Will be staying near the Imperial Palace for several days next week with the girlfriend, was wondering if people could recommend some good restaurants. We're on a budget but any and all recommendations are appreciated. Thanks!
As I have told many inquirers on this board, Tokyo has more restaurants per square mile than any place I've ever been. It depends on which side of the imperial Palace you're staying on (those are BIG grounds), but some neighborhoods have more restaurants than others. For certain, any department store will have a restaurant floor or two where you can choose from a wide variety of inexpensive to mid-priced restaurants.
Restaurants in Japan tend to specialize in one or two types of food, so what I do is wander around and find a place whose window display looks appealing.
Restaurants in Japan tend to specialize in one or two types of food, so what I do is wander around and find a place whose window display looks appealing.
Look out for great lunch deals in that area - it means you can drop by a rather expensive restaurant and have a multi-course lunch for a fraction of what a similar meal might cost in the evening.
Contributors to this forum kindly made up a wonderful list of gourmet bargains a few years ago, but this sort of treasure trove is very difficult to maintain as something relevant and contemporary. Some of the restaurants have since closed or withdrawn their lunch offers, but some are still valid. You might like to enquire at a website such as Chow as the focus is almost purely on food.
I just checked at a place I went not too far from your hotel where I had an amazing Japanese (keiseki) style lunch. 2,100yen won't get you quite as much as it used to, but it's still a great deal (the exact same deal I had is more like 3,675yen now).
In short, for 2,100yen you'll get an affordable lunch in a nice ambience (ask if you can face the kitchen) and a way to sample 7 keiseki dishes. You may not get a sitting if you don't reserve beforehand, your hotel can do it for you once you are in Tokyo, you won't have to reserve very far in advance.
Tea and water will be complimentary with your meal, if you ask for soft drinks or beer etc, you run the risk of doubling or even tripling the cost of your meal. Don't say you weren't warned!
左京ひがしやま Sakyo Higashiyama
http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13002259/
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan...t-lunches.html
Contributors to this forum kindly made up a wonderful list of gourmet bargains a few years ago, but this sort of treasure trove is very difficult to maintain as something relevant and contemporary. Some of the restaurants have since closed or withdrawn their lunch offers, but some are still valid. You might like to enquire at a website such as Chow as the focus is almost purely on food.
I just checked at a place I went not too far from your hotel where I had an amazing Japanese (keiseki) style lunch. 2,100yen won't get you quite as much as it used to, but it's still a great deal (the exact same deal I had is more like 3,675yen now).
In short, for 2,100yen you'll get an affordable lunch in a nice ambience (ask if you can face the kitchen) and a way to sample 7 keiseki dishes. You may not get a sitting if you don't reserve beforehand, your hotel can do it for you once you are in Tokyo, you won't have to reserve very far in advance.
Tea and water will be complimentary with your meal, if you ask for soft drinks or beer etc, you run the risk of doubling or even tripling the cost of your meal. Don't say you weren't warned!
左京ひがしやま Sakyo Higashiyama
http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13002259/
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan...t-lunches.html
Great, thanks so much for the good info!
FlyerTalk Evangelist
buy a 2011 or 2012 michelin red guide. using the maps find nearby 1* restaurants. make a list of 5 or so. go to the concierge desk, and have her reserve one for you. have her also write the name in japanese, and numeric location of the place. go out and catch a cab to get you there. show cab the instructions.
huge place. thousands of excellent restaurants. get one close to save cab fare, and time.
do not negelect non-japanese food. i have had some of my best italian and chinese meals in tokyo.
since your internal clock is probably screwed up from the trip over, do lunch as a main meal. much less than dinner.
huge place. thousands of excellent restaurants. get one close to save cab fare, and time.
do not negelect non-japanese food. i have had some of my best italian and chinese meals in tokyo.
since your internal clock is probably screwed up from the trip over, do lunch as a main meal. much less than dinner.
I didn't even think about focusing on lunch, but that's a great tip. Thanks again.
You can spend half a day just wandering around the tunnels spanning out from Tokyo Station.
If you've never had shabushabu/sukiyaki, there's a good place within the Yaechika complex (accessible from the Tokyo Station Yaesu Underground Central exit) called Tajimaya. Lunch starts at 900 yen with a plate of meat and all you can eat vegetables, and for a few hundred yen more you can get all you can eat meat as well.
Also within the Yaechika complex is a branch of the New York Tribecca restaurant Bubby's, which has the second best American cooking I've had in Japan (the first being the New York Grill in the Park Hyatt)
If you've never had shabushabu/sukiyaki, there's a good place within the Yaechika complex (accessible from the Tokyo Station Yaesu Underground Central exit) called Tajimaya. Lunch starts at 900 yen with a plate of meat and all you can eat vegetables, and for a few hundred yen more you can get all you can eat meat as well.
Also within the Yaechika complex is a branch of the New York Tribecca restaurant Bubby's, which has the second best American cooking I've had in Japan (the first being the New York Grill in the Park Hyatt)
Quote:
If you've never had shabushabu/sukiyaki, there's a good place within the Yaechika complex (accessible from the Tokyo Station Yaesu Underground Central exit) called Tajimaya. Lunch starts at 900 yen with a plate of meat and all you can eat vegetables, and for a few hundred yen more you can get all you can eat meat as well.
Also within the Yaechika complex is a branch of the New York Tribecca restaurant Bubby's, which has the second best American cooking I've had in Japan (the first being the New York Grill in the Park Hyatt)
This is wonderful... I am totally stunned there is a Bubby's in Japan!Originally Posted by hailstorm
You can spend half a day just wandering around the tunnels spanning out from Tokyo Station.If you've never had shabushabu/sukiyaki, there's a good place within the Yaechika complex (accessible from the Tokyo Station Yaesu Underground Central exit) called Tajimaya. Lunch starts at 900 yen with a plate of meat and all you can eat vegetables, and for a few hundred yen more you can get all you can eat meat as well.
Also within the Yaechika complex is a branch of the New York Tribecca restaurant Bubby's, which has the second best American cooking I've had in Japan (the first being the New York Grill in the Park Hyatt)
We stayed across the street from it in NY a few years back and ate there at least once a day as it was totall kid friendly and great/convenient food.
I'm hoping to get to Tokyo in Aug/Sept this year and if I have time would look it up just for the complete novelty of having a piece of pie in Japan.
Thanks!
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There are actually four. Twice the number of Bubbys in America!Originally Posted by ddavidch
This is wonderful... I am totally stunned there is a Bubby's in Japan!
http://www.bubbys.com/our-restaurants/japan/
http://bubbys.jp/
I think the Yaechika one has the best lunch menu, but you can't go wrong with any of them.
Another good place for pie is Anna Miller's, just across the street from Shinagawa station.
http://www.bento.com/rev/1404.html
There used to be over a dozen in Japan (the main branch is in Hawaii), but this is now the last one standing.
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Magic words there, a cue to delve, and yes, a truly interesting restaurant "blog". Am really enjoying it, but then, it is speaking to another member of the choir.Originally Posted by jib71
Wow. I looked up Bubby's and found the restaurant website with references to Isaiah Berlin and fermentation ... It's like finding a friend.