For one-stop shopping for food, tableware, kitchenware, and lunch, I highly recommend Ginza Akomeya. The restaurant offers a colorful lunch rich with small dishes. While not vegetarian, it is vegetable-friendly and nourishing. The retail part of the store is curated offering great products for the pantry. Essentials like mirin, sesame oil, and soy sauce as…
Tag: lunch
New York Pizza at Shibuya Pizza Slice
Having lived in NYC I was spoiled with many options for pizza by the slice. My favorite was Two Boots and there was one in the West Village near my home. I would have taxi drivers bring me there if were returning home from an overseas trip. In Tokyo we have incredible pizza, like Nakameguro…
Sardine Lovers’ Lunch 新宿割烹中嶋
Chef Nakajima of Shinjuku Kappō Nakajima is often on television on a morning cooking show. His restaurant serves a multi-course kaiseki meal in the evening, but the lunch is a set lunch based on iwashi sardines. For less than $10 USD (800 or 900 JPY), the menu options are sashimi, furai (breaded and deep-fried), nimono (simmered in a sweet soy sauce),…
Shibuya Shunju 春秋 – Colorful Vegetable Salad Bar
** Updated Sunday, 16 April 2017. Shibuya Shunju no longer offers the vegetable salad bar. The restaurant is still a good choice for lunch in this part of Shibuya. Arigato, to David Richards for letting me know the buffet was not there when he went recently. Buffet lunches abound around the city. Some of my…
Shibuya Torikatsu Chicken とりかつチキン
Katsu refers to panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) encrusted and deep-fried goods. Tonkatsu, deep-fried pork, is the most popular, but there are many others such as torikatsu for chicken. Furai is another Japanese word that is used to describe the same preparation, and is often seen with seafood such as kaki (oysters), aji (horse mackerel), or ika (squid). Torikatsu in Shibuya is hidden on the back streets,…
Shibuya Tare Katsu Don
The signboard outside of this small shop near Shibuya station caught my eye. Vegetables and thin slices of pork dressed in panko bread crumbs, deep-fried, and dipped in a sweet and savory soy sauce over a bowl of rice. Donburi are large bowls of rice with toppings. Tare refers to the sauce that clings to the vegetables and…
Ogikubo Takahashi Soba 高はし
Takahashi is a about a ten-minute walk from Ogikubo station on the Chuo line, but worth the journey through the residential area west of Tokyo. I was meeting a girlfriend for lunch on a Tuesday. For whatever reason, many soba shops are closed on Tuesdays. But my friend had been to Takahashi before and we…
72 Seasons – guest post by Janice Espa
Tokyo is enthralling. If like me, you can’t get enough of this city, then you’re probably on the go from early in the morning. Tokyo dining, though delicious, can leave you dumbfounded. Dinner plans, which many times require a reservation, are easier to plan around than deciding what to have for lunch when caught in…
Rose Bakery – Ginza and Marunouchi
I am a big fan of Rose Bakery. An English bakery that first opened in Paris and is now dotting Tokyo. This casual cafe has a large delicatessen-style refrigerator in each shop that showcases the colorful salads and baked goods. While the cakes and sweets are tempting, I am always come here for the salads….
