29 Great Restaurants in Tokyo

Hinokizaka at The Ritz Carlton Tokyo offers an extravagant dining experience on the 45th floor of the hotel. Here, you can indulge in the Chef's Special kaiseki, which is dutifully served in a gorgeous 200-year-old tea house private dining room overlooking the Tokyo skyline.

The remaining restaurant areas at Hinokizaka are equally elegant with counters for sushi, teppanyaki and tempura, plus additional private tatami rooms. All menu items, from traditional Japanese dishes to more contemporary ones, are beautifully presented.

Ninja Tokyo is a fun izakaya restaurant, themed around the traditional culture of ninja. The interior is meticulously designed to reflect the mystique of the ninja era, with a maze-like layout that adds to the dramatic appeal of this restaurant. The menu features classic Japanese bar snacks and sharing platters that are tasty and well prepared. 

With all the espionage-related drama of the ninja period, Ninja Tokyo is an ideal place to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries or for entertaining business guests. Be aware that you won't be allowed to film or photograph the magic show that accompanies your dinner, but you'll be too mesmerised to do so anyway.

The Tsujita Tsukemen approach to ramen has people lined up for a seat at its counter at all times of the day. The key to the appeal of this noodle joint is in the broth, which is made from a special blend of seafood and pork bones, black pepper and citrus to achieve a uniquely smoky pork gravy. Order some bancha tea to accompany the ramen and enjoy this unique flavour experience.

Located a short walk away from Iidabashi Station, there's a constant flow of hungry customers, so be prepared to wait for a seat. We promise it's worth it.

Beige Alain Ducasse Tokyo is a collaboration between high-end brands Chanel and Ducasse Paris. The restaurant offers simple and contemporary French cuisine as well as an elegant interior with incredible views of Ginza. It can be challenging to get a dinner reservation, but lunch bookings are a little easier to secure.

The vegetarian course is a standout, thanks to the carefully selected produce from Kamakura and Kyoto. Located on the top floor of the Chanel Ginza Building, Beige Alain Ducasse Tokyo is within a 3-minute walk from Tokyo Metro Ginza Station.

Mominoki House is a restaurant that stands out for its emphasis on the benefits of macrobiotic foods, serving wholesome foods in their simplest and most natural forms. The menu is primarily vegetarian, with every dish created using only organic ingredients. Even the water used in meal preparations is electronically iodised. 

The restaurant's commitment to health is further highlighted by the addition of healthy brown rice, garnished with toasted sesame seeds and served with miso soup. The restaurant also offers organic beer, wine and sake.

If you're seeking a truly phenomenal sushi experience, look no further than Sukiyabashi Jiro. This Michelin-starred restaurant with only 10 counter seats is located in the basement under a flourishing Ginza business building and is one of the best sushi restaurants in the world.

Prime ingredients are sourced from the market daily and are then kept in separate refrigerators at different temperatures to best preserve the freshness and delicate flavours. You will need to book well ahead to try this special restaurant.

Sushi Karaku is a clean, simple, basement-level restaurant offering delectable Edo-mae sushi made by chefs who have a strong commitment to the traditions of Japanese food craftsmanship. With the best and freshest fish including tuna from Oma in the Tsugaru Straits area, choice sea bream and salmon, Karaku sushi is mouth-watering.

There is an English menu, and the head chef knows all of his fish in English as well. Try to be seated at the counter for an interactive experience with the chef.

Rengatei, a time-honoured establishment with a history spanning over a century, is renowned for its unique fusion of western-influenced dishes, including tonkatsu and omelette-rice. Rengatei is hailed as the inventor of Japan's famous tonkatsu pork and its menu appropriately features a variety of fried foods. However, it also offers an array of other well-proportioned dishes to choose from.

As you step into this quaint and cosy restaurant, you feel like you are transported back in time to the 1920s, further enhancing the overall dining experience with a touch of nostalgic charm.

Tempura Kondo is a Michelin-starred restaurant that's celebrated for its light, fresh and crispy tempura. The owner-chef imports his vegetables from all areas of the country and then preserves them in ice to lock in their moisture. The tempura is lightly fried in the chef’s own special blend of sesame oil.

Enjoy the delicious tempura at a counter table in one of the 2 small dining rooms, and watch the chefs cook and serve your tempura immediately for the best flavour and texture.

The tsukemenya noodles served at Yasubee are handmade and delicious, swimming in dashi fish soup. You have the option to select from 3 sizes: 220g, 330g and 440g. Upon entering, you need to buy a ticket from the vending machine, after which the attentive staff will guide you to your seat and take your order.

