22 Best Restaurants in Side Trips from Tokyo, Japan

Baird, one of the first craft brewers to find success in Japan, now has several taprooms in and near Tokyo, including this one on a side street just off of Bashamichi. You'll find almost a dozen Baird beers on tap—from year-round IPAs to seasonal specials like a summer mikan ale and warming imperial stouts—and the bar menu features Texas barbecue.

This seasonal beer hall serves a prix-fixe two-hour, all-you-can eat, all-you-can drink buffet meal that is a hodgepodge of sausages, pasta, Japanese dishes, and desserts. Of course, there are also a number of Japanese beers on tap. Beer Mountain is connected to Takaosan Station, the top station of the Takao Tozan Cable Line.

This German bakery serves cakes and cookies that are surprisingly authentic—the baker trained in Germany. There are a few small tables outside, and cozy tables inside where you can enjoy coffee and cakes before resuming your tour. Many Japanese who visit from other parts of the country bring back the bakery's butter cookies as souvenirs.

This stylish eatery serves Japanese-Italian fusion pasta that you enjoy while lounging on bedlike seats as a house DJ spins tunes. There's also a lengthy drinks menu (alcohol and soft drinks), if you want to settle in for a longer stay. It gets crowded here on the weekends, so come early to avoid a long wait.

This little café in the backstreets near Ito's main shopping arcade specializes in drinks, including green-tea latte, made with tea grown in Izu. You'll also find coffee, soda floats, and snacks like waffles and green-tea cheesecake.

Located in one of the area's few remaining historic Western-style houses, Enokitei is a relaxing stop for sweets or a light meal. The interior has the feel of a British-style tea room, with dark wood and antiques, while the garden terrace is surrounded by greenery and flowers much of the year. In addition to cakes and scones, Enokitei also has a selection of homemade sandwiches for a light lunch.

Traditional kaiseki ryori and pretty bento boxes are served at this restaurant on Route 21, near the entrance to Jochi-ji Temple. While the full kaiseki courses can get expensive, the lunchtime kaiseki taster sets are a very affordable way to try this refined culinary style. Most seating is at tables, but private tatami mat rooms are also available.

This no-frills eatery serves excellent sheng jian bao (Shanghai-style fried dumplings) and other casual Shanghai cuisine all day long. The kitchen is behind glass so you can admire the speed with which the chefs cook up this Shanghai staple. Get a selection of sheng jian bao at the first floor takeout window for an inexpensive snack or dine in at the second-floor restaurant for a more relaxed meal.

This establishment, in an elegant old Japanese house, serves the best Chinese food in the city. The dining-room windows look out on a small, restful garden. Make sure you plan for a stop here on your way to or from the Great Buddha at Kotoku-in.

This kaiten-zushi (sushi served on a conveyor belt that lets you pick the dishes you want) restaurant serves eye-poppingly large fish portions that hang over the edge of their plates. All the standard sushi creations, including tuna, shrimp, and egg, are prepared here. As in any kaiten-zushi joint, simply stack up your empty dishes to the side. When you are ready to leave, the dishes will be counted and you will be charged accordingly.

In contrast to many of the meat-heavy choices in Chinatown, this Cantonese restaurant specializes in fresh, flavorful seafood dishes. Menu highlights include the shrimp-shiso spring rolls, steamed Sakhalin surf clams with garlic, and a rotating selection of fresh fish caught that day. Not to be outdone by the seafood, the sweet-and-sour ribs are a treat. Don't be surprised if there's a line outside.

Chinese food can be hit-or-miss in Japan, but not at Kaseiro. This elegant restaurant, with red carpets and gold-toned walls, is the best of its kind in the city, serving authentic Beijing cuisine, including, of course, Peking duck and shark-fin soup. The consistently delicious dishes, combined with the fact that both the owner and chef are from Beijing, make this restaurant a well-known favorite.

Not far from the east entrance to Rinno-ji Temple, Meiji-no-Yakata is in an elegant 19th-century Western-style stone house, originally built as a summer retreat for an American diplomat. The food, too, is Western-style, with house specialties that include fresh rainbow trout from Lake Chuzenji, roast lamb with green pepper sauce, and melt-in-your-mouth Tochigi beef steak. The menu also includes more affordable options such as the rice omelet (omuraisu). High ceilings, hardwood floors, and an air of informality make this a very pleasant place to dine.

The wooden tables, antiques, and patches of raised tatami flooring give Nantai a very rustic feel. Try the Nikko specialty, yuba (tofu skin), which comes with the nabe (hot pot) for dinner. It's the quintessential winter family meal. The seafood here is fresh, and both the trout and salmon are recommended. Each meal comes with rice; pickles; side dishes like soy-stewed vegetables, tempura, or udon; and dessert.

Charcoal-broiled unagi (eel) is an acquired taste, but there's no better place in Nikko to acquire it than at this small, unpretentious place with only five plain-wood tables. Service can be lukewarm, but Sawamoto is reliable for a light lunch or very early dinner of unagi served on a bed of rice in an elegant lacquered box. Eel is considered a stamina builder: just right for the weary visitor on a hot summer day.

The hallmarks of this restaurant—in business since 1973—are ishiyaki steak, which is grilled on a hot stone, and shabu-shabu—thin slices of beef cooked in boiling water at your table and dipped in one of several sauces (sesame, vinegar, or soy). Fresh vegetables, noodles, and tofu are also dipped into the seasoned broth for a filling yet healthful meal.

The area of Motomachi is known as the wealthy, posh part of Yokohama, so restaurants here tend to be exclusive and expensive, with service and quality justifying the price. This restaurant in an old-style Japanese house—complete with a Japanese garden and five private tatami rooms—serves dinners that are more akin to a banquet, with dishes that (depending on the season) could include traditional Japanese delicacies such as sashimi, shiitake mushrooms, and chicken in white sauce; deep-fried burdock; or broiled sea bream.

On Route 21, a few minutes south of Tokei-ji, Verve serves up single-origin coffee in fashionably airy surroundings and in an outdoor seating area. You'll also find waffles and toasted sandwiches on the menu. There's another Verve between Kamakura Station and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu.

The interior of this cozy, inviting, casual restaurant feels like an Italian country home, one with candles on the tables and an open kitchen. On the menu are Neopolitan-style wood fired pizzas, pastas, fondue, and other dishes that include—you guessed it—cheese. The set-course menus are reasonable, filling, and recommended.

The special at this restaurant and café, housed in an old Japanese building on the approach to Meigetsu-in, is beef bourguignon, which can be ordered à la carte or in a set along with soup, salad, and rye bread. For a lighter bite, you can order coffee and cheesecake.