food recommendations

[smallbirdman]

besides fish market, sushidai
and the jiro shop..
still got what to jiak ar?

 

[hgkiaboon]

Quite a lot of places I've been to over the years so I'll try to sort them by area..

Tsukiji
Skip the 2-3 hour queue and have sushi at Maru instead. comparable quality imo. if fish isnt for you there's a oyakodon store in Tsukiji called Toritoh; pretty good. the outer market has a good store selling Japanese fishcakes; kinda expensive at 500yen a pop but there's a large variety and they taste awesome.

Shinjuku/Shibuya
If you're in Shibuya/Shinjuku area try to pop by a Nagi ramen store. the Shinjuku Golden Gai branch is especially good, but the soup stock is pretty fishy cos of the niboshi they use. The Shibuya branch uses pork bones, so no fishy taste.

Shibuya Mark City has a branch of Umegaoka Sushi no Midori; good sushi at affordable prices.

Shindaita
There's a very good ramen store in Shindaita called Basa Nova; the location is a bit out of the place but imo the trip is worth it.

Ebisu
Ebisu has a ramen store called Suzuran; their buta kakuni hirauchimen-tsukemen is good but pricy at 1.7k yen i think? idr. Used to be in Shibuya but they moved.

Ebisu has a wagyu burger restaurant called Blacows as well, they have damn good burgers made with A5 kuroge wagyu.

Asakusa
Bunch of tempura restaurants can be found here, Daikokuya and Tenya being the two famous ones. Try the melon pan just off to the right of Sensoji (just before you enter the temple proper). Beware though lines are long and in the winter it's a bitch queuing for it cos the cold wind gets funneled down the street and blows in your face. There's a pudding store called Testa Rossa cafe along the way to Kappabashi, they sell amazing silk puddings, but are often sold out.

Naka-meguro
There's a small store that sells puddings called Mahakala Happy Pudding along the river; a bit hard to find but it's opposite a 2nd hand clothes shop. The storefront is a restaurant (forgot wut name sorry), while the pudding area is tucked into a corner at the side.

Akihabara
Honey-to Kafe has good and fluffy honey toast bread that is served with ice cream/whatnot, they have branches in Shinjuku and elsewhere, but apart from the Akiba one the other branches usually have a seating charge (200~500yen iirc)

Ikebukuro
Ramen warzone; Google and take your pick. Mutekiya is good if you can't sleep and live nearby. There's also a Malay-chan restaurant run by ex-Malaysians which serves good Singaporean/Malaysian food if you're missing home.

Sugamo
Along Grandma's Harajuku there's an old man selling fruits with a handmade signboard made of styrofoam proclaiming that his apples are the biggest and sweetest in Japan. Over the years and repeated visits I have not found any evidence to dispute his claim. 500y for an apple larger than an outstretched palm. *I usually go there on weekends for my walk, not sure if he's there on weekdays. There's also a Sugi-Yohoen store along the same street, their yuzu honey/fruit honeys are good as gifts.

Go Google the names/directions yourself, and let me know if you need more places to go.