Long lines at lunchtime signal a popular venue and efficient service sees the line moving quickly. In fact, many locals claim this is one of the premier noodle joints in Tokyo, especially for the price. You'll find at least 10 branches of Yasubee spread around the city.

In the Harajuku backstreets, this chilled out okonomiyaki restaurant, popular with locals and celebrities, offers great prices and a unique, indie vibe. With groovy artworks and graffiti-inspired wall art, people come here as much for the ambiance as for the great food and all-you-can-eat-and-drink menus. In addition to the great assortment of okonomiyaki varieties, there is a good selection of side dishes and desserts.

This is a good place to experience the fritter-like pancakes for the first time as Sakura Tei provides English how-to instructions. The restaurant is very large but also very popular so reservations are recommended.

Omotesando Ukai-Tei is a celebrated and ultra stylish restaurant that's famed for its excellent service, sumptuous food and their delicate mix of Japanese and western ambiance. This esteemed establishment holds a prominent position among the most recognised teppanyaki restaurants in the city. The interiors of Ukai-Tei are a stunning spectacle, adorned with gorgeous antiques that contribute to its sophisticated charm.

At the helm of this culinary haven is a master chef, proficiently trained in the art of teppan cooking. The chef's expertise not only ensures delectable dishes but also infuses all the thrills and excitement inherent in teppan cooking into the dining experience.

As a member of a popular Tokyo ramen chain, Kyushu Jangara Harajuku is very popular with the locals. The evidence of this can be seen in the lengthy lunchtime queues that form regularly. Conveniently located within walking distance from both Harajuku and Meiji-Jingumae stations, it’s a great place to stop for a bite while shopping or partying around Harajuku.

The menu of Kyushu Jangara Harajuku boasts a variety of appealing soups and toppings, but the rich tonkotsu flavour ramen consistently stands out as a crowd-pleaser, enticing patrons with its exquisite taste.

Sushi Tamakagari Tempura Tamagoromo, situated on the 30th floor of the prestigious Grand Nikko Tokyo Daiba hotel, offers an exquisite blend of authentic Edo-mae sushi and innovative olive tempura. This elevated dining establishment boasts panoramic views that stretch over the iconic Rainbow Bridge, providing a breath-taking vista of Tokyo Bay. For the best experience, try to reserve a table with full views. 

Unique to this restaurant is the availability of breakfast sushi, a rare offering that further enhances its appeal. 

Located at the Nishi-Azabu Crossing, Gonpachi Nishi-Azabu boasts an impressive interior and a selected, high-quality menu. The offerings include yakitori, grilled fish, various soba options and an array of side dishes.

There is spacious counter seating or a private tatami room with views over the harbour and a good list of wine and sake to match your order. The main dining room is busy and full of life, and might be familiar to some as it was used in a famous scene from the Kill Bill film.

With over 200 years’ experience serving some of the best soba in Tokyo, Sarashina Horii is a very well-known soba restaurant in the Roppongi area. You can choose from 4 different types of noodles, but we recommend the Sarashina-soba. These noodles are white because the restaurant uses only the inner soba seed rather than the entire seed as other establishments do.

Soups are dry or mild and there is a crispy selection of tempura to accompany the delicious soba noodles.

Creative teppanyaki cuisine such as foie gras with caramelised fruit or asparagus with orange-sabayon sauce make Keyakizaka Teppanyaki a standout gem among Tokyo’s restaurants. This swanky restaurant has seats clustered around the chef's station, who prepares premium ingredients for guests.

In addition to the innovative creations, Keyakizaka Teppanyaki also excels in more traditional teppan dishes. The highlight is undoubtedly the premium steaks, which are skillfully cooked to perfection on the iron hot plate, embodying the essence of classic teppanyaki.

The tiny, bustling Omoide Yokocho alley is an interesting throwback to post-war Tokyo of the 1950s when a lively underworld of black markets and bars thrived along Shinjuku backstreets. Literally translated as 'Memory Lane', Omoide Yokocho is a small lane crammed full of tiny bars serving good, cold beer and sake and simple but tasty grilled chicken skewers called yakitori.

The staff are friendly but don’t expect anyone to speak English. Instead, just point to the foods you wish to order and enjoy this very Japanese experience. It's great fun.

Well established, Tempura Shinjuku Tsunahachi has been a favourite among locals for generations. With mostly counter seating, you will be constantly entertained by the chefs preparing the various tempura items that you order. You can also just sit back and enjoy whatever the chef serves you; fish, prawns, clams, tofu and vegetables, all with authentic flavour and dipping sauces for extra taste.

This restaurant in Shinjuku opened in 1923, but there are now several more in high-end department stores across the city and a branch in Kyoto.

