Where to eat in Japan and foodies’ hidden gems
I’ve heard so many great things about Japan. And it’s truly haven for foodies. In July, we booked our plane tickets for a two-week stay during the beautiful autumn season in November. My plan was to keep a balance between restaurants that required reservations in advance and leaving room for spontaneous visits. Here’s my subjective list of the best places we visited.
Where to research for restaurants recommendations for Japan trip
The Local Tongue
When I’m planning any travels, the Local Tongue is my first go-to website for food research. It provides recommendations and favorite spots from experts such as chefs, food journalists, and critics. You can find there hidden gems that might escape your notice otherwise.
Michelin guide website
While many travelers go to Michelin-starred restaurants in Japan, it’s essential to recognize that the Japanese food scene is so much more. In Japan there is over 400 Michelin-starred restaurants, ranking second only to France. For this trip I decided not to go to any Michelin-starred restaurant, as for the most unique ones you need to book many months in advance, and this trip meant to be more spontaneous. But we visited couple of “Big gourmet” ones, and it was worth it.
Google Maps
Despite having a list of must-visit places, being practical meant keeping our choices within the vicinity of our hotels. Google Maps proved helpful in discovering restaurants nearby. You can find delicious places with rating around ~3.5 starts, as the local reviewers are more critical than in other countries. Also Tabelog, more popular in Japan, can fill in the gaps. We haven’t try it, but here’s useful guide on how to use it.
You can find tons of content about traveling and eating in Japan on Instagram (I assume TikTok too, but I’m not a heavy user there) and it looks incredible. Be ready for FOMO, as you simply can’t try everything in two weeks. But from my perspective, if it already went viral, it’s gonna be crowded, might require long waits, and not always great food. And sometimes Instagram vs reality are two different things. So definitely verify “viral” places in other sources.
Reservations
- Most of my reservations were made online.
- One booking was made by phone, thanks to our Japanese friend.
- Planning to dine at a Michelin-starred restaurant? The best ones often require advance bookings, so plan accordingly.
- For spontaneous visits, in case there was a line, we could add our names and the number of people to a waiting list at the entrance, and being called once there was free table.
- For some restaurants, you simply take a number and wait for it to be displayed or to be called.
Top places we ate at during our trip
Tokyo
Sakai Shokai
Sakai Shokai is a cozy Izakaya offering an unforgettable omakase dinner experience. We ate great sashimi, steamed eggs, miso-marinated fish, all complemented by an excellent selection of wine, sake, or beer. Perfect for our first dinner in Tokyo.
Sushi Hanaoka
Sushi Hanaoka is omakase place specialized in Japanese wine and sake pairing. An amazing experience with an extraordinary variety of sushi and an impressive wine selection.
Jikasei MENSHO
A rare find, Jikasei MENSHO offers vegan ramen alongside traditional options. A delightful experience for a pescatarian like me.
Moheji
Located in Shibuya Square Scramble, on 12 floor, Moheji is nice spot for a casual, quick bite. You might need to wait a bitto get the table. We ate great monjayaki, which are made on the hot plate at your table.
Tsukiji Market
Tsukiji Outer Market is very popular street food place, it’s touristy, but worth visiting. Pro tip: Go early to avoid the crowd. There is outdoor area, which is the most popular, but there are also other buildings for grocery and fish shopping eg. Tsukiji Uogashi – Odawarabashi Building. Photos are not allowed there, so it’s much less crowded. We bought there delicious tuna sashimi, and sushi set also looked delicious. On the third floor there is also trace, where you can sit and eat things you bought. Some other things we ate: tamagoyaki, grilled wagyu beef, fish cakes.
Osaka
Kannomiho Izakaya
Kannomiho Izakaya is an izakaya run by women, specializing in sake. The owner is ambasador of hot sake drinking. Food was also amazing. We ate great sashimi, vegetables in tempura, rice with clams, coriander and lemon (quite surprising and tasty combination).
Soba Kiri GAKU
If you’re fan of soba, highly recommending Soba Kiri GAKU. Make sure to get there early. When we tried to visit it for the first time, we arrived there 1,5 hour after opening, and all soba was already sold out. We tried our luck the next day and came before opening and had not only great soba, but shrimps and veggies in tempura too.
Soba Ayameda
We also visited Soba Ayamedo, which was simple, pleasant meal. We tried both hot and cold soba and both were equally delicious.
Okonomiyaki
Okonomiyaki (savory pancake from wheat flour with mixed ingredients eg. seafood, meat, served with toppings) and Takoyaki (ball-shaped, fired cakes usually with octopus) are Osaka’s iconic dishes. We tired both in Hokone Otako Hozenji and I liked it, but I can’t say I’m an expert after eating it once in my life. Other recommended places to eat okonomiyaki are Chitose Okonomiyaki and Teppanyaki Okonomiyaki Oribe.
Kyoto
Gyoza ChaoChao
To try gyoza, we visited Gyoza ChaoChao recommended by my friend Bruno. It’s very popular place. We came there around 20 minutes before opening and there was already some people waiting in the line. They offer wide rage variety traditional gyozas, mostly with pork, but they also offer vegetarian options.
Amazake Suetomitei
We tried Amazake (fermented rice drink) in a little charming place called Amazake Suetomitei, close to Fushimi-Inari. It’s grandma owned place, where the only thing served is amazake with fresh ginger and tea. This is also great starting point to start Fushimi-Inari hike, as it’s less crowded.
Eishun
Eishun is speciality tempura restaurant run by one-man army. The tempura powder (not sure if it’s only flour) is kept in -60℃ and mixed with water and eggs several times during the 2 hours omakase meal for extra crispiness. Reservations recommended (eg via Instagram) and payments by cash only.
Nishiki Market
Nishiki Market is great place to try different street food and in my personal opinion it has more charming atmosphere than Tsukiji Market in Tokyo. Best to visit right after opening around 10am, if you want to avoid crowds.
Yatsuhashi
For Kyoto’s typical souvenirs, we picked up Nama Yatsuhashi—rice flour sweets filled with bean paste from Honke Nishio Yatsuhashi Kiyomizuzaka shop close to Kiyomizu Dera temple. We brought cinnamon and black sesame flavor back home.
Fast-food chain restaurants
Actually I haven’t considered visiting chain restaurants, but our friend Marcin insisted that this is a must-have during visit in Japan, especially Kaitenzushi (sushi train). So after our first visited, I was sold to and wanted to try more places. Here’s a good guide to such restaurants in Japan.
Sushi
We tried Hamasushi ordered way too much, but it was tasty and very cheap. According to our friend Marcin, who lives in Japan the best is Hamasushi, followed by Uobei, Kura Sushi and Sushiro. The meal for 2 people costed around 18€.
Other places
We tried tempura in Tendo Tenya in Asakusa, Tokyo. I ordered shrimp and veggies tempura set and it was nice, simple, satisfying meal for about 7€.
We also tried rice bowls in Nakau. They don’t offer vegetarian options, but I ate rice bowl with raw fish.
Japan is truly one of the tastest travel destinations.
