photo by Michael Stern
The Japanese love good foods. Japan’s food culture and restaurant industry has been very well developed and comes out on top of other nations’. Not just traditional Japanese cuisine, but they have adopted other countries’ cuisines, such as ramen noodles and dumplings, and transformed those into their own style. Such dishes are often accepted by people as part of Japanese food culture. Having good food is also a great attraction for foreign tourists visiting Japan. But sometimes, you might find picking a right restaurant is quite hard as there are too many options. So, you definitely want to avoid a disappointment when your time in Japan is limited, then these seven restaurants might be the places you are looking for.
Kobe Beef Kaiseki 511
It has been a while since wagyu beef established itself as one of the most demanded luxury ingredients in the world. This well-established restaurant offers great wagyu meals at a moderate pricing. Luxury lunch set menu starts from only JPY1,500 while they only offers course meals at dinner time. Wagyu sirloin steak, hamburger steak or shabu-shabu melting on the tongue have captured so many tourists’ hearts so far. You can relax and enjoy lunch or dinner at ordinary table seats, semi-private room or private room, all surrounded by the stylish interior.
Kobe Beef Kaiseki 511
B1, Dear Plaza Akasaka, Akasaka 4-3-28, Minato Ward, Tokyo
Lunch 11:30～14:30, Dinner 18:00～23:00（Closed Sunday and public holidays）
Campion Ale
Authentic British style ales are brewed by the owner of the shop in the onsite brewery here. Drink menu includes four types of beer, Golden, Bitter, Porter, Strong, as well as other drinks such as apple cider and cocktails. Fish and chips, cottage pies, cheese and steak pies and other yummy British light meals are available to fill the gap. The authentic British pub style interior and great British beers keep attracting a number of fans. The place opens from evening to a little before midnight during the week, and opens from lunch time to late evening at weekends.
Campion Ale
Nishiasakusa 2-2-2, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Mon-Fri 17:00 ~ 23:30、Weekends and public holidays 12:00 ~ 23:30
Tokyo Shiba Tofuya Ukai
Right beside Tokyo Tower, this Tofu-kaiseki restaurant is located in Shiba-Koen. Within a great 6,600 square meter section, there are 58 private rooms. A traditional Japanese garden entertain shows fantastic seasonal views while guests enjoy their meals. This place is often used for special occasions such as business dinner, family meeting before wedding or dinner to welcome guests from overseas. Many foreign customers come back to this restaurant where they can enjoy beautiful dishes full of seasonal ingredients, a peaceful atmosphere that isolate you from city noise, dedicated professional services as well as beautiful taste of tofu.
Tokyo Shiba Tofuya Ukai
4-4-13 Shiba-Koen, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Open 7 days 11：00 ～ 22：00 (Last order 20：00, closed on a Monday every month)
Harajuku Gyoza Lou
This is a super popular dumpling shop that you can never get in without queuing. Their menu list is quite simple, Boiled dumplings or pan fried dumplings. You can choose with or without of chives and garlic. Side menu offers cabbage, cucumber, or other vegetables, steamed rice and soup. The most popular dish here is pan fried dumplings. In China, where dumplings were originally invented, dumplings are normally boiled or steamed. But here in Japan, people love pan fried ones better. Having some beer with side dish vegetables is another great moment here while waiting for your crispy dumplings served on the table. JPY290 for 6 pieces of dumplings is incredibly generous when considering its location. No wonder this place is always attracting many foreign tourists.
Harajuku Gyoza Lou
6-2-4 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Mon-Sat 11:30～4:30 next morning, Sun 11:30～22:00, Closed Year end & New Year holiday
Genki Sushi Shibuya
This sushi shop is very popular among foreigners as a quick sushi diner. It is actually recognized as something like a sushi version of a burger shop. If you are in Japan and feels uncomfortable to order in an expansive sushi shop or sushi train shop, this place is the right sushi restaurant for you. Lines of counter seats neatly standing inside and all the seats are equipped with a touch panel display. You only have to see pictures on the display and choose whatever you wish to order. No need to speak Japanese to order here. The generous pricing is another reason this place is so popular.
Genki Sushi Shibuya
1F Leisure Plaza Bld.24-8 Udagawacho,Shibuya-ku,Tokyo
Open 7 days 11:00～24:00
Kaikaya by the sea
This seafood restaurant offers a number of fresh seafood dishes created by the shop owner himself who loves the ocean. After a pop art like entrance, you will be welcomed by the lively fun loving atmosphere as if you just entered a casual diner by the sea. You can have something very standard such as sashimi or grilled fish, of course. But other Japanese based fusion dishes such as carpaccio and Vietnamese sashimi with lots of herbs and chilies are worth trying too. This place has many fans from overseas as well as Japanese fans, and offers English menu lists.
Kaikaya by the sea
23-7 Maruyama-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
11:30～14:00、18:00～23:30（Open every day except New Year’s holiday）
Ichiran Shibuya
Originally founded in 1960 Fukuoka, this long-established ramen shop has opened dozens of shops within Japan since it started store development project in 2001. Special soup stock by secret recipe, smooth thin noodles and simple toppings harmonize to create a masterpiece ramen noodle and keep attracting so many Japanese and non-Japanese fans. In addition, what differentiate this shop from other noodle shops is its interior and order procedures. Individually separated boxed seats are neatly lined at the counter. You need to purchase ticket from a vending machine and fill an order form on the counter and ring a bell to give your order form to a shop staff. Surprisingly, you do not need to speak a single word from the beginning to the end (an order sheet is available in 4 languages). Roppongi, Shinbashi, Harajuku, there are 13 Ichiran shops in Tokyo including the Shibuya shop.
Ichiran Shibuya
Iwamoto Building B1F, 1-22-7 Jinnan Sibuya-ku Tokyo
Open 24/7
Bon appetit
All of these restaurants are very popular among foreign customers. Most of them offers great customer services to help non-Japanese speaking customers have enjoyable time. If you are first timer in Japan and still feel shy to make Japanese conversations with shop staff, try one of those to start.
Related Article:
7bars to visit in Tokyo when you miss English conversations
