Japan’s capital city is so much more than sushi and sake.
Tokyo ’s food scenery is one of the top intellect to travel there , with a oecumenical reputation for quality , flavor , and style . While a trip will no doubt include some Michelin - star ramen , great sushi , and local sake , there are some not - so - standard selection that keep Tokyo at the forefront of the global food scene .
From expert mixologists in Graeco-Roman kissaten - inspired bars to ancient Buddhistic cuisine attend with a present-day flair , Tokyo is a culinary playground with undeniable class . Much more than sushi and interest , the metropolis has a food scene up to of balance downtown favorites you manipulate yourself with vegan ramen that ’s service in an immersive artistry space . Whether you ’re looking for something that squall Tokyo - of - the - futurity or a dish so low - key traditional hardly anyone has heard of it , we ’ve get the good in dining in the majuscule .
Immerse yourself in hypnotic art and vegan ramen at UZU
Plunging visitors deep into museumteamLab Planets ' hypnotic artwork , Vegan Ramen UZU Tokyois a restaurant that goes far beyond the five senses . The encompassing nontextual matter museum started as a series of exhibitions in Tokyo , finally becoming a foresighted - term exhibition with livelihood , moving video display and a gumption of otherworldly creativity . get together their multi - sensory experience by serving cautiously craft vegan ramen , UZU blends an ancient culinary tradition with the latest in artistic technology .
A nation with little - sleep with but long - standing vegan cuisine , Japan has only recently adopt the modern take on plant - base food . Encouraging dining car to reconsider the connective between the planet , the environs , its inhabitant , and the food we consume , UZU chef Ryo Kataoka focuses on nature , traditional cookery techniques , and the best ingredients to run with dining car ’ perception by forming a complex take on the conversant fast - food ramen .
in an elaborate way prepared and delicately assembled , the touch dishes are a beauty to behold as well as a joy to sample . The petal - adorned Flower Vegan Ramen is a inhuman bonce dishful with edible flowers from Kajiya Farm , inspired by the museum ’s living artwork calledFloating Flower Garden . The cobwebby bowl holds a fertile , umami - lace up stock with an unexpected lightness . The Green Tea Vegan Ramen uses high - quality leaves from EN Tea , equilibrize with a profoundness from shiitake mushrooms to work a rich but mellowed base . The Fire Vegan Ramen , however , rescue a spicy kick thanks to the ferment chilly sauce tote up to the miso base . cheer by the installation entitledUniverse of Fire Particles Falling from the Sky , the looker ’s rich cardinal grosbeak coloring and spectacular decoration are a meet nod to its flavorful loudness .
teamLab Planets TOKYO © teamLab
While decide on a dish is dispute enough , select where to corrode it will be another . Meals can be enjoyed in a number of mesmerizing spots that encourage dining compartment to become part of the installations . The ever - moving protrusion ofReversible Rotation – Non accusative Spaceis certain to allow visitors questioning their own take on space and time , with the chirography filling reflective surfaces in a mesmerizing direction . At the continuousOne Stroke Bench , diners assign roles to structure by prefer what ’s a seat and what ’s a table , becoming part of the installing themselves . The second outdoor alternative , mesa of Fire and Sky , is a patch for reflexion .
While think over over your function in time and place , ice pick might provide some sweet relief from the trans - strong-arm experience . Pastel scoops of pinkish rhubarb , mint cucumber , and pistachio green afternoon tea squeeze natural flavors , providing the perfect sharpening of your pot before you wander back into the arresting humans of teamLab .
Try a twist on tradition with Buddhist cuisine at Sougo
A much calmer take on the Nipponese tradition of flora - based eating , Sougois a minimalist restaurant attend to an affordable take on Shojin Ryori , the food for thought normally known as “ devotion cuisine ” since it was developed by Thelonious Sphere Monk and shaped by a living of simplicity , focalise , and an discernment of nature . monk would employ local , seasonal ingredients , choose mere dishes that required patience to produce and encouraged mindfulness in those who corrode . The limitations of the stylus are key in its design : the pungent flavors of Allium sativum and onion are avoided , and there ’s a religious focus on ward off harm . While it is still served in temples and is the forbearer of Kyoto ’s elegant kaiseki lay repast , Shojin Ryori has a reputation among many in Japan as austere and unexciting .
Chef - proprietor Daisuke Nomurahas dedicated his career to proving the opposition . raise in the family shojin restaurant Daigo ( he was working as head chef when it incur two Michelin adept ) , at Sougo , Nomura serves up refined and strange shojin dishes at impressively low-cost prices , keen to offer the great unwashed the chance to appreciate the mindfulness shojin culinary art both necessitate and reward . Seeing the limitations as a path to enhanced creativeness , he does n’t keen the restrictions and instead finds endless breathing in in the seasonal ingredient of Japan .
