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Japan
Everyone I know uses Tokyofoodie.com to decide on restaurants in Tokyo. Well-written and comprehensive articles by other food lovers are perfect there.
www.tokyofoodie.com
www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/jan/18/tokyo.travelwebsites
The rather delightfully named 'Piss alley' might not be the most delicately-named place to enjoy your dinner but the noodles here are truly fantastic. Navigate some of the divinely old-style Japanese 'corridors' of alleyway shops and restaurants and nip into one of the tiny hole in the walls to get your piping hot noodles and aromatic flavours of Japan. Only really able to accommodate a couple of people so you're likely to squeeze in with a hurried commuter and maybe a couple of old ladies but the atmosphere is pure magic in the ramen shops. All in all, thankfully modern plumbing but old-style eating experience!
Tokyo, Shinjuku station
Bon serve Fucha Ryori cuisine, a form of Zen vegetarian cooking originating in China but developed in Japan. Small delicate and beautiful dishes are served in measured succession, in a private room on Tatami mats. We had about 11 courses (we lost count).
The service was immaculate: serene, polite and friendly, quite unlike anything European, and the whole experience was calm and almost meditative.
The restaurant is tucked away down a back street of old Tokyo houses. Booking is required.
Ryusen 1-2-11, Taito-Ku, near Iriya station (Hiriya line). Phone 03 (3872) 0375. Do not rely on the map provided by the restaurant, which is inaccurate. Get someone to look it up for you in the Tokyo street atlas.
This is a very popular and cheap fast food restaurant. Like the similar MosBurger, orders are cooked from fresh, so don't expect MacD's style service.
The burgers are amazingly tasty: I still dream about the bacon omelette burger 18 months after my return to the UK! Delicious fresh lemonade, chunky wedges and a huge range of condiments, all served by very young and helpful staff.
Almost everywhere!
Part bar, part puppet-show, this one-man-cabaret of a dining experience is for anyone who likes to eat out in truly surreal fashion.
It's the choicest blend of beer, bar snacks, party games and singing lavatory available in Tokyo, though definitely not recommended for the overly self conscious.
Hanasada Bldg. B1F 5-12, Shinbashi 2 -Chome, Minato-Ku, Tokyo.
homepage: www1.ocn.ne.jp/~kagayayy/index_e.html
review: metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/448/bars.asp
Part bar, part puppet show, this one-man-cabaret of a dining experience is for anyone who likes to eat out in truly surreal fashion.
It's the choicest blend of beer, bar snacks, party games and singing lavatory available in Tokyo, though definitely not recommended for the overly self-conscious.
Hanasada Bldg. B1F 5-12, Shinbashi 2 -Chome, Minato-Ku, Tokyo.
homepage: www1.ocn.ne.jp/~kagayayy/index_e.html
review: metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/448/bars.asp
On the east side of Shinjuku station, to the north of the Odakyu department store look for the alleyways of Shoniben Yokocho - "Piss Alley"!
Don't let the name put you off - this area has loads of small bars selling yakitori. Choose your own kebabs - chicken, tomatoes, fish, pork, etc and have them barbecued as you listen to the banter from the chefs and barmaids to the passing customers. Beer and lemon bitters to drink with the locals, bags of noise and atmosphere and very cheap!
Nishi-Shinjuku, east of Shinjuku station
If you want to know what the Japanese do on a Sunday afternoon, then head off to Yoyogi Park. The whole of Tokyo seems to descend on this wonderful park. Families come for a picnic, unsigned pop bands play inpromptu gigs, theatre groups practise their latest plays and people just hang out letting the world go by! Everything seems to happen in this one place! When I went there a year ago, I felt like I saw the real Tokyo - seeing the Japanese at play.
Don't miss it!
Adjacent to Yoyogi-koen and Meiji-jingumae Stations on the subway Chiyoda Line, and Harajuku Station on the JR Yamanote Line
The myth that Tokyo is expensive is shattered here. This extensive chain of fast food resturants is cheap and filling but authentically Japanese. The dishes are rice based with different toppings (beef, chicken etc) served with oinions and pickel. Price of the meal usally includes a serving of green tea, the total cost being around 350-450Yen (2003 prices). Pictures of the food on the placemats also help in the ease of ordering for non-Japanese speakers.
100s of locations in the Tokyo area.
An indoor amusement park based on eating - get gyoze/potstickers in mock Chinese alleys, ice cream in a huge shop/fair and buy cream cakes and eat them in the Tokyo creampuff field beneath trees with cream puffs on them. A baffling and bewildering experience inside Sunshine City.
