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Tokyo is undoubtedly one of the most exciting dining cities in the world. Seasonal ingredients reign supreme here, and there's an emphasis on freshness—not surprising given raw seafood is the cornerstone of sushi. And though Tokyoites still stubbornly resist foreign concepts in many fields, the locals have embraced outside culinary styles with gusto.
While newer restaurants targeting younger diners strive for authenticity in everything from New York–style bagels to Neapolitan pizza, it is still not uncommon to see menus serving East-meets-West concoctions such as spaghetti topped with cod roe and shredded seaweed. That said, the city’s best French and Italian establishments can hold their own on a global scale. Naturally, there's also excellent Japanese cuisine available throughout the city, ranging from the traditional to nouveau, which can be shockingly expensive.
That is not to imply that every meal in the city will drain your finances—the current rage is all about "B-kyu gurume" (B-class gourmet), restaurants that fill the gap between nationwide chains and fine cuisine, serving tasty Japanese and Asian food without the extra frills of tablecloths and lacquerware. All department stores and most skyscrapers have at least one floor of restaurants that are accessible, affordable, and reputable.
Asakusa is known for its tempura, and Tsukiji prides itself on its fresh sashimi, which is available in excellent quality throughout the city. Ramen is a passion for many locals, who travel across town or stand in line for an hour in order to sit at the counter of a shop rumored to have the perfect balance of noodles and broth. Even the neighborhood convenience stores will offer colorful salads, sandwiches, and a selection of beer and sake. There have been good and affordable Indian and Chinese restaurants in the city for decades. As a result of increased travel by the Japanese to more exotic locations, Thai, Vietnamese, and Turkish restaurants have popped up around the city. When in doubt, note that Tokyo's top-rated international hotels also have some of the city's best places to eat and drink.
Japan enjoys a special reputation for its lovingly raised, tender, marbled domestic beef (Wagyu), and if your budget can bear the weight, Rangetsu serves excellent dishes with this beef as a star ingredient. Try the signature shabu-shabu or sukiyaki course for a primer. Although dinner can damage the wallet, there is also a good variety of lunch sets available for a third of the price.
Off a main shopping street, one of Shimokitazawa's many curry shops has a cute entrance, table seating, and a couple of counter seats so you can watch the cooks at work. Unlike most Japanese curries, those served here tend to be heavy on the vegetables. You can also customize the spices and toppings to make your own curry.
Tokyoites love unique dining experiences and their own history—they can revel in both in this eatery, which is a tribute to Ryoma Sakamoto, a young hero who died while helping overthrow the feudal Tokugawa Shogunate in the 1860s. When you enter from the ultramodern streets of Shinjuku, slide off your shoes, stash them in a wooden locker, and walk by a statue of the sword-wielding Sakamoto as you step into the Japan of the past. You can sit in the main dining hall, which resembles a bustling historic inn, or you can phone ahead to reserve a private tatami-mat dining room. The cuisine also harkens back to the traditional rural cooking, popular before Japan opened up to the West. The house specialty is seiro-mushi, a bamboo box filled with carefully arranged seafood, poultry, or meat, steamed over a pot, served piping hot, and quickly shared with everyone at the table.
This lively izakaya on a corner of Hoppy Street's main intersection, a few blocks west of Senso-ji, gets consistently high reviews. Take your pick between the indoor and outdoor seating, then order a chilled beer or some sake to go with the classic izakaya fare on the English menu—perhaps starting with some grilled Atka mackerel or green peppers stuffed with miso-flavored minced beef, before trying the more acquired flavor of the raw beef heart.
With more than 100 varieties of sake from all over Japan, Sake no Ana (literally, "the sake hole") has a sake sommelier who can help you make a selection. Though most sake-specialty restaurants are open only for dinner, this one is also open for lunch, and the food is classic izakaya fare. At lunchtime there are hearty donburi dishes, large bowls of rice topped with seasonal sashimi or beef simmered in a sweet soy broth.
At this restaurant specializing okonomiyaki (a savory pancake made with egg, meat, and vegetables), you choose the ingredients and cook them on the teppan (grill) yourself. Flipping the pancake can be challenging—potentially messy but still fun—and, fortunately, you're not expected to wash the dishes. Unlike at most Okonomiyaki joints, you can experiment with your own recipe or opt for one of the house specials such as sakurayaki (with pork, squid, and onions).
If you're feeling adventurous, check out this izakaya's seafood-focused dishes, which pair nicely a cup of sake and which do not disappoint. The daily menu is often hand-written, though, so unless you read Japanese, be nice to the wait staff, and trust them to help you make a selection. On weekends, reservations are a good idea.
Inside Shibuya's underground Shibuchika shopping area is this huge array of stalls selling all kinds of foods. In addition to enjoying a snack or buying a bento to enjoy on a picnic, you can shop for gifts galore.
What's a soup curry? You'll find out here when you choose your curry (a wide variety with vegetables); your soup base (tomato, shrimp, or the base that's used to make many soupy Japanese dishes); your spice level (from 0 to 7); your toppings (perhaps avocados, an egg, or fried mushrooms); and, finally, the amount of rice you'd like.
