The best places to eat Hamburgers in Tokyo! Here are my top recommendations for places to eat around Tokyo. I used to live in Gotanda, so I’m a little bit bias in putting Franklin Avenue at the top, but it is a great restaurant – although the coffee is a tad expensive!

Let me know if you have any other recommendations or comments on my list.

Address: Toky0-to, Shibuya-ku, Jingu-mae, 4-32-16, KDDI Designing Studio 5F
Tel: 03 5413 2630
Hours: 10:00 – 20:00

Wired Cafe 360 is not quite an open air cafe but we included it because the big greenhouse glass walls make you feel like you are outside. Nice views of Harajuku, plenty of plants, and magazines galore to read. This is a really nice space to take a break from the frenzy.

Tel: 03 3498-0632
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jingu-mae, 6-32-10
Hours: 08:00-24:00

Bakery Cafe 362 is a two story complex in the back streets near the corner of Meiji and Omotesando Dori. It is spacious and has a lovely courtyard. Mainly a bakery, we recommend a bread or pastry and a nice slow coffee. They also have a reasonably priced set menu for lunch. Continue Reading

1st Floor cafe 11:00?21:00 Tel:03-5772-2682
2nd Floor cafe 17:00?24:00 Tel:03-5772-2683
3rd Floor cafe, Room 301 18:00?Midnight Tel:03-5772-2684

Nolita Street Apartment is a kitsch cafe hidden in the back streets behind Takeshita Dori in Harajuku. It was built about 30 years ago and it’s name comes from North of Little Italy.  There are three floor with the first floor being an open terrace. It has a big cavernous area inside with plenty of magazines to look through. One a fine day you can have a coffee on the terrace. This is a lovely quiet spot away from the bustle of Harajuku.

Tel: 03 5772-2684
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Jinbu-mae, 1-15-5, Room 301
Hours: 18:00-24:00

Tratorria Venire Venire is on the roof of the YM Square complex in Harajuku. This open air cafe has fabulous views of the Tokyo skyline and is a wonderful spot to get away from the busy Harajuku crowds and relax with a coffee and book for a while. The food is reasonably priced and tastey.

Tel: 03 3971-2237
Location: 5 minutes walk from Ikebukuro station
Address: 2-39-10 Ikebukuro Toshima-ku, Tokyo Japan Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro 1F Annexe
Map

Sakura Cafe and Restaurant is a foreign friendly bar/ cafe in ikebukuro and is affiliated with the hostel and gaijin house of the same name. They have 60 different beers and a nice open air area which spills out onto the footpath. Continue Reading

West Park Cafe in Yoyogi Uehara is a relaxed haven in the city and is hidden in the back streets of the fashionalbe district of Yoyogi Uehara. The restaurant is open to the street during the warmer months and the food is fantastic. Food is fairly simple and is standard cafe fair; from eggs benedict, to pasta and pizza. The service here is always friendly and the suburban atmosphere keeps it relaxed and breezy.

Map

Highly recommended (its sister shop in Akasaka is nowhere near as good).

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Anniversaire is a large open air cafe close to Omotesando Station. It is situated on the ground floor of the store and gallery also called Anniversaire. There is seating on the sidewalk and also a spacious courtyard out the back. The cafe has an up-scale ambiance and is a nice spot to take a break from the shopping and do a bit of serious people watching.

Bens Cafe is one of the original alfresco cafes in Tokyo and does fantastic coffee. It is warm, friendly and has a relaxed atmosphere. Attached is an art gallery which features art from up and coming artists. On Thursday nights they have a DJ which makes for a nice evening over a couple of drinks. Locals aslo gather on a Sunday to play Go in the relaxed cafe atmosphere.

Las Chicas used to be a staple in Aoyama for the hip and fashionable. It had a reputation for good, reasonably priced food and a great atmosphere. After several years of a downhill slide it has now reopened. While the decor is now much better the quality of service and food is poor. Maybe they are having some teething problems? However, for a nice chill out in the sun with a coffee it is still a recommended spot as the atmosphere is lovely and it is a welcome haven just off the main street of Aoyama Dori.

