Oct 12, 20236 min read

Best Places to Eat in Tokyo

Hey everyone! After having visited most of the major touristic areas of Tokyo and trying lots of food along the way, I wanted to share some of the neighbourhoods that I think have the best food options in Tokyo! I tried to include places that have a variety of dishes, a variety of affordable and premium spots, and an overall great vibe! Naturally these were also some of my favourite communities in Japan, so if you have time to visit them make sure to check them all out regardless of whether you plan on getting food (although you definitely should)! Without further ado, here are the best places to eat in Tokyo!

Asakusa

I had to start off with Asakusa. I had seen a food vlog in this area before and thought it looked super cute, plus this is where the Senso-Ji Temple is so this was one of the areas I was most excited to visit in Japan! When I arrived in Asakusa I was ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED by the amount of food stall and shops that were presented before me. I wanted to see the temple first, which was absolutely stunning by the way and a must visit spot when you come to Tokyo, and on my brief walk from the train station to the temple I probably passed by about 100 food stalls.

This is when I decided I should probably make a food tour video here hahah. Even at the temple there were rows of street food stalls along two adjacent streets where I had the opportunity to try famous dishes like karaage (Japanese fried chicken) and the Japanese 10 Yen Coin at reasonable prices. After the temple I explored the rest of the community and aside from the probably 100+ food stalls and shops in the main area near the temple there were hundreds of more restaurants and small food shops in the surrounding area.

I walked around here for hours and I’m not even sure if I managed to cover the whole area. Overall if you want to be able to find every mainstream Japanese dish in one place Asakusