Tokyo Restaurants + Update!
Recommendations for Japan's Capital City
Welcome Back!
It has been a little bit since I put out the last Substack on my first visit to Japan’s capital city. Since then, in short, life happens.
On arriving back into Hong Kong at my restaurant I was greeted with a mountain of issues while I had been gone, got hit shortly after with a round of the flu and then some just overall burnout.
You may be asking why I decided to get back into kitchens and cooking after I had stepped out for a couple of years. The answer is pure mental illness 😂
But seriously, for me, it got in my blood and while I did not miss a lot of the admin and stress associated with being a head chef, I missed the cooking, seasonal changes, exploring new flavors/combinations and more.
As far as Cooking With Octopod goes, I appreciate all of you who continue to support my work here. I’ve got 3 Substacks lined up for the next 5 days and will be dropping lots more content on recipes, spice/flavor hacks, cooking, travel and much more.
I like to check in with you once or twice a year on what content you appreciate most on my substack so here’s as good a time as any since we are halfway through 2024!
You can also comment below.
I’m keeping this post free/open for all subscribers including all the restaurant recommendations below.
Tokyo Dining & Recommendations
If you missed the intro post to my exploring Tokyo, highly recommend going back now. There’s a lot of context about the culture, city and people that will be helpful below.
If you are avoiding Tokyo because you think the dining scene is just sushi, dashi and ramen you are horrifically mistaken. Tokyo has an incredible dining scene honoring Japanese roots like Soba, Ramen, Sushi, Izakaya, Yakitori and much more.
In addition, Tokyo has a top tier dining scene for pizza, pasta and French cuisine.
Japanese culture in general has a knack for taking products or systems and honing/perfecting them. You’ve seen this in the last 20+ years in regards to French & Italian cuisines.
Many Japanese chefs have spent time abroad in Europe and then come back to their homeland and out their own precising techniques and tweaks into the classical cuisines of France and Italy, producing some of the best pastas, pizza and French cuisine worldwide.
Further, Tokyo is home to the most Michelin star restaurants in the world. Yup, you heard me. Now, is every Michelin restaurant going to be spectacular and awesome?
No way.
Some are overrated, sometimes you visit on an off night. But having the most michelin star joints vs any other city worldwide is not an insignificant indicator.
Below are my updated restaurants list by category with notes. 🙌
It wasn’t feasible to load pics for every recommendation but I included quite a few
Please note that some places require reservations out in advance, sometimes months so plan ahead and research accordingly. By no means do you need to stress about reservations if that’s not your thing. There is plenty of good dining to be had on walkins for certain restaurant categories.
Enjoy and drop any questions below.
Ramen
Ueno Menya Musashi Bukotsu Soden
Delicious ramen here but the real star is the tsukemen, IMO. The thicker noodles served separately alongside a concentrated broth that dip the noodz in and slurp. You can get a few different types. I tried the spicy tsukemen and the thick cut pork ramen.
A bowl of pickles comes out while you wait for your bowl. It’s a tight little spot and you just punch in your order on the touch screen when you walk in, and sit down at the bar.
This is right by the Ueno park which has lots of outdoor areas as well as musuems, I hit here for a lunch break while exploring the parks and museums.
Oreryu Shio Ramen Shibuya Center Gaiten
Expect a line at this spot late night but those close at 6am which makes this a great late night noodz shop.
The usual ticketing system is in place: order at vending machine, line up, wait for a table.
I love shio ramen which is a lighter broth than the popular tonkotsu or shoyu broths. This spot has a karaage (fried chicken) ramen which was really tasty. Again though, the tsukemen was my favorite. There’s condiments on the bar top/tables to spike your ramen with garlic and yuzu kosho (one of my favorite condiments on the planet 🤤 ).
Really fun spot, friendly staff. Highly rec.
Sushi
Daiya at Tosoya Market
(which replaced the old Tsukiji market) Open from 6am-1pm. I went at 7:30 and had 12 course omakase plus miso soup and green tea refills for $45USD inclusive. I could get used to that breakfast every day 🤤
Everything from different cuts of tuna, squid, shrimp, uni, bonito, scallop, horse mackerel and more.
I loved that the friendly sushi master instructed me no need to use soy or wasabi because everything is already seasoned. Educating the Westerners 😂. He would be horrified seeing the sushi joints with people dunking their fish bites into pools of soy sauce and wasabi.
Very nice people, great service and fun to see all the diferent sushi masters around the bar just cranking out well cut sushi.
Nemuro Hanamaru Sushi at Tokyo Plaza
This spot is an exceptional value for sushi. Especially if you’re starting out there’s no sense in blowing $$$$ on high end sushi that you probably won’t appreciate. Start at a spot like this. Super chill, fun, and great pricepoint.
There’s no reservations. So just walk in about an hour before you want to eat, grab a ticket and go walk around Tokyo plaza and chill until it’s your turn.
While some of their branches are conveyor belt sushi spots, this one is actually a tachigui (stand and eat) establishment. People just roll in, post up at the bar (can accomodate about 8 people at a time), eat some sushi and leave. The run daily menus of varying fish and seafood collections and the smaller menu also keeps the cost down.
Sushi M
If you’re a serious sushi lover, check out Sushi M. It’s a small 12-seat omakase bar that turns out top notch sushi and does it while focusing on killer wine and sake pairings.
This is a really cool approach that is only recently began to gain traction.
Definitely need reservations. Expect minimum of 33,000Y (~$205) per person.
Yakitori
I’ve been obsessed with Yakitori since I had a top notch experience at Tori-Shin in NYC. Since then I’ve always wanted to try yakitori in its home of origin. Yakitori is about grilling every part of the chicken over binchotan charcoal. This includes organs and even thr tiniest parts of the bird like oysters on the back, cartilege and chicken tails (aka butts).
You can stick to more familiar things like breast, thigh, etc. There will also be grilled vegetables available. Most places do ala carte but I always go for the omakase. Let the chef cook for you the best stuff he’s got on hand that day. It’s very interactive as the chef is grilling right in front of you.
Yakitori Sei
16 seat in this chic but comfortable yakitori spot. You want to make rezzos for any yakitori shop I went to, unless you want to wait. One I went in, was a 2 hour wait so I walked around and came back. Everything else was reservation after that 😂
Jidoroya Tsukada
More upscale spot with a cocktail program. The yakitori here is really well done but definitely more formal setting compared to others I visited. If you’re into cocktails definitely check out.
Yakitori Toriyoshi-Akasaka
This was my favorite spot. It wasn’t the fanciest. Wasn’t the most expensive. It was the most comfortable, relaxing and pleasant eating experiences I can remember having. The chef was so friendly and made efforts in broken english to speak with me about the food I was eating. My Japanese was horrible so I used some google translate.
Towards the end of the meal I told him how polite and friendly everyone had been in my first visit to Tokyo. He looked at me, stood up straight, with a serious look on his face and bowed to me in pride. Was so cool to experience.
This wasn’t all the skewers and courses but you get the idea. Another spot I would be at weekly if I lived in Tokyo.
Izakaya
These are the places to hit for small plates, booze and/or tea open until the wee hours of the morning. Really fun but be prepared to wait unless you call for a reservation.
Meat Man
Had an absolute blast here. The owner and chef makes incredible grilled skewers and also has a lot of fun with Italian/French influences that he spins as you can see on the menu.
The signature vegetables skewers are wrapped in pork belly before grilling 😂
The lettuce skewer is recommended after being grilled to add melted cheese. It was sublime and tasty.
The baguette ice cream was also a great finish.
Would be here every week if I lived in Tokyo
Jomon Roppongi
Another killer spot from the same group that has Meat Man, this time with Hakata-style meat skewers. Lots of pork, beef and chicken skewers… and lots of shochu to crush alongside.
Tempura
If you’re curious about Tempura try one of these two spots. Both really tasty
Isetan
Tempura Yoshitake (go for lunch)
Pizza
I’ve got many chef friends and F&B colleagues who have told me for years that the overall quality of pizza in Tokyo and Japan is higher than even Italy. Whatever you believe this trip made me a believer that Japan is on the list to visit if you love pizza.
Pizza
PST (Pizza Studio Tamaki)
This is now an institution in Tokyo. They have two locations. The Roppongi location is newest and the original is in Higashi Azuba.
These pizzas are Neopolitan-esque. Baked at very high temperatures quickly. Some Japanese restaurants require you to buy a drink per person (aka, not just water) but I dont really care about that. Just beware if first time going.
They have appetizers etc but I’d recommend just going for the pizza.
This was the PST Margherita and the Quattro Fromaggio which is served with honey on the side to be drizzled over.
You’ll notice some dark char marks and bubbles. They were light as a feather and not bitter at all. Loved this pizza.
400C Pizza
This is a new spot that is gaining a cult like following. It will blow your mind because the pizzas are cooked on an electric conveyor belt but is some of the best, if not the best, pizza I’ve ever had.
It’s tough to get a reservation, although you can get tickets and come back when it’s your turn. (People are turning up at 8am to get tickets for 2pm seatings).
The chef obviously has his dough down to a science.
The traditional margherita was tomato, mozz and basil. The crust was thick on the exterior and then a slight chew. No oven… just an electric conveyor belt
The pizza to get though is the “FNT”: blue cheese sauce, mascarpone, and honey.
No words on this one. Mind… blown.
The Pizza Bar on 38th (at the Mandarin Oriental)
This is an omakase experience but with pizza. You need to reserve 2 months out on this one.
Here’s some other pizza spots to check out.
Savoy Azubujuban
Pizza Strada
Frey’s Famous
French
Sezanne (in the Four Seasons, Marunouchi)
Good luck getting a reservation here since they just won #1 Restaurant in Asia on the San Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants List.
Chef Daniel Calvert is putting out some of the best food I’ve ever seen or tried in my life. I met Daniel back in 2018 and I couldn’t be happier to see his hard work pay off. Was able to catch up with him on my visit as I hadn’t seen him since he was in Hong Kong. A food savant and mentor for me. If you can get a reservation, do it. The money doesn’t matter. Mind blowing food on a high level.
The food here is all based on Daniel’s flawless French techniques, which he then uses on the best ingredients in Japan. It’s not fusion. It’s one of the few chefs who has a singular, individual style that is pure and full of memorable flavors.
Maison Marunouchi
If you don’t want to go full-on fine dining, check out Daniel’s more chill bistro. This is classic french food done with impeccable technique. This is one of the best pate en croute I can remember having (this version with venison and boudin noir). The mille feuille was cherry and mint, as a cherry lover I was in heaven.
Abbessess
If you’re into French comfort food… go here! It’s soulful French dude cooked with the Japanese meticulous attention to detail and technique.
Snow crab and cauliflower gratin, comte and black truffle omelette, cassoulet, lamb with roquefort sauce and some killer beef offerings. The desserts will make you never want to leave.
Tea
If you’re looking for tea shops to taste and buy from check these two. Especially for matcha!
Sakurai Tea
Ippodo
Coffee
Chumon-Baisen MAMETORA
Cocktails
Bellwood
Liquid Factory
Bar Centifolia
S&G (Sip & Guzzle)
I hope you enjoyed restaurant hopping through tokyo! Please don’t forget to answer the poll and comment below.
Appreciate your support… next up a Substack on soy sauces… and then more recipes!