Canal Cafe in Iidabashi is located on the dock where the rowboats are moored in the exterior moat of the Imperial Palace. It is relaxing to watch the water while you enjoy lovely fusion food focusing around fresh fish and salads. It also has a bar which is open in the evenings and is a romantic spot to bring a date or your partner.

Tempura consists of vegetables or seafood deep fried in a very light and crisp batter. Good tempura is judged on the freshness of the ingredients, and by how light and crisp the batter is. There is a light soy based dipping sauce that accompanies the dish. Prices range from extremely expensive to quite reasonable.

Sushi and sashimi are perhaps the foods most associated with Japan. They are now massively popular overseas. The world seems to have been taken over by the sushi craze. You will find sushi in Japan to be a little more fishy than the Californian Rolls, Teriyaki Chicken, and other hybrids you find overseas.

Sushi in Japan comes as Nigiri-zushi ,which is a wee hand-shaped oblong ball of sushi rice with a small slab of raw fish on it. Or Maki-Zushi, which is sushi rice wrapped in seaweed with a topping (usually fish). Maki-zushi can be divided into Te-maki which is usually wrapped loosely by hand into a sort Continue Reading

Soba is similar again to Udon but the noodles are brown and made from the soba plant. They are thinner and have a more distictive flavor than their Udon cousin.

Udon is a tranditional Japanese noodle and soup dish. The noodle is thick and cream colored. The broth is usually a very delicate flavor. This simple dish is a Japanese favourite during the winter months and is usually quite reasonabley priced.

Usually there is something else added as a small garnish such as a tempura shrip or a bit of dried seaweed.

Ramen is a form of noodles and soup. The soup comes in three main varieties, salt, soy sauce, miso. Salt is just a finely salted broth and is delicate in flavor. The other two are as they sound. There are normally a couple of slivers of meat and possibly half a hard boiled egg, or mung beans depending on which variety you order.

Ramen has gone through a bit of a resurgence in recent years and there are literally magazines and TV shows devoted to the intricate nuances that differentiate one shop’s ramen from another.

Donburi is really the generic name for a bowl of rice with some kind of topping. This can vary from Katsudon (crumbed pork cutlets on rice), to Oyakodon (chicken and egg omlette on rice), Unagidon (eel in a sweet teriyaki style sauce on rice) to Chirashizushi don (a mix of raw seafood on rice).

Donburi is a good staple meal. Cheap, filling, and often delicious.

Shabushabu is another traditional Japanese dish where a very delicately flavored stock is heated over a flame. Very thinly sliced slivers of fine beef cuts are brushed through the gently boiling water and are cooked almost instantaneously.

They can then be dipped into a creamy seasame dip or a more traditional tart soy based dip. There are also vegetables such as mushrooms, hakusai, and also noodles that are added to the stock and taste delicious. Generally this dish is eaten during the winter months.

It’s a bit cheeky to call  Yakiniku a Japanese dish as it really harks from Korea. However, this dish has become extremely popular in Japan since meat consumption has grown, and the Japanese have adopted it with such fervor that we are including it in our top ten list.

Yakiniku is basically strips of meat barbequed over a grill. There are a variety of types and cuts of meat, some marinated, some sprinkled with a little salt. There are also dipping sauces for the meat. Vegetables can be grilled too.

Sukiyaki is usually cooked during winter. It is thin strips of beef, and varioius vegetables all simmered together in a slightly sweet sukiyaki sauce. This is always popular with families in winter as it is nutritious, tasty and easy to prepare.

It is quite common to have a sukiyaki party and cook sukiyaki in a nabe over a gas burner for guests when they come around. It is a wonderfully social way to eat as guests all pull the sukiyaki from the nabe into small bowls called torizara to eat.