Food Spots in Tokyo🍜

This blog will solely focus on food recommendations in Tokyo and Mount Fuji, as you can do a day trip here from Tokyo. There are so many different food places, restaurants and stalls to choose from, that you can live here for years and still not make a dent in the food scene! We were here for a total of seven days and we ate so good. Below are foodie spots we went to and other recommendations we were told about, that I wanted to share!

For the rest of our trip, I have written a second blog called Food Spots in Japan, which you can find here.

711 and Lawsons Breakfast

You cannot go to Japan and not go to 711 or Lawsons for breakfast, a snack or sweet treat. These shops are everywhere, all across Japan and they are incredible for the huge variety of food options, ranging from pastries to sandwiches to sushi and hot food that you can just pick up on the go. A lot of our meals were grabbing a few things from here and sharing them between us. Tip, the strawberries and cream sandwich lives up to its name and is delicious.

BamBi Coffee, Shinjuku

Someone I know recommended this place to go to for their famous Japanese soufflé pancakes. It is known to be very popular on TikTok and has a couple branches in Tokyo, we went to the one in Shinkjuku. We went when it opened at 11am and there was a bit of a queue, so if you want to go, make sure you go as early as possible! When we went, we got the special mangoes and cream pancakes, so it might not be on the menu anymore, and then the biscoff lotus pancakes too. We also both got coffees as well. It is on the pricier side, but is completely worth it in my opinion.

RuRu Coffee, Shibuya

This coffee shop is another TikTok spot, known for its Japanese Garden decor of a floating river as their tables. When I went there was a bit of a queue again, but it went very quickly as the service is really good. I tried their viral Japanese Rock Cheesecake and Matcha Latte and it was definitely a cool and unique experience. They served it to you as shown in the photos below and pour your coffee for you. The cheesecake was insanely good and I’m a huge cheesecake fan, so I was nearly tempted to order another flavour! The matcha latte was also really good, as someone who likes a sweet coffee and matcha sometimes tends to be a little bitter, this one hit the spot. It was again more on the pricier side, but that is what you get for going to a popular TikTok spot! No regrets tho.

Ginza Tenryu

Ginza Tenryu is another well known place to go to in Tokyo, famous for their insanely huge dumplings. We had no clue how big there were going to be so ordered a portion each, which we did not need to do! Order one and split the eight dumplings between you. We also got egg fried rice on the side and we had to take nearly all the food away. So delicious and a reasonable price for how many you get and the size of them. Definitely worth going! The location is a bit strange, follow the address and it will take you to a building with I think four levels. If you are there for when it opens at 11am, the lift which takes you to the floor will not work until the restaurant opens. We had to wait ten minutes at the bottom and a queue did start to form, so you might want to get here early.

Menchirashi, Shibuya

Menchirashi is famous for its house made udon noodles, with a speciality being their carbonara dish. This mixture of western and Japanese food was something we had to try as we are both avid Carbonara fans. Overall, the dish was very delicious, the portions were decent and the price wasn’t too bad. We didn’t try any of their other dishes, which we probably should have, as they are known for other udon dishes and delicious tempura. The queue was also very long, and you will probably be waiting for forty minutes or more depending on how early you are. The service is very good, so we got seated fairly quick, but the wait is probably because the carbonara dish blew up on TikTok so it became a very popular place to try.

The Matcha Tokyo

The Matcha Tokyo is a very popular cafe shop, which focuses on all kinds of matcha drinks. I have been trying to get into matcha so I had to try a coffee from here. Matcha as a whole is a little bitter for me as I have such a sweet tooth, so I like to make mine a little sweeter with sugar or syrups. I ordered the Strawberry Matcha Latte to try and get the sweetness from the strawberry purée and it was surprisingly really good! If I could have added a tad bit more sugar it would have been perfect, but it was a delicious morning treat for me.

5 Crossties Coffee (view of Shibuya Crossing)

I highlighted this 5 Crossties Coffee shop in my Tokyo Blog because it is a pretty good spot to see Shibuya Crossing from above. All shops and restaurants near to the crossing are always really busy and very overwhelming with crowds, which makes this cafe perfect, as it is completely hidden away!

To get there, it is a little complicated. Once you get to Shibuya Station, follow the signs to Shibuya Scramble Square. The cafe is on the 17th floor, but you will need to get the lift to the 14th floor first. That is the highest level the elevator goes. Once on the 14th floor, follow the directions to the escalators, they are towards the business and office sections. Around the corner you will see the escalators that take you up to the 17th floor. 5 Crossties Coffee is a small cafe for people studying and working in the building, so not a lot of people know about this spot. However, it is the perfect place to overlook Shibuya Crossing without the crowds. I enjoyed a delicious coffee and treat and worked on my blog whilst I was up here!

Lukes Lobster

I kept passing this stall as I was mooching in different shops nearby, so I gave into my cravings and tried one of their rolls. It was a bit pricy, but I got the mixed prawns and crab roll, so I can see why it was expensive. It was also fricken delicious, the seafood was so fresh and slathered in butter, in a brioche roll, it was a perfect bite for lunch! Definitely recommend going.