Shibuya Adenia
Adenia in Shibuya is home to one of my favorite burgers in Tokyo. Chef Masafumi Irie was the sous chef at the Park Hyatt Tokyo at the same time that I was the sommelier. The bistro is a short walk from Shibuya station. It is on a quiet residential street. The daily lunch menu, reasonably…
Nobu Tokyo
I remember my first visit to Nobu, in New York City, a long time ago. The restaurant was buzzing. The miso cod was better than I imagined it could be, especially after reading about the dish for so long. The table next to me was a film crew from Tokyo making a commercial for Dunkin…
Shibuya Murgi Curry 印度料理ムルギー
Murugi has been on my Go List for about twenty-five years now. Famous for its curry, and the unusual presentation of the tall rice behind the curry. The popular dish is the tamago-iri curry, curry with a hard-boiled egg (1,050 JPY). It is served with a small portion of a fruit paste, to be mixed into the…
Ginza Lunch – Hachidaime Gihey 銀座米料亭 八代目儀兵衛
At home we cook our rice in a donabe (ceramic pot). It is much faster to cook the rice in the donabe than it is in a rice cooker. Better yet, if you can cook it properly, the donabe will give you a nice okoge, charred crust. A Kyoto restaurant that specializes in rice that has a small restaurant…
Fermintxo Boca
Fermintxo Boca is a lovely Spanish spot hidden behind the escalators on the first floor of the Ark Hills South Tower. Lunch, which includes an appetizer plate, main dish, and coffee, is a bargain starting at 1,200 JPY. The pasta paella at lunch is made with splinters of angel hair pasta cooked in a rich…
Ruby Jack’s Steakhouse
Ruby and Jack are chef Matthew Crabbe’s grandparents name. Ruby Jack’s Steakhouse is a great spot in the Ark Hills South Tower building. High ceilings, outdoor seating if you want on a spacious terrace. The interior feels very upscale with the white tablecloths, but it’s very friendly and without any attitude. Here is a tomato…
New York Grill Lunch at the Park Hyatt Tokyo
One of my favorite lunch spots in Tokyo is at the New York Grill in the Park Hyatt Tokyo. The view at 52 floors above Tokyo is amazing, even when it is overcast and lightly raining. The lunch starts at 5,000 JPY and includes a gorgeous buffet of appetizers. Customers choose a main course and…
Shinjuku Station Berg
I love that Tokyo is so big and filled with so many restaurants that new gems keep presenting themselves. On a recent television program Berg in Shinjuku Station came up as a great B Gourmet restaurant, cheap and delicious. It is open from 7 a.m. and stays open until late at night. It is located…
Roppongi Butagumi Shokudō 六本木豚組食堂
Butagumi Shokudō is located in the basement of the Roppongi Hills North Tower. There are about a dozen counter seats and several tables in back at this popular tonkatsu spot. Take-away bento and tonkatsu sandwiches are also available, but the best tonkatsu is eaten right away as it comes out of the deep-fryer. At the…
Nakameguro da Isa
Many friends tell me that they love the pizza at da Isa in Nakameguro. The shop is very famous and is often featured in magazines and on television for its pizza. Whenever I come to this part of town though I usually make a beeline for Seirinkan. At lunchtime at da Isa there is a…
Summer Lunch at Nihonbashi Yukari
On a recent afternoon we found ourselves in Nihonbashi a little after noon. Just around the corner was one of our favorite restaurants in the city, Nihonbashi Yukari. Nihonbashi Yukari is a kaiseki/kappō restaurant. Behind the counter on most days is the third-generation chef, Kimio Nonaga. We actually tried coming in last week but when we…
Dakshin “Truly South Indian” Near Tokyo Station
The Kyobashi side of Tokyo Station outside of the Yaesu exit has many restaurants hidden away down narrow streets or in the basement of boring buildings. Dakshin is one of these spots that is worth seeking out. I only happened upon it as my regular Indian spots for dosa, Dhaba, had a long line out the…
Tsukiji Market Takeno Shokudo 多け乃食堂
It is said that there are 500 shops and restaurants at Tsukiji Market’s outer market. Finding a particular one can be a challenge. A friend had told me that I had to check out Takeno Shokudo. “It is just down one of those narrow streets just before the stoplight”, he had advised. Problem is that…
T.Y. Harbor – Oasis in Tokyo
Tokyo is a massive city and there are so many parts that I have yet to explore. One of the coolest areas, literally cool as the area is surrounded by canals, is Tennoz Isle. Until now I have only passed through on the monorail on my way to Haneda airport. Now I am kicking…