Relying on seasonal green goods from around the country , but for the most part topically source , themenuschange every three weeks , with a playfulness that would surprise those carry a traditional spread . Past menus have included a piano - simmer battered tofu , grilled mad apple with miso , and , often , Nomura ’s distinctiveness : goma dofu , a sesame bean curd requiring hours of work and served fry or steam , in contrast to its traditional serving as a cold dish . Diners can choose between the entirely plant - ground Shojin tasting carte or the vegetable savouring menu which use egg , dairy farm , and oceanic bonito stock ( dried fish eccentric ) . If you ’re not keen to commit to a full smack menu , drop by for the $ 13 lunch curing and take your prison term in experiencing a meal of heedfulness .
Photo by Andrea Fazzari
Make the classic Tokyo dish monjayaki in Tsukishima
For something a number more haphazard and roll - up - your - sleeve - and - give - it - a - go , test monjayaki , Toyko ’s secret local dish . Monja , as it ’s known for short , is a swimming griddlecake ( well than it sound , we promise ) , made with a fragile slugger of dashi ( dried fish gillyflower ) and flour , with cabbage or any number of toppings mixed in to make a uniquely delicious meal . The real joy of monja is that you get to falsify it yourself — on eatery table designed for DIY dinners thanks to their suit griddle plate . Since most also serve okonomiyaki and have teppanyaki options , it ’s a majuscule elbow room to while away an eventide stress out new combinations .
While monja started off as an after - schooltime snack at Tokyo ’s sweet shops during the Meiji period , the dish now has its own dedicated street in business district Tokyo thanks to a bonanza in popularity in the ’ LXXX . Tsukishima , a man - made island in the bay of Tokyo , is home to dozens of specialist eating house along Nishinakadori , or what is known as Monjadori ( Monja Street ) . Adorned with iconic red girders and gamy noren , the street is a who ’s who of monja restaurants . betray along the street and picking your own home is part of the fun ; English card are displayed and there ’s not a bad dish to be had . As a start breaker point , however , check out Iroha — a staple for griddle aficionados with over 70 age of monja - devising — or you may head down a sidestreet to Okame for over 60 topping combinations .
Wherever you go , there will be dozens of toppings to choose from with suggest combination to help you out , like cheese and eggplant , or mochi ( rice cake ) and mentaiko ( spicy cod roe ) . Presented in an unnervingly diminished bowl , the ingredients are piled gamey and ready to be tip off onto the hotplate . Chunky constituent go first , chopped up and arranged into a circle of sort , before the liquidity is poured into the gist . After it mixes together and simmers , it can be eat on with little spatula . ( thin out off a bit and press down on the griddle to help it mystify . ) While it may not be the prettiest of dish , it ’s a real piece of Tokyo and will earn you endless brownie points from your izakaya teammate ( who you ’ll undoubtedly make ) for not just picking sushi as your favorite Nipponese food .
Photo by Andrea Fazzari
Ditch bar crawls and get classy in Tokyo’s cocktail scene
Shochu , rice beer , and beer may be Japan ’s staple drinks , but there ’s a classy cocktail scene thriving in the quiet back streets of Tokyo . In a land known for almost obsessional levels of detail , with decades spent perfecting delicate techniques for sushi , tea ceremony , and more , it should be no surprise that the precision has turned to cocktail — the only surprise is that scarce anyone has caught on .
In Shinjuku ’s Bar Ben Fiddich , 100 of bottles of infuse liqueurs rail line the walls , the careful creations of absinthe specialist Hiroyasu Kayama . The drink may fathom familiar , but the ingredient are all hand - pick from his household farm and get up by Kayama himself . From herbs hanging from the ceiling , dried heat yield , and even bison grass , there ’s no goal to the farm - to - glassful approach of this cocktail creative . If no swallow spring to mind , just consider your favorite flavors and the sodding drink will be created , just for you .
At the sophisticatedStar Barin the sometimes too - flashy Ginza , owner Hisashi Kishi is exceptional about everything — from the refined glasses to the ice cube to the shakers — and it show . Having won the International Bar Association ’s world championship at just 31 , the master now trains the city ’s next barkeeper . A minor celeb himself , Kishi can be a stoical barkeeper but has a quick smile when he condescend to show it , preside over his staff in their crisp uniforms . The bar has a classic , gentleman ’s feel to it but it is by no mean erstwhile - fashioned . beverage are expertly made and designed , with no request unheard of .
Photo by T-Mizo/Flickr
Crafting its look on a 1920s Kissaten ( a Japanese chocolate shop),The Bellwoodhas a speakeasy smell without even trying . As you may expect with this theme of dedication , it ’s fitted out to a triiodothyronine , with milled wood paneling , stained glassful , and a definite Taisho - era style . The painfully fashionable drinking spot is the 2d success of renowned ginmill The SG Club , with a cocktail list plan by Atsushi Suzuki , a Chivas Masters World Champion and fable in the realm of cocktail maker . The drinks here are full of unexpected twist , seasonal flavor , and an almost unacceptable grade of flare . While a Nox here alone is enough , look out for their popup events , with the backroom hosting special nights of sushi , coffee , and more .
Photo courtesy of Bellwood
