing shop that is just around the corner, this cafe is bright and open, and serves quality coffee, cakes, snacks, and gelato. They also have some Kitsuné-branded goods on hand.

Shopping and entertainment are two attractive points for Odaiba, but the chance for a short escape from Tokyo's madness is another. To enhance that, stop in at Canteen, a café operated by Transit General Office. The terrace seating is a fine choice for enjoying a cup of coffee and an ice-cream cake.

Stop by and watch some specialty donuts being fried before your eyes. The giant cone outside reminds you that you can also get ice cream (soft-serve only), and there's coffee, too. Sit outside and watch the world go by as you get your sugar fix.

This basement-level ice cream store has become a Nakano Broadway institution for its soft-serve ice cream, which comes in flavors that vary from simple vanilla to matcha (green tea), horse chestnut, and ramune (a popular citrus soda flavor). The signature is the eight-layered, 20-cm Tokudai (extra large) soft serve, though small cups and cones are also on the menu.

The classic bowl of ramen is topped with slices of pork, but Darumaya, in the fashion district of Omotesando, has a slightly different take, topping its noodles with grilled vegetables. In the summertime be sure to order the hiyashi soba, a bowl of chilled noodles topped with vegetables and ham in a sesame dressing. Another shop specialty is the tsukemen, where the noodles and broth are served in separate bowls. Dip (don't drop) the ramen into the broth. Despite the focus on veggies, vegetarians should note, the soups and sauces are not meat-free.

No surprise that eggs are the thing at this convenient diner on the first basement floor of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower. Eggs are organic and available every which way, including in egg tarts, eggs benedict, pancakes, and a fried breakfast.

At the northern end of the izakaya-lined Hoppy Street, this hip Scandinavian-style café serves up sweet and savory Norwegian waffles along with coffee made using single-origin beans. In the evenings, there's craft beer and cocktails on the menu too.

Kamasho serves the signature dish of the old Fukagawa area, Fukagawa-meshi: short-neck clams and green onion cooked in a miso broth and poured over a bowl of rice. You can order just a bowl of Fukagawa-meshi or opt for a set with a side serving of pickles and miso soup. If you are really hungry, the largest set also comes with some sushi. There’s beer and sake on the menu if you want something to wash it all down with.

Having started as a street stall in Ogikubo in the late 1940s, Harukiya is now a ramen restaurant that often has patrons lining up down the street. The noodles here come in a soy- and dried sardine-based stock and are served with a topping of chashu (roast pork) with the noodles being handmade every morning.

After strolling through the flower gardens of Hibiya Park on a hot day, stop off for a cold pint of beer here; Hibiya Saroh is proud of the varieties on tap. There is no indoor seating, but with its view of Hibiya Park, you wouldn't want to be inside.

At Ueno Station is a branch of an amusing ramen chain. Ichiran serves tonkotsu (pork broth) noodles. Rather than sitting at a table and ordering off the menu, you'll choose and pay for your meal and your seat at a machine. You then use the order sheet at your table (it has English on it) and choose how you'd like it served. You'll hand that and your order tickets through a window. Like magic—presto!—the curtain rises and made-to-order steaming bowls appear.

Soba noodles, which are made with buckwheat, are a signature of the restaurants near Jindai-ji. That's apparently because buckwheat was traditionally easier to grow here than rice. This place along the temple’s Monzen-machi approach serves handmade soba in a variety of ways, including in warm broths and cold with a dipping sauce.

Open from 11 am to 11 pm, this ever-busy ramen joint, now an international chain with almost 30 locations in Tokyo alone, is an ideal quick stop on or after a night out. The classic ramen is the Shiromaru, which features a creamy pork-based stock, thin yet slightly firm noodles, and a topping of chashu pork slices. Other options include the Akamaru, which has a little red miso mixed in the soup, and side dishes such as gyoza dumplings.

Soba, thin buckwheat noodles often served chilled in summer and hot in winter, are available everywhere, even convenience stores. The family-run Matsuya serves authentic soba in a rustic atmosphere. A simple soba meal can be quite inexpensive, or, for a bit more, get noodles topped with tempura or other goodies.

The ever-popular Kanda Yabu Soba, located in a recently built but traditional building that replaced the original 130-year-old restaurant after a fire in 2013, is one of the oldest and best places to sit down and savor freshly made soba—be that on tatami or at one of the tables. Soba, thin noodles made from buckwheat flour and quickly dipped into a hot broth or cold dipping sauce, are the lighter cousin of udon.

Located in a 120-year-old former merchant house on Ichibangai shopping street, this eatery is good for a quick snack on the go or a sit down lunch. It's known for its skewers of soy-basted dango (rice dumplings) and decadent parfaits, but also serves bowls of more filling somen noodles and udon noodles.

Standing on the border of Ueno and Yanaka, just a short walk to the west from the National Museum, this historic café is a popular stop for lunch or a light snack. A century old, the café has been stylishly renovated and serves homemade sandwiches, curries, cakes, and kaki gori, a traditional treat of flavored shaved ice. The first floor has a bar and dark wood tables, while the second is an airy Japanese style tatami room with low tables. Although Kayaba is usually not too crowded in the morning, expect to line up if you arrive at lunchtime.

Drop by this hipster hangout for hand-dripped coffee made with house-roasted beans, or lattes with artistic patterns in the foam. If you are really into your coffee, try the taster set to compare three different beans. And don't worry, Light Up doesn't mean this is a smoker's cafe. It's smoke free.

After strolling over the broad Yumeno Ohashi Bridge, it might be time for a break. Attached to Musashino University's Ariake Campus is a cheap, bright, and fun cafe with good weekly specials and a wide variety of dishes including pasta and rice bowls. You'll find students either working behind the counter or studying at the tables. 

Mihashi offers traditional Japanese sweets in a comfortable environment. The staff is attentive and helpful, making it the perfect place to try desserts you may have never tried before. Located next to, but not inside, Yaesu North Gate in Tokyo Station.

In business for more than a century, Toraya is best known for its skewers of sweet kusa-dango rice dumplings, which come topped with red-bean paste and are a popular snack for visitors on route to Taishakuten Temple. If you want to stay for lunch, you'll also find a more substantial menu, with ramen, udon noodles, and tempura on rice.