5 Best Places to Eat in Tokyo, Japan

After traveling across Japan for 3 weeks on my honeymoon and spending 11 days in a row in Tokyo, I composed a list of what I believe to be the 5 best places to eat when visiting Japan’s incredible capital.

Hope you will find this list helpful if you ever plan a trip to this amazing city ????

1) Best Ramen Place – Afuri

I can definitely say that this was the best ramen I had in Japan! This place offers various kinds of ramen, including a traditional style ramen (with a broth that is based on “tonkotsu”, or pork, that my husband tried) and also a gorgeous “rainbow” vegan ramen (to which I requested to add an egg, but it is not originally included in the dish) featuring delicious vegetables (I especially loved the roasted pumpkin). On top of it all, the dishes are incredibly photogenic ????

2) Best Sushi Place – Katsu Midori Seibu Shibuya

Located in one of the upper floors of the “Seibu” department store building in Shibuya, Tokyo, this sushi place is definitely a hidden gem. While it’s not a fancy, upscale restaurant, this “kaiten zushi” (sushi served on a moving conveyor belt, which is highly popular among the locals) offers scrumptious dishes, friendly service and very reasonable prices. You can either order from a tablet, call a waiter or, if you’re lucky enough to sit in front of the sushi chefs (like we were in our first visit there), you get the chance to order directly from them. This place offers a wide assortment of dishes, but my favorite ones where the tamagoyaki (traditional Japanese omelet) nigiri and, my absolute favorite, grilled salmon nigiri (which was totally divine).

3) Best Udon Place – Udon Shin

This tiny restaurant in Shinjuku, Tokyo offers some of the best udon dishes in Japan! We visited the place on a very rainy day and had to wait in line outside the restaurant for at least 20-30 minutes until we could get inside and wait for a table (even the waiting space inside is tiny and can only hold 2-3 people at a time). However, it was certainly worth the wait and we were delighted to eat our steamy udon dishes. This restaurant is vegetarian-friendly and makes its own udon (white, thick wheat flour noodles) – you can taste that it’s fresh, exceptional and so, so yummy.

4) Best Crepe Place – Marion Crepes

I’ve always wanted to try a Japanese crepe – TV anime shows like “Fruits Basket” makes them look so heavenly… and lo and behold: the crepes sold in this stand, located in the fashionable Takeshita Street in Harajuku, Tokyo, is simply to die for ???? There are a ton of flavors to choose from, ranging from basics like chocolate, cream and strawberries to more indulgent ones that contain ice cream, cheesecake and even brownies.

5) Best Pastry Place – Ueno no Mori no Panyasan

This Ueno bakery in Tokyo has a large variation of cute animal-themed pastries, from Japanese melon pan (melon-shaped bread with a crumbly cookie crust) and dorayaki (featuring a sweet filling sandwiched between two pancakes) and Western favorites like chocolate pastries and sweet breads. I tried a chocolate pastry filled with chocolate cream that was shaped like a bear, a melon-flavored melon pan shaped like a turtle, and a dorayaki filled with cream and anko (sweet red bean paste) that was stamped with an adorable panda bears, just like the ones in the nearby Ueno zoo.