Of all the Ueno restaurants, Kushiage Hantei is a must. Housed in one of the few ancient buildings to survive the Great Tokyo earthquake of 1922 and WWII, it's extremely elegant and impeccably traditional. The 3-storey house has been declared a National Treasure and, as such, has been superbly restored and maintained.

Kushiage Hantei specialises in kushiage, an array of bite-sized morsels served on skewers, each lightly fried in a delicate batter. A visit to Kushiage Hantei offers a pleasant dining experience in a setting that holds historical significance.

Fucha Dish Bon is an elegant restaurant that serves fucha ryori, the all-vegetarian cuisine of Zen Buddhist monks. Brought to Japan in the 17th century, a fucha ryori meal is a careful balance of 6 tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, hot, salty and delicate, and 5 methods of cooking: raw, steamed, deep fried, grilled and boiled.

Everything at Bon, from the décor, the plates and bowls, the chopsticks, and even right down to the placement of nuts, fruits and flowers on the plate, is aimed at creating harmony.

Visit Myojinshita Kandagawa Honten to sample delicious grilled eel dishes called unagi at reasonable prices. Wild eel is often also available during the summer months. It's said that eating eel in the humid summer months is a cure for lethargy.

The small restaurant’s décor is full of traditional Japanese touches and the service is typically Japanese in its meticulous attention to detail and utmost diligence. Myojinshita Kandagawa Honten is popular among foreign visitors so it’s best to book your table in advance.

Presenting the highest quality beef from a number of Japan’s prime farms, Nishiazabu Nikusuyama Moto is a yakiniku specialist restaurant that takes meat seriously. They go as far as carefully selecting the salt that best accentuates the natural flavour of each variety. Coupled with a chic, classic interior, the restaurant’s yakiniku experience promises a memorable evening.

To add a bit of ceremony to the evening, some of the beef dishes are served with a small charcoal grill and cooked at the table. 

Aoyama Chojuan is renowned for its soba noodles, served in a relaxed atmosphere. During the day, the shop bustles with business professionals seeking the famous tempura and soba combination for their lunch break. By night, it transforms into a stylish bar that serves delicious soba, popular with workers who enjoy some sustenance along with their shochu drinks.

Try the anago-don, a dish featuring rice with eel, to experience the sweetness and rich flavour of eel, or opt for any of the tempura dishes to accompany the soba noodles.

Serving superior Kansai-style Japanese food since 1946, Sankame is a favoured dining spot among famous authors, business professionals and politicians. Seasonal items, including blowfish, trout and eel, keep the menu dynamic while other cherished dishes are available throughout the year. There is both an a la carte menu and a tasting menu if you can’t decide what to choose.

For discerning travellers, an appealing option is to relish the restaurant's exquisite seafood dishes during lunch hours, which offers the same exceptional quality at a fraction of the cost. 

Tofu Sorano is an attractive traditional Japanese restaurant that specialises in excellent tofu dishes. Using home-grown soybeans, the restaurant produces their own unique tofu, then turns it into a number of interesting and delicious dishes, such as tofu sushi, a range of salads and deep-fried tofu dishes.

While tofu is the main attraction, the menu also offers a variety of chicken dishes and a great range of sake to accompany your meal. The good value prices and trendy ambiance are well suited to Shibuya. The restaurant is tricky to find but it’s within walking distance from Shibuya station.

At Torafugutei, experience the thrill of dining on fresh fugu sourced directly from the Kyushu region of Japan. The menu presents many tempting varieties of the blowfish, including hotpots, salads, congee and the obligatory fugu sashimi.

Adding to the unique dining experience, diners can pick their own live blowfish from a tank when ordering, then await the transformation into tantalising titbits of this truly exotic seafood. This is a great place to try the famous fugu fish for the first time.

Enjoy nouveau Japanese cuisine at Shunju Tameikesanno, an attractive lounge and bar in Roppongi. The restaurant has a traditional setting with warm lighting coming from a range of ingenious fixtures and free-form paper lanterns that add a traditional and modern accent at the same time.

Shunju Tameikesanno takes pride in its food, focusing on seasonal dishes crafted from locally sourced, farm-fresh ingredients. You will find well-executed and attractive dishes that combine some western influence with modernist Japanese cuisine, like pike conger and lotus root dumplings, Mozuku seaweed noodles or Shunju style lamb.

Nakajima is a traditional Japanese restaurant in Shinjuku that's packed at lunchtime with locals and visitors keen to take advantage of the excellent value lunch sets. The deep-fried sardines are a huge favourite. Nakajima offers a great opportunity to sample top-rated cuisine at affordable rates, but note that the place can get quite bustling due to its popularity.

The menu features regional food mainly from the Kansai region but innovative chefs, including apprentices from prestigious cooking schools all over Japan, add their own creative flair to the menu.