Why You Should be Eating Italian in Tokyo
A good chef friend was visiting from NYC. He’s lived in Tokyo for years and knows that Italian done by Japanese chefs is one of Tokyo’s greatest culinary treats. I was thrilled to hear we were going for Italian and that a food editor was picking our lunch spot. A tiny Hiroshima virgin oyster in…
Wadakura at the Palace Hotel Tokyo 和田倉
Seasonal Sashimi of Sea Bream, Medium Fatty Tuna, and Squid Kaiseki restaurant Wadakura in the Palace Hotel Tokyo is a quiet oasis overlooking the moat of the Imperial Palace. Seasonal dishes are brought out in small portions and presented on beautiful dishes. There are many good reasons for having kaiseki for lunch. First and foremost,…
Marunouchi Raku Soba
The guy sitting next to me said to his friend regarding the soba at Raku, “you’ll love it or hate it”. I had already started slurping away and I knew what he meant. It’s not your typical bowl of buckwheat noodles. These handmade noodles are thick cut and the densest soba I’ve ever had. The…
Japanese Fried Chicken at iro-kara
I have been craving Korean-style fried chicken ever since listening to Rick Bayless talk about it on The Feed Podcast. When I lived in New York City and Singapore I could get my fix. For some reason, Tokyo, which has amazing kara-agé (deep-fried, seasoned, boneless cuts of chicken) hasn’t caught on to it. And, there…
Butcher Brothers in Kanda and Nihonbashi
Butcher’s Steak Plate 肉屋のステーキプレート Craving a hearty lunch after an early morning tour to Tsukiji Market and depachika, I stopped by Butcher Brothers in Kanda. I had stopped by last week but came right during the lunch hour rush, noon in Japan, and there was a line out the door. So was thrilled when I…
Gyūkatsu Okada in Shinbashi 牛かつおか田
Gyū Katsu Okada is a restaurant that has been on my Go List for about a decade. It opened in 1998 and the signature dish is Australian wagyū that is breaded and deep-fried. It is a classic restaurant that has been mentioned in many food magazines over the years. The meat is cooked in 210…
Le Pain Quotidien at nonowa Higashi-Koganei
I lived in Brussels for a year and one of the things I remember the most is the Le Pain Quotidien down the street from my apartment. The bakery opened up early in the morning so I could stop by and get a croissant or pain au chocolat to start the day. The large communal…
Urban BBQ Smokehouse by TY Harbor
BBQ and sauces Chef David Chiddo of the TY Harbor group has several successful restaurants in the city including Cicada and Beacon. His most recent shop, Smokehouse, is an urban barbecue with a great list of craft beers, both domestic and from the USA, as well as one of the city’s best selection of American…
Ginza Maru 銀座圓
In a recent New York Times Op-Ed, Gwen Robinson mentions a newly opened restaurant in Ginza that serves traditional Japanese lunches for only $10. She doesn’t mention the name of the restaurant in the article, but does talk about the chef, Keiji Mori, so with some research, in both English and Japanese, I found Ginza…
The Delicatessen at the Park Hyatt Tokyo
The set lunch at the Delicatessen at the Park Hyatt Tokyo is worth the short walk from Shinjuku station. I was surprised to see how reasonably priced it is. For 1,000 JPY diners can select from a large selection of sandwiches, including croque monsieur, croissants with ham, and pita overflowing with vegetables. With the sandwich…
Nihonbashi Yukari Summer Lunch
Nihonbashi Yukari is one of my favorite restaurants in Tokyo for a kaiseki meal. Chef Kimio Nonaga is the 2002 Iron Chef champion from the original series. I’ve included many Yukari Gozen lunches on this blog and it’s a beautiful way to taste seasonal ingredients exquisitely presented. This lunch in early June starts with a chilled chawanmushi topped with…
Sake no Ana: Best Place for Tasting Sake for Lunch in Tokyo – Part 2/2
Sake no Ana 酒の穴 Chuo-ku, Ginza 3-5-8 03-3567-1133 3. Juyondai Honjozo 十四代 本醸造 Premium sake, very hard to purchase retail. Often sold at much higher prices on E-bay (Sakamoto-san, the sake sommelier said that the bottle we had would go for 10,000 JPY even though the retail price is only about 2,500 JPY.) From Yamagata prefecture. http://www.yukinosake.com/juyondai.html (sake brewery site in Japanese)…
Gotta Go – Nihonbashi Yukari
I am often asked for restaurant suggestions in Tokyo. There is one restaurant that I recommend time and time again. Chef Kimio Nonaga of Nihonbashi Yukari was the 2002 Iron Chef winner, and the trophy is displayed when you first walk in. I love this restaurant for lunch or dinner. For a multi-course kaiseki dinner…
Food Sake Tokyo 