Food/Wine: Places: Tips on Tokyo Restaurants

Tips on Tokyo Restaurants

From N.D., New York

Beniike (27-1 Sakuragaoka-cho; 81-3-3464-8256) is a hole in the wall with the most amazing sushi. The fish is slightly cooked (less than seared) and instead of soy sauce, the chef puts a little of his special sea salt on it. It’s addictive.

I read about Matsugen Ebisu (1-3-1 Hiroo, Hagiwara Building, 1F; 81-3-3444-8666) in Food and Wine magazine, and I loved this place. They claim it’s Jean-George’s favorite soba restaurant, but the sushi is also amazing. Very cozy with casual, communal tables.

French Kitchen (6-10-3 Roppongi, 2F; 81-3-4333-8888) in the Grand Hyatt and serves the best French toast I’ve ever had in my life. I had a really delicious breakfast, and it’s probably great for lunch as well. Amazing pastries.

Sushi-Ko (6-3-8 Ginza; 81-3-3571-1968) is a great sushi restaurant, supposedly one of the best in town. My friends told me it is David Bouley’s favorite sushi place. Very delicious.

XEX Morimoto (7-21-19 Roppongi; 81-3-3479-0065; www.ystable.co.jp/morimoto) is the Iron Chef’s teppanyaki joint in Tokyo. It was good, filled with lots of slick looking locals. I didn’t think it was amazing, though.

Ukai Tofuya (4-4-13 Shiba Koen; 81-3-3436-1028) is located next to Tokyo Tower (which makes it look a bit touristy), but inside it’s a gem, and we were the only Americans there. They serve authentic Japanese eight-course meals in a great setting surrounded by Japanese gardens. You eat in private rooms on the floor. We had a three-hour lunch there on Saturday and passed out afterwards. If you don’t have the time or patience for this, I’d skip it.

You can take an overnight trip from Tokyo to Gora Kadan (1300 Gora, Hakone; 81-460-82-3331; www.gorakadan.com), a nice spa in Hakone. We ended up staying in Tokyo but heard this place was great.

Our friends went to Il Mulino (Roppongi Keyakizaka Dori, Roppongi Hills; 81-3-5786-0337; www.ilmulinonewyork.jp) on Friday night and were raving about it. I think it’s the same Il Mulino that’s in New York but with a nicer atmosphere.

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt (6-10-3 Roppongi; 81-3-4333-1234; tokyo.grand.hyatt.com). It has a great location in Roppongi Hills and is connected to a large office building (where Lehman, amongst others, has offices), so it is perfect for business travelers. They have lots of good restaurants, incredible service and a great spa plus two great bars: Maduro (huge lounge with live music, amazing cocktails and lots of cigar smoke) and the Oak Door Bar (this is a very crowded, standing room only on Fridays—seems very popular for ex-pats).

I visited the flagship Ralph Lauren store, which is located in the Omotesando district. This is a relatively new shopping area that has all the big name stores such as Chanel and Prada. It gets very crowded on the weekend.

Click here to read more Indagare recommendations for Tokyo restaurants.