Taste Tokyo's Top 10 Must Eats for a Trip to Tokyo

We've moved to WordPress! Check this post and more at TasteTokyo.com

Tokyo has remained the city with the most michelin stars for 10 years running. "Surely it's Paris or New York." you say! Paris has a lot of Michelin starts, its true, 134 in 2017. Hard numbers to beat. They'll have to keep it up though, if they hope to contend with Tokyo's 304 stars. Mon Dieu! Don't like Japanese food? Not a problem. All of those Michelin stars are spread across Italian, French, Mediterranean and Steak joints as well.

All of that sounds terribly impressive (expensive). What if I don't give a crap about what a tire company and a bunch of secretive food critics think about food? Not to worry. You can eat extremely well here for about 6-10 USD a meal. If you splurge over 50 USD for a meal what you get will be nothing short of phenomenal. If you spend around 100 USD for a meal you deserve your own Netflix travel show. The Japanese are too be trusted when it comes to higher priced dining. They are to be worshipped when it comes to cheap, quality dining. So how does a first time visitor or even someone who has been living here long term sort through all of this? With some jerks know it all listicle of course!

Let me tell you about some of my personal pics for MUST TRY foods while in the Eastern Capital! The foods on this list can be found all over Tokyo.

My Top Ten Tokyo Must Eats

1. Sushi

Wow. Meanwhile, Captain Obvious called, he's still an idiot. It had to be said though. Have you ever tried sushi back home and thought "Meh, smells too fishy."? Sure you have. You owe it to yourself to try sushi in Tokyo. More specifically, try sushi near the Tsukiji Fish Market, the world's largest wholesale seafood market. There are over a hundred sushi joints around the market, not to mention the hundreds more in the metro area. If you love sushi then eating sushi in Tokyo comes with the unwanted side effect of being constantly disappointed by sushi anywhere else. You'll be like a Gordon Ramsey at Applebee's, drunk on rage. 

I'll have all three.

How do I even know where to begin with all of these sushi options? I have some advice for you. Pop into a supermarket and check out the pre packaged sashimi sets. You'll be given towelettes and chopsticks to eat with when you check out. Perfect for a curbside sushi picnic. See that massive set there? That's under 5 USD and I promise it will taste as good as anything you would pay 50 USD for back in the States. Once you have a feel for the kind of fish you might be interested in you can head to the market. I highly recommend Ryuzushi. Not only is the sushi the stuff of legend the atmosphere of the place is what sushi places in Vegas pay through the teeth to mimic. More info here: Ryuzushi.

2. Ramen

Another no brainer, apologies. I want to explain how this "meal" is eaten in Tokyo though. Ramen places serve one, sometimes 2 and occasionally 3 things. Ramen, gyoza and sometimes fried rice. You'll see variations of these things, of course, but rarely would you wander away from this trifecta of sodium and oil. You will definitely not see: a light salad, sushi, desserts, chili sauce, a starter menu, forks. What you will see: ramen, lines of people waiting, drunks, a vending machine that you order from. Ramen is not a sit down meal. Ramen is fast food. You eat it quickly cause you are either out of time or need to sober up. I wont bore you with a recommendation because ramen can be found everywhere and it would be impossible to visit them all without first booking your stay at the dialysis clinic. There are even two Michelin starred ramen places in Tokyo to check out. I will suggest that if you are traveling as a couple, visit more than one in a day and share the bowl. Ramen is insanely good and the atmosphere of some places are so very, very different to anything available in the west. Also, do not bother asking Google Sensei "where is the best ramen in Tokyo?" No one can answer that question and if they try they try it's all hyperbole. "You've never had anything like this!" Whatever. You could try asking Google for the WORST ramen in Tokyo and just avoid that place. 

