The following places have been test-tasted by me, and passed my taste-bud test 🙂
Asakusa
Restaurants
– Ramen-tei Asakusa– Tiny small ramen store with seats outside selling soy-ramen. Great for those that want something quick and cheap. The noodles cost approximately 600 yen– the cheapest I’ve seen in Tokyo and in such a tourist place. Locals come here for ramen. Type “ramen-tei asakusa” on google maps to find the exact location.
–Asakusa Kagetudo– Expect heavy queues when you line up for their famous Asakusa buns. You can purchase the single buns or buns with added ice cream. The queue moves quite fast, depending on how many people, you can wait in line for up to 30 minutes
– Ichiran Asakusa– is always a possibility if you really don’t know what to eat. Ichiran is Japan’s famous ramen chain and is located all over Tokyo. Their seating prompts people to eat quickly and leave quickly. Always a good choice for ramen. Expect prices to be around 890 yen.
Desserts
– Suzukien Asakusa– famous matcha ice cream shop in Tokyo that offers the world’s strongest matcha flavored ice cream. If you are a matcha fan, this dessert shop is a must-go-to. Note that this shop only sell ice cream.
Ginza
Popular top-end shopping district Ginza has all the high-end store you can think of. It is also the center of Tokyo night life. You can expect a lot of businessmen/women group together here for dinner on a weekday. If you need to do some souvenir shopping such as yoku moku, pierre herme macarons, sadaharu aoki paris macarons, you can find them all in those department stores.
Snack
– 銀座木村家– a small bakery with delicious red-bean buns.
Restaurants
– 根室花丸 (Nemuro hanamaru) conveyer belt sushi restaurant offering a wide variety of sushi choices. This is a chain restaurant with locations all over Tokyo. I was able to eat at the one located in Ginza- it is a little hard to find. The best way to find it is to take the elevator up . Come early because there’s usually a queue.
Meiji-Jingu Shopping District
Takeshita shopping district is more affordable than Ginza so you can expect to do some souvenir shopping here. There are a lot of dessert restaurants and restaurants to discover. Usually people tour Meiji-Jingu shrine first (expect a lot of walking!) before heading to Takeshita street to shop and dine.
Dessert
Marion Crepe– you will find a lot of dessert places selling crepes, but the original crepe store where it all began is called Marion Crepe Harajuku. Offering a wide variety of assortments, it is expected you will be standing outside for at least 5 minutes because you can’t decide which one to eat.
Zaku Zaku– There is no need to find this shop on google maps. After Marion Crepe, the smell from Zaku Zaku will automatically bring you over to their shop. Well-known for the milk ice cream and cream puffs, this dessert shop is worth a try (although you may be full after eating crepes ^ ^.
Restaurant
Harajuku Gyouzarou- known for their dumplings. This is well rated on Google maps and it’s a pity I didn’t have a chance to visit here. This is definitely on my list of go-to’s next time!
Shinjuku Station
Where we lived
We lived at Toyoko Inn Higashi-Shinjuku Station (a station very close to Shinjuku station). It was located in a good area, very safe at night. There’s about a 5 minute walk from the station to Toyoko. My travel buddy and I booked an economy room, and the room turned out to be bigger than I thought. Japanese hotels are usually very small, especially their so-called “double rooms”. However, their economy double room turned out not so bad!
Restaurants
Ramen Zundou-ya Shinjuku Shop– A nice 6 minute walk from Toyoko Inn, we grabbed lunch here after checking-in at Toyoko Inn. Ramen cost around 600-800 yen, which is considered reasonably priced.
Okonomiyaki
Buchiumaya– an Okonomiyaki restaurant located near Shinjuku station. There are a few okonomiyaki restaurants near Shinjuku station; however, most of them were poorly rated. This one was rated at least 4+ on Google so I decided to try it out. It’s a small shop with around 20 seats so book in advance or come at a weird time. My friend and I came to eat at 8:30-9PM and we got seats right in front of the cook. It was exciting to see them make the okonomiyaki in front of us.
Prices range from 600-1000 yen.
That’s it for now! These were the ones I found worth recommending. If you have any recommendations for restaurants in Tokyo, please share! I’ll definitely give it a try next time I fly to Tokyo.