It can be hard to find a vegan restaurant in Tokyo, but T's thick and tasty, meat-free ramen is a great option. Choose your soup base, from sesame to citrus flavors, and get a side of the vegetable dumplings—not to be missed. The restaurant is behind the barriers of Tokyo Station, so you'll need to be in transit to try.
This yakitori (grilled chicken) restaurant is an ideal place for a short stop inside Ginza. Skewered chicken breasts, small salads, and sausages are sure to put a smile on the face of even the weariest shopper. There's also beer, whiskey highballs, and sake on the menu.
Expect generous portions of fresh, reasonably priced seafood at this neighborhood restaurant. Sashimi and simmered fish are the staples, but there's also a wonderful tendon bowl with shrimp and eel tempura on rice. À la carte prices are not posted because they vary with the costs that morning in the Toyosu Market. Reservations can only be made for large parties.
Yakitori and other skewers of chargrilled meat and vegetables are the name of the game at this hip, local-favorite izakaya. To make ordering easier, select one of the set menus, which feature multiple skewers and a few side dishes such as tofu. Beverage options include highballs, draft lager, and local nihonshu (sake).
Combining aspects of a traditional sushi counter, a tapas bar, a science lab, and a magic show, this award-winning restaurant breaks new ground. In full view of diners, the team of chefs assemble a small parade of bite-size morsels in surprising texture and flavor combinations. There are only eight seats, and seatings are at 6 pm and 8:30 pm only, so reserve as early as possible.
Here's a restaurant that's run like a formal ryotei (traditional Japanese restaurant focused on luxury) but has the feel of a rough-cut izakaya (Japanese pub). Neither inaccessible nor outrageously expensive, Tatsumiya is pleasantly cluttered with antique chests, braziers, clocks, lanterns, bowls, utensils, and craftwork, some of it for sale. The evening meal is in the kaiseki style, meaning multiple courses are served; tradition demands that the meal include something raw, something boiled, something vinegary, and something grilled. The kaiseki dinner is served only until 8:30, and you must reserve ahead for it. Tatsumiya also serves a light lunch, plus a variety of nabe (one-pot seafood and vegetable stews, prepared at your table) until 10. The pork nabe is the house specialty.
Beyond the rather nondescript entrance are counter seats where you can watch the chef expertly prepare and fry exceptional tempura. Although this is a great place for dinner, the lunch sets are far more reasonably priced yet still give you a proper tempura experience. You can also order additional individual pieces, either à la carte or as recommended by the chef.
Just about everybody who comes to this well-established, family-owned restaurant orders the standard course of utterly delicious deep-fried pork cutlets, soup, raw-cabbage salad, rice, pickles, and tea. Although there's a line here every night, right up until closing at 10:45 pm, efficient service means that the wait is usually only about 10 minutes.
When it comes to preparation, this long-running unagi (freshwater eel) restaurant sticks to tradition, claiming to follow a 200-year-old recipe. For its ingredients, however, Maekawa takes a modern turn towards sustainability. Instead of using (rapidly dwindling) wild caught unagi, the restaurant uses only the highest quality domestically farmed unagi for its dishes. Choose from the una-ju (eel over rice served in a lacquered box), kabayaki (sweet grilled eel set meal), or shirayaki (plain grilled eel without sweet glaze). Maekawa offers a few small side dishes such as sashimi and dashi-tamago (Japanese rolled omelet) but like most classic unagi restaurants, Maekawa does exactly one thing and does it well.
Dating back to the 1950s, this classic izakaya is a casual and lively place, where the third and fourth floors have tables, and the first two floors have only counter seats that are ideal for watching and chatting with the chefs. The focus is mostly on seafood, which pairs well the nihonshu on the menu. The only challenge to ordering might be your language skills, as the menu is handwritten in Japanese on the walls. However, this being low-key Fukagawa, the friendly staff will find a way to ensure that you're well-fed, even if that means pointing at other diners' dishes. Or you could inquire what they recommend ("osusume wa nan desu ka?"), and go with the flow.
High-quality marbled beef is taken quite seriously in Japan—cuts are ranked based on the ratio, distribution, and sweetness of the fat in relation to the meat. At Ushibenkei, you can sample some pieces of the highest rank at reasonable prices in a charmingly rustic atmosphere. Although you could order á la carte, for the full (and easier) experience select a gyu-nabe ("beef pot") course, and your server will move a shichirin (a portable coal-burning stove) to your table and prepare a range of cow tongue, beef, tofu, and vegetables in front of your eyes. The meat is fresh enough to be safely eaten raw, so don't be surprised if you are given paper-thin cuts of beef that are only lightly seared.
Not far from Tsukiji, Tsukishima (Moon Island) is a large man-made island known as the birthplace of delicious monjayaki: a thin batter is mixed with shredded cabbage and other ingredients, fried on a griddle built into the table, and eaten directly from the grill with metal spatulas. The main street in Tsukishima is filled with dozens of monjayaki establishments, but Yumeya is one of the best, an obvious fact when you spot the line of waiting patrons. Tried-and-true monjayaki eaters make it themselves at the table, but it can be a tricky endeavor—you need to form a ring of dry ingredients on the grill and pour the batter into the middle. If you're not feeling confident, servers can also make it for you at your table.
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