The 2D Cafe in Tokyo’s Shin-Okubo neighbourhood (next to Shinjuku) is drawing crowds for both its delicious bubble teas and its inventive interior. A lot of care has gone into the cafe’s black and white fitout, with the walls and furniture painted to give the impression that the whole place is a two dimensional illustration….
Category: Eating & Drinking
Tokyu Plaza Shibuya
Tokyu Plaza Shibuya is one of several developments in the Shibuya area that opened in late 2019. Designed around the concept of ‘fashion theme park for grown ups’, it aims to offer a more mature shopping experience in Shibuya, an area famous for its thriving youth-fashion culture. The ‘novelty’ aspects of the mall include a…
Gonpachi
There’s a couple of places in Tokyo that can thank their patronage on being immortalized in Western cinema classics. There’s the New York Grill in Shinjuku that has become the place for late night drinks thanks to Lost in Translation. Then there’s Gonpachi, a restaurant in Nishi-Azabu near Roppongi that is famous as the scene…
Tokyo Midtown
Tokyo Midtown is a huge commercial and entertainment development in Roppongi that houses a large luxury shopping mall, office towers, hotels, museums and gardens. Opened in 2007, hot on the heels of Roppongi Hills, it helped clean up the Roppongi district’s reputation as a seedy nightlife district and reposition it as a high-end destination. The…
Koe Lobby
If you’re on the hunt for a cool place for a coffee, drink or bite in Shibuya, look no further than Koe Lobby, the ground floor bakery and restaurant in the uber-trendy Hotel Koe. Set in amongst the frenetic shopping of the Shibuya district, Koe Lobby offers up a wide range of dine in or…
Shibuya Parco
Shibuya Parco is a mainstay of the Shibuya shopping scene that relaunched in 2019 after a 2 year renovation. While a large portion of the store is given over to luxury goods departments, it’s the other quirky aspects of the building that make it worthy of a browse. The basement level is a rabbit-warren of…
Shibuya Scramble Square
Shibuya Scramble Square, which opened in 2019, is a monolithic skyscraper adjoining Shibuya Station. It houses the Shibuya Sky observation deck on its rooftop, plus over 200 stores and restaurants across its lower 14 levels. The ground floor features a large ‘market style’ space offering a wide array of cakes, bakery goods and souvenirs to…
Shibuya Hikarie
Shibuya Hikarie is a huge commercial and entertainment building directly connected to Shibuya Station. It was the first of several new developments in the Shibuya Station area to complete when it opened in 2012. Shibuya Hikarie is notable for its 200 stores which cater mainly to a female clientele, its basement food halls, 30 eateries…
Shibuya Stream
The area immediately around Shibuya Station has been a major construction zone for many years, with locals and tourists forced to navigate temporary tunnels and footbridges beside building hoardings to reach the attractions of the area. The building works, aimed to revitalise the area, are now thankfully nearing completion. Shibuya Stream was the second of…
Ameyoko Market
Ameyoko Market in the Ueno district is a lively strip of shops and market stalls that runs alongside the JR Yamanote Line tracks between Ueno and Okachimachi Stations. With a long history, it was originally an area known for its cluster of candy stores. In the post-war era, it was the place to go to for…
Roppongi Hills
Roppongi Hills is a massive commercial and entertainment precinct in Roppongi that opened in 2003. Centred around the 54-story Mori Tower office building, it’s multiple levels of plazas and buildings house shops, bars, restaurants, cinemas and gardens. The Grand Hyatt Hotel is part of the complex and directly connects to the shopping and dining precincts….
MUJI GINZA
If you’re a fan of the simple and clean aesthetic of Japan’s world-famous ‘no brand’ retailer Muji, don’t miss visiting MUJI GINZA, which opened in 2019. It houses both the brand’s global flagship store and Japan’s first MUJI Hotel across it’s 11 floors. At street level there’s a working bakery churning out fresh bread and…
PePe Mall
PePe Mall, which sits atop the Seibu Shinjuku Station and adjacent to the Shinjuku Prince Hotel near the edge of Kabukicho, is one of the best kept secrets of the area. For a relatively small shopping mall, it punches way above its weight in terms of what it has to offer. The basement level houses…
Isetan
If you’re in the Shinjuku area, be sure to spend some time in the historic Isetan Department Store. You won’t miss the heritage façade of the building which stands grand on the corner of two the district’s busy streets. It dates back to the mid 1930’s, when a company that had its origins as a…
Meguro River
The Meguro River, particularly the stretches of it intersected by Nakameguro Station, is one of the most popular cherry blossom viewing areas in Tokyo each year. While the river itself isn’t particularly beautiful, with the water metres down in a concrete canal that resembles a stormwater drain, it’s the heavy plantings of cherry trees either…
Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo
While it might seem counter-intuitive, Tokyo is currently home to the largest coffee-roasting store of American chain Starbucks. It’s called Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo and it’s something to behold. Located in the cool Meguro district, beside a river that teems with people during cherry blossom season, the Starbucks Reserve Roastery Tokyo has some serious credentials. The…
Food Hall Blast!
