“Soba, sake and wine” are the main draws of this stylish izakaya just up the hill from Ebisu station. On any night, the terrace, main room and smaller private function rooms are thronged with patrons, from nervous first-date couples to raucous older groups, from gaggles of fashionable young women to…
Located in an attractively furnished Kagurazaka basement, walls decorated with colorful sake and shochu bottles, Agezuki feels more like an upscale izakaya than a tonkatsu shop. And indeed they offer a well-curated list of more than a dozen craft sakes, in either standard 1-go flasks or 65ml tasting sizes, along…
Ah, the kindness of Korean ajuma (aunties), who have over the years loaned me their floral aprons, cut up my reimen noodles with scissors, or given me extra side dishes (as if I needed fattening up). Two smiling Korean aunts run this hole-in-the-wall basement lunch spot and serve up hearty…
Oh Bhaiya! is a new street food and sweets shop that opened in Nishi-Kasai in the spring of 2023. It offers a huge menu of tasty snacks and quick bites based on the “chaat” (finger-licking good) street delicacies of Delhi and India. The friendly South Indian owner is only too…
While the main Ginza branch of this legendary Michelin-starred yakitoriya demands a good portion of an evening to fully appreciate, this more casual outlet is well suited to bar-hopping. Grab a seat and enjoy a round of top-quality charcoal-grilled skewers and a glass of wine, then move on to your…
According to legend, curry is most popular in the old-book town of Jimbocho because customers can eat their curry-rice with a spoon in one hand and an open book in the other, voraciously eating and reading at the same time. A recent addition to the dozens of venerable curry restaurants…
They aren’t kidding – some of these pizzas really are crazy! The kitchen here enthusiastically experiments with variations like Gyros Pizza and Micro-sardine Pizza along with offbeat side dishes like Marinated Octopus with Tapenade. There’s a fridge full of craft beers to explore and a nice wine list as well,…
This bustling dining bar is a fun destination for drinks with friends or group outings of any size. They offer freshly brewed beers, inventive original cocktails, appetizing food and friendly service, all in a lively setting. There’s a standing bar if you just want to grab a quick drink, plus…
Chicken parts and pork organ meats, grilled on skewers over charcoal, are the specialty of this long-running shop, and they do an excellent job preparing them. The grilled venison – tender and very flavorful – is highly recommended, as is the liver (their best seller). Other crowd pleasers include stuffed…
This recent addition to the very cosmopolitan Grand Cube dining street in Otemachi offers a mound of real, down-home Malaysian-style Indian curries and rice to discerning local office workers. Just choose your rice and curry, and the friendly staff will load you up a heaping plate of spicy enjoyment! The…
A few musty bookstores away from Jimbocho crossing, R Sri Lanka is an oasis of calm. Enter through the tinted glass doors and you’re struck by the high ceilings, the palm fronds, and the giant elephants painted on the walls. The only Tokyo branch of a restaurant launched a few…
This lively backstreet cafe serves dozens of varieties of buckwheat galettes and dessert crepes in addition to French hard ciders. You can supplement your galette “complete” (ham, egg and cheese) with add-on ingredients like mushrooms, onions, potatoes and seasonal vegetables, or opt for “specialty” galette varieties like smoked salmon, smoked…
Decorated with lanterns and neon signage, this basement Vietnamese restaurant offers up very tasty dishes in an unpretentious izakaya-style setting. Named for the famous Vietnamese beer, 333 (“Bababa”) is crowded at lunch and dinner with local young Japanese office workers and Vietnamese students. Along with the usual Pho soup-noodle dishes,…
Plump, globular donuts bursting with creamy filling are the specialty at Osaka-based BPC Donuts, produced in flavors like chocolate, lemon-cheese and yogurt. Most customers get their donuts to go, but you can also drop in for a quick coffee and donut in the tiny seating area next to the take-out…
If you want to, you can think of Le Petit Tonneau as a wine bar. They serve more than twenty different wines by the glass and a few dozen more by the bottle, with Cotes du Rhone, Languedoc, Bordeaux and Bourgogne all well represented. The menu includes fairly detailed descriptions…
If you’re in Harajuku and looking for a dining spot with a pleasant atmosphere, good food and spacious outdoor seating, Eataly checks all the boxes. The attractive third-floor terrace is probably the main selling point, with a verdant view overlooking Yoyogi Park and Meiji Shrine (and the intermittently audible Yoyogi…
Run by the Que Bom churrasco restaurant, this cozy shop serves Brazilian sandwiches in nine or ten different varieties. Some favorites include the excellent Ceviche-style Shrimp-Avocado as well as the Grilled Cheese and Short Rib (think of it as a Brazilian version of Philly cheesesteak). Argentine-style choripan – a plump…
Nishi-Kasai is famous for its plentiful Indian restaurants, both North and South Indian styles, catering to a large local Indian community. Tokyo Mithai Wala is probably the city’s only specialist Indian sweets shop. From outside the front window, it looks like a high-class French patisserie or chocolaterie, with rows of…