3. Tonkatsu

I've had dreams about eating this before. It's so simple as to be overlooked. Not to be confused with tonkotsu, a type of ramen. Tonkatsu is a deep fried pork cutlet that will keep you awake at night with awe. The Japanese are extremely picky about their ingredients. It's that pickiness that turns a simple meal like a deep fried pork cutlet into an experience to tell your grandchildren about. Often served as a set with rice, pickles and a pork miso soup called Tonjiru. I LOVE tonjiru! If chicken noodle soup is comfort food on a cold morning Tonjiru is a drunken hot tub on a cold morning filled with bacon. Tonkatsu is covered in a savory sweet BBQ sauce and then accented with spicy mustard. This is something that you must try in Tokyo. Especially with an ice cold Yebisu Beer. My absolute favorite is here. Suzushin. Ask for a refill on the Tonjiru!

4. Yakitori

Delicately skewered nuggets of umami! Yakitori means grilled chicken. A typical yakitori place will serve every part of the chicken imaginable in any form you can dream of. My favorite thing to order is sasami wasabi. Sasami is a chicken fillet that is skewered and grilled beyond perfection and straight into sainthood. It is simply a high quality cut of chicken, a bit of salt, flawless grilling technique and then a dab of wasabi. Real wasabi, not green horse radish. You'll be clocking green horse radish left and right after visiting Tokyo. My personal fave is a place called Kitchen Doromamire. You can learn about them here.

5. Curry Rice

When friends visit they are always surprised by this dish. Most people don't consider curry when they are planning out their meals during a Japan trip. Japanese curry is warm, comforting, filling and usually comes with an extensive topping menu. From toppings like seasonal vegetables or crab and camembert stuffed croquettes, a Japanese curry is a sure fire safe bet when visiting Tokyo. If I were to compare it to something in the states I would say this fills the "mac and cheese" slot for dishes loved by children and adults alike in Japan. You can eat this meal for lunch or dinner and for under 10 USD. A must if you are traveling with children. Here is some info about my favorite curry chain: Coco Ichiban.

6. Okonomiyaki

You start with an egg and flour batter. You then mix in a bucketload of julienned cabbage. After that you start adding toppings as you like, then you fry it like a pancake. That's literally what okonomi (as you like) and yaki (fried or grilled) means. There are a million different ways to eat this. You can even have it served over a bed of yakisoba noodles for a trip to carb heaven. It's like chucking a pizza on top of a pan of fried spaghetti, or adding Bourbon to Champagne. There is no way you can go wrong with this meal. While more famous in the Kansai region of Japan, this is a dish that can still be enjoyed in Tokyo. For my personal recommendation you can check out Karamaru. More info here.

7. Omuraisu 

Omuraisu is the combination of the words omelette and rice. It is also the combination of 2 of my favorite things. Taking comfort foods to new levels, omuraisu will satisfy even the least adventurous eaters. This is a simple dish of Japanese fried rice wrapped ever so lovingly in an omelette. A little football of flavors, you can't go wrong here. I prefer this dish at lunch time but there is no reason it couldn't be dinner. Or both, because you will want it more than once. With a seemingly endless number of variations this is a must. My personal recommendation is Kitchen Taka in Araki Cho. More info here. Kitchen Taka

8. Washoku

Edible Art

This is the symbol for Wa 和. It means Harmony. It is considered to be the most indigenous, traditional and important concept in Japanese culture. Basically it is the belief that society as a whole is more important than your immediate personal needs. I wont try and unpack the whole concept of Eastern Collectivism Vs. Western Individualism here as this is about food. However, to really feel the Wa in Washoku, you need to only look to the response of average Japanese people in the Tohoku region after the Tsunamis hit in 2011. Orderly lines for now scarce food and water. Living here during that event, albeit nowhere near the affected area, is something I will never forget.