If you’re looking for fast and easy, foreigner-friendly dining near the southern end of Shinjuku Station, head to Food Hall Blast! It’s a large, box-like open space that houses a café, a couple of bars and multiple international food stations. With free-seating available throughout the ground level and mezzanine areas, it’s a great place for…
Yebisu Garden Place
Yebisu Garden Place is an expansive raised commercial and entertainment precinct. It’s connected to Ebisu Station via a series of travelators that carry you across the streets below and into a large paved plaza featuring a number of notable attractions. Built on the former site of the Yebisu brewery, which was established in 1890, the…
Ron Herman Sendagaya
If you’re looking to while away some time browsing fashion and homewares or grabbing a bite to eat, visit the Ron Herman store in Sendagaya. This outpost of the Californian lifestyle brand, which has over 10 stores in Japan, is like a mini department store, complete with its own café. Featuring multiple ‘department’ zones, the store…
Cat Street
Cat Street, which cuts through Harajuku and across Omotesando to Shibuya, is a 1.5km long walking street lined with shops, restaurants, cafes and galleries. Cat Street is decidedly low-rise, with architecturally interesting buildings and residential properties sitting amid the stores. So it’s great for a pleasant and interesting stroll. Notable stores include the American multi-brand…
Tokyu Plaza Ginza
Tokyu Plaza Ginza is one of the Ginza shopping district’s newest malls. It’s an excellent destination for both shopping and dining, housing over 125 stores in all. Aside from the shopping on offer, including Tokyo’s largest duty-free store, Tokyu Plaza Ginza offers some unique spaces to explore. The cavernous Kiriko Lounge on the 6thfloor, featuring…
Golden Gai
Golden Gai is one of the must-see sights on a trip to Tokyo. Located in the Shinjuku district, it’s a collection of tiny and ramshackle alleyway bars that harks back to the post-war era. There are over 200 bars in the area, many so small they only have seating for a handful of patrons. Each…
Mister Donut
A trip to Tokyo isn’t complete without a sugary pit-stop at Mister Donut. It’s a donut chain that has become a Japanese favourite since being imported from the USA in the 1970’s. While the franchise has all but died out in America, it has thrived in Japan. There are now over 1100 stores nationwide. Offering…
Log Road
Log Road in the trendy Daikanyama district is an interesting redevelopment of a narrow 220 metre strip of land where railway tracks used to run. It’s now a ‘shopping street’ featuring a collection of elegant, low-slung cottage-style buildings along a beautifully landscaped path. While the flagship Fred Segal store which the development launched with has…
Takeshita Street
Takeshita Street in Harajuku is one of the most visited tourist sites in Tokyo. Famous as the birthplace of ‘kawaii’(cute) youth culture in Japan, it’s a narrow shopping street running downhill from Harajuku Station. Its short length is filled with shops and cafes selling ‘cute’ fashion and accessories, idol merchandise and novelty foods. While spotting…
Eggs’n Things
Eggs’n Things in Harajuku has been famous for years for its queues of people lining up to get their fill of pancakes and egg-based savouries. Located down a side street from Omotesando, the restaurant’s décor reflects its Hawaiian origins. Think relaxed furnishings with surfboards and other tropical accents. Despite having two indoor floors and an…
Nezu Museum
The Nezu Museum, just beyond the top end of the Omotesando shopping strip, has something for everyone. Founded by a Japanese rail magnate, it houses his large private collection of Japanese and Asian art antiquities. But there’s a lot more to it than that. For architecture aficionados, there’s the beauty and simplicity of the Kengo…
Locale
In smaller drinking and dining establishments in Japan, the proprietors often spend a lot of time engaging their customers in conversation across the counter. If you’re visiting and don’t know the language, this can leave you feeling like you’re missing out on the fun. At Locale though, a cosy farm-to-table restaurant in Meguro, you can…
SunnyHills
SunnyHills quite literally sticks out among its neighbouring buildings in the backstreets of Aoyama. It’s a sampling café and store for SunnyHills pineapple cakes that hail from Taiwan. Designed by famous Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the organic, latticed wooden structure relies on ancient Japanese building techniques, rising out of the ground like a giant basket…
Tiki Tiki
Japan has had a long love affair with Hawaii and it has brought a bit of it home in the form of Hawaiian-themed bar/restaurant Tiki Tiki. Located high up in a building that looks out across the colourful lights of Shinjuku, the large space is thoroughly themed in polynesian-inspired scenery. There’s lots of wood and…