Underground to Ikebukoro, then follow signs to Sunshine City
There are traditional coffee houses all over Tokyo. Small - usually air-conditioned - places of calm from the hustle, bustle and summer heat. Your glass of ice cool water is constantly topped up, a cloth to refresh you, coffee, cakes and in many perfect toasted cheese. Excellent people-watching places too. Don't even think about using Starbucks or any of the chains.
Literally the best restaraunt/bar you will find in Tokyo (nay the world), and it's on the 42nd floor atop of the Mori Atago building.
Great atmosphere and the best view of Tokyo you'll get over Lobster (recommend at night).
Atago Green Hills, Kamiyacho
www.ystable.co.jp/restaurant/xexatago
Tako-Yaki was my favorite street food. A savory octopus gobstopper, you bite through a crispy pancake shell, swallow down runny batter till you get to the chewy chunk of octopus in the center. Stalls selling this tend to have a cute cartoon octopus waiving its legs invitingly at you.
You can buy it from stalls at festivals or in parks (there‘s one in front of Yoiyogi park).
Basically Tokyo-on-sea, a big slab of reclaimed land in Tokyo bay where you can go and chill out, eat/drink/shop, enjoy sea breezes, even go to the (artifical) beach! There are stunning views of Tokyo (especially at night), and it's one of the few places in Tokyo where you can enjoy the great outdoors. There's a massive ferris wheel for even better views and you can even rent a dog to walk!! One of the best things about it though is the journey there - it's worth going just to enjoy the monorail ride across the enormous Rainbow Bridge.
Yuirkamone monorail from Shimbashi. A one-day ticket gives unlimited travel on the monorail all day for around £7.
One of dozens of department stores in the Ginza area; this is my personal favourite, mainly because of the food hall. You can find an absolutely stunning range of local and international delicacies here and best of all a lot of it is out on cocktail sticks for you to try - helpful where you're not sure what it is - so you can wander around, enjoy the frenetic atmosphere and have your lunch at the same time!
Ginza or Higashi Ginza subway
Tokyo is aparadise for food lovers with restaurants of all cuisines. It can be very expensive but all restaurants have fantastic lunch deals at a fraction of the dinner price. So seek out the good places and go for lunch not dinner.
"Kaiten" is the name given to the conveyor belt-style sushi restaurants you'll have seen on virtually any TV programme about Tokyo. Take a seat, make yourself a free cup of green tea and take whatever you fancy. The price of the sushi depends on the colour of the plate (you'll find the price guide on the wall), and once you've had enough just ask for the "okanjo" (bill) and pay at the till as you leave. Simple, easy and delicious. The price of a plate varies from JPY100 (about 50p) to JPY600 (3 pounds).
I recommend "Kazu" in Ginza (Ginei Building 1F, 8-8-6 Ginza, Chuo-ku), near the Burberry store.
Nearest station: Ginza.
Not technically Japanese food (it originates from Korea), but yaki-niku ("grilled meat") is so popular in Japan it would be rude not to mention it. You'll find each table has a miniature barbeque, upon which you place a variety of meats and vegetables to grill (or incinerate, depending on how many beers you've had). The choice of meats is huge (from beef tongue, every conceivable part of a chicken, to... well, you'll find out), and it's damn good fun too.
You'll find yaki-niku restaurants all over Tokyo. Gyukaku (www.gyukaku.ne.jp) has various locations throughout the city, with English menus available.
There are hundreds of happening districts to explore after you've wandered around Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku and the like in your guidebook. You can take a subway a few stops out from Shibuya to Shimokitazawa - an alternative studenty type area with lots of music shops and live venues but well away from the tourist trail. Or else try Daikanyama with a more refined tree-lined kind of neighborhood feel, plenty of cafes and boutiques. Take the subway to Ebisu to get there.
Shimokitazawa - private subway from Shibuya
Daikanyama - Ebisu subway
Located in the fashionable Omotesando area, this "kaitenzushi" (conveyer belt sushi restaurants) is one the best known in central Tokyo. Customers simply pick their sushi from a selection on a small conveyer belt - anything from a basic cucumber roll to the more exotic sea urchin. Prices start from 120 yen a plate. After your meal, take a stroll down trendy Jingumae street and shop to your heart's delight.
ADDRESS: 5-8-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku
PHONE: +81 (0)3 3498 3968
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