The Shoku in Washoku means food. The literal translation of Washoku is "Japanese Cuisine". Washoku is Japanese Cuisine but not all Japanese Cuisine is Washoku. Omelette rice, okonomiyaki, curry, these are examples of Japanese Cuisine that are NOT Washoku. Washoku starts with rice and miso soup and from there the emphasis is entirely on seasonal items. You would never see a cucumber in a winter meal and you'll notice in autumn that all of the carrots have been carefully carved to look like orange maple leaves. If you are staying at a Ryokan (traditional Japanese Inn) you will most likely be served a multi course Washoku meal called Kaiseki. It is a mind boggling, edible art display where thought and meaning lie behind every bite. It's exhausting in a way but it is a sight to behold. If you're NOT staying in a Ryokan there are still plenty of slightly more casual Washoku dining experiences to be had all over the city. My absolute top pick for this is Funamachi Ichigo. It is listed in the Michelin Bib Gourmand Guide for serving exceptional food at reasonable prices. This is a restaurant that must not be missed if you visit Tokyo. Get the full details here.

9. Japanese Seafood

Eat all of it. Don't go a day without eating something from the ocean here. Even if you don't care for seafood because "it smells too fishy" or "probably isn't fresh" then I implore you to try it here. Not only do the Japanese know how to prepare and present fish dishes but they know how to sell it as well. What I mean by this is that when you visit Tsukiji Fish Market (the world's largest) or other local fish markets, the first thing you will notice is that it doesn't smell fishy. The seafood section at any landlocked state's supermarket in the US will smell far fishier. The population of Tokyo eats fish at a rate that it typically sells out by the end of the day. So everything is fresh as can be. It allows local shoppers to be real picky about it as well. Stickers on packaging at the supermarket will typically tell you if the fish on display was put out that morning or that afternoon. Yesterday's fish is not an option. Try it all. Sea bream, scallops, oysters, halibut, swordfish, salmon, crab, bluefin tuna, bonito, shrimp, conger eel, all variety of fish eggs, arabesque greenling, mackerel, fish you've never even heard of. Some of the seafood you can find here would cost a fortune elsewhere. Grilled, fried, dried, steamed, salted, blanched in soup or raw, there is no end to the list of Japanese seafood.  Some other things I strongly recommend trying in Tokyo are european seafood dishes. Paellas and carpaccio in Tokyo are CHEAP and HEAVENLY. If you're an oyster fan, I strongly suggest you go here and have your tastebuds assaulted: Chika no Iki oysters. You could eat seafood for every meal here and never have the same meal twice. Explore this!

10. Wagyu

A little home cooked Wagyu.

This one is going to cost you. Perhaps not as much as it would cost you outside of Japan but it's still going to have a wee bit of a price tag. There are 4 main breeds of cattle that produce Wagyu, Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Polled and Japanese Shorthorn. Wagyu in Japan is similar to Parmigiano Reggiano cheese in Italy. Within Japan it is not Wagyu if it is not from a cow within this lineage of cows. Wagyu is not about a type of grass they are fed, or being massaged (a myth) it is about their genetic ancestry. There are "best practices" associated with raising cattle to be similar to Wagyu. There are even Wagyu Associations outside of Japan, such as in America. Within this association they have registered Wagyu cattle from Japan that are cross bred with American Angus cattle to produce "American Style Kobe Beef". I'm explaining too much about the industry so let me just say this: flavor explosion that will launch you to outer space and back.  If you plan on having one expensive meal in Japan you could either go the Netflix route and do Sukiyabashi Jiro for sushi or you could do Wagyu. It is my personal opinion that incredible sushi can be had for reasonable, even cheap prices.  Wagyu however, can not be had cheap.  It's going to cost what it costs. That price may change depending on the day. If you are an experienced cook I have a fun recommendation for you. Stay in an Airbnb with a kitchen. Go buy your own cut of Wagyu at the Isetan Food halls. Go home and amaze yourself! More info on the Isetan Food Halls can be found here.

Thoughts?

So, what do you think? I've read this over and over and decided the numbers are meaningless. I can't rank these, they are just 10 things that I believe everyone should try when they visit Tokyo. There are loads of things that I have left out, snow crab, yakinuku, tempura, hot pot, cold soba...but I didn't put them in because they are seasonal. This list includes things that can be enjoyed no matter what time of year you visit Japan.

I think Listicles can be quite contentious so if I've neglected a dish that you feel strongly about, or you just think this list is absurd, let's hear it!
Compliments are ok too, I had to eat a whole lot to write this thing!

Happy travels!