Number Sugar Factory Shop
Number Sugar is a boutique confectionary company specialising in delicious handmade caramels. They come in ten flavours, with each flavour corresponding to a number – hence the brand name. While they have a shopfront in the Omotesando area, it’s much more interesting to visit their small factory in the backstreets of Sendagaya where you can…
MUJI Diner
MUJI Diner is a casual dining restaurant by the Muji retail company famous for its ‘no-brand’ lifestyle goods. It’s housed in the basement of the brand’s flagship store and hotel in Ginza that opened in 2019, with several floors of Muji shopping above it. You can expect fresh and hearty food at MUJI diner, with…
La Kagu
La Kagu is a massive lifestyle goods store and cafe in Kagurazaka, the ‘French’ district of Tokyo. It’s housed in an old book storage warehouse that has been revamped and ringed in scalloped wooden terraces by Olympic Stadium architect Kengo Kuma. The ground floor features a cafe serving meals, coffee and sweets plus a women’s…
Canal Cafe
On a sunny day, the Canal Cafe in Iidabashi is a great spot to dine by the water. Established over one hundred years ago, the cafe and its expansive terrace sit beside an emerald green canal that was once the outer the outer moat of the Imperial Palace. Canal Cafe features both formal and more…
Chinese Cafe Eight
While eating Chinese food on a trip to Japan might seem like a strange idea, it’s well worth a visit to Chinese Cafe Eight in Roppongi for its décor alone. Decked out in what one can only assume is a ‘fertility’ theme, you can dine here in a warm red glow surrounded by golden phalluses…
New York Grill
The New York Grill, sitting high atop the Park Hyatt Hotel in Shinjuku, was made famous by its use as a location in Sofia Coppola’s movie Lost in Translation. Since then, it’s made its way onto many tourist’s ‘must-do’ lists. While it’s good to check out at night for drinks, the live music and the…
Sanagi Shinjuku
Ever dined under an overpass? You can do just that at Sanagi Shinjuku, a pan-Asian bar and restaurant located under a road in Shinjuku. Magical at night, it features multiple zones, including a tatami room, a gallery room and a lantern-filled ‘outdoor’ space reminiscent of Vietnam. You can dine on share plates of food from…
Ootoya
A trip to Tokyo isn’t complete without a meal dining with the locals at Japanese restaurant chain Ootoya. Famed for its signature black vinegar fried chicken and vegetables dish, Ootoya serves up a wide variety of reasonably priced Japanese set meals that include main, tea, pickles, rice and miso soup. You can order in English…
Cafe Kitsune
French clothing label Maison Kitsune has its own stand-alone coffee shop called Cafe Kitsune nestled in the backstreets of Aoyoma. It makes for a great pit-stop if you’re in the area. The cafe is housed in in a basement space beneath the brand’s clothing store. It serves up studiously prepared craft coffee and a small…
Spiral
Great architecture, art, food and shopping all under the one roof? You’ll find that at the Spiral building in Aoyama. Spiral has been a lifestyle destination since it was built in the 1980’s. It gets its name from a huge spiralling ramp within its atrium that takes visitors from an art gallery and café on…
Maisen Tonkatsu
What to do with a WWII era community public bathhouse no longer in use in an upmarket Tokyo neighbourhood? Turn it into one of Tokyo’s best tonkatsu restaurants of course! That’s just what the Maisen Tonkatsu restaurant chain has done with its flagship venue in Aoyama. Established in the 1960’s, Maisen Tonkatsu is known for…
Dover Street Market Ginza
Dover Street Market Ginza is the Tokyo incarnation of fashion conglomerate Comme des Garcons’ multi-brand ‘department’ store concept that originated in London. It features several levels of luxury Japanese and international fashion brands, all housed in unique and inventive ‘concept’ zones. Across the floors you’ll find departments housing Comme des Garcons’ multiple labels, Louis Vuitton,…
Maach Ecute
Tokyo has become really good lately at repurposing old, disused buildings and bringing them back to life. Maach Ecute, close to Akihabara, is a perfect example of this. A heritage railways station that trains stopped running to in 1943, has been redeveloped into a design-savvy shopping and dining precinct. Maach Ecute contains bars, restaurants, design…
Omoide Yokocho
Omoide Yokocho in Shinjuku, also known as ‘Piss Alley’, is a step back in time to Tokyo’s post-war era. It’s a small precinct of over 80 tiny food stalls in narrow alleyways just outside Shinjuku Station’s West Exit. Featuring mainly yakitori (grilled skewer) stalls, a wander through Omoide Yokocho after dark offers an atmospheric experience….