Ramen Street (around Mita Station)

There are so many different street stalls that serve ramen and udon, and for a really cheap price. It is one of Japan’s famous most popular dishes and you can never go wrong with ordering one. They are normally served with different broths that you can choose from, traditional, miso, soy etc, and then you can decide what toppings you want. Ned and I normally went all out and got all the toppings because wow it is incredible. Apart from stalls, you can also see vending machines which also serve ramen, all you need to do is select certain things, like a base and toppings, then pop into the restaurant and they will serve the ramen dish to you immediately. Such a fun way to order food!

Tsukji Nippon Fish Port Market, Tokyo Bay

The Tsukiji Outer Market is normally open from 5:00am to 14:00/15:00pm everyday but Sundays, which is closed every week. Sometimes it is closed due to holidays so make sure to double check online before going.

A really good food market, offers all kinds of dishes, from sushi, to skewers, meat dishes and sweet treats. Perfect place to go to for lunch, getting small bites from different stalls and sharing them.

Ameyoko Market, Ueno

Ueno is a huge area, there is the park and zoo and only a five or so minute walk away is Ameyoko Market. It is a whole street lined of different restaurant and food stalls that you can choose from. Another perfect place to go to for lunch in between exploring. Once you have eaten, there are a lot of fashion, beauty and souvenir shops nearby that you need to check out too.

Nakamise Street, Asakusa

Nakamise Street, which leads up to Sensoji Temple is full of different food stalls and restaurants, drinks, sweet treats etc, so it’s the perfect area to grab something to eat one the way there or after the temple.

Ebisu Tokocho & Area

Ebisu is a really fun area to explore at night! Speaking for myself, we didn’t know it was so popular but after visiting my cousin he showed us around and took us to this hidden street food area. Inside the doors, there are about eight different food stalls serving different plates of food and snacks, such as skewers, sushi, noodles etc! It gets very busy in the evening as all the locals tend to go here, but we managed to grab a few seats and stayed there for the evening. We went to the stall that served Yakitori, which are different kind of skewers, as shown below. We got a variety of meat and vegetable skewers to share. It was not that expensive, but because the portions were a bit small, we couldn’t help ordering more and more, which is when the money started to add up. Was so good and completely worth it!

Other eats in Tokyo:
Below are a lot of other eats that I found/recommended to try, but of course we couldn’t get to all of them! Do your research beforehand as some places you might need to book a table!

• Mimasu, Shinjuku
• Takeshita Street, Shibuya
• Age 3 - Ginza Store (famous cream fried sandwiches)
• Amam Dacotan Bakery (incredible bakery)
• Teppan Baby Shinjuku (Japanese cabbage pancakes, need to book)
• Sushi Ginza Onodera 
• 01 Coffee (lovely coffee shop)
• Asakusa Chaka Tabanenoshi (matcha crembrelue crepe)
• Gachapon
• Chermside Takeshita Harajuku
• Rec Coffee
• Uogashi Nihon-Ichi Sushi
• Oreryu Shii Ramen Harajuku
• Asakusa Strawberry Daifuku
• Janai Coffee
• 3D Café in Tokyo

There are also so many different sweet treat stalls that you will walk past, we couldn’t help but always seem to buy something on the go, as shown below.

Mount Fuji

We spent one day road-tripping around Mount Fuji stopping off at different places to see the iconic, incredible view. A full itinerary of what we got up to is in my other blog here.

Saiko Iyashino Sato Nenba

This Japanese reconstructed village, has amazing views of Mount Fuji. It also has a few delicious ramen and mochi spots by the entrance, that you have to try.

There are a few food stalls to choose from, we chose the stall which served shrimp tempura with udon and noodles. This dish was honestly pretty big, so incredibly delicious and very cheap even though it was in a touristy area. It was the perfect place for lunch during our Mount Fuji road trip.

The mochi sticks, called Dango, are chewy, rice flour mochi. They are everywhere in Japan and are eaten as a sweet treat or snack. There are three different flavours to choose from, the iconic three coloured version (🍡), is called the Hanami Dango, which was created for the cherry blossom season. The colours represent the seasons, pink for blooming, white for snow and green for grass. The middle version, is Kinako Dango, which is mochi covered in a sweet roasted soybean powder. The last version is called Mitarashi Dango, where the mochi balls are grilled and then covered in sweet and salty soy sauce glaze. The Hanamai and Mitarashi Dango were our favourites and something we would eat daily! I got these as a lil treat for us after we had our udon.

Tocoro Yakitori Cafe and Bar

We got back to the main town of Fujikawaguchiko when it was dark, as we wanted to see the view of Mount Fuji at sunset. We were both craving a rice dish after having udon for lunch, and stumbled upon this restaurant. Ned got the chicken and rice and I got the salmon bowl. Both dishes were incredible, we did wish the portions were a bit bigger for the price we were paying. Not really a surprise as this is a huge tourist town! Perfect way to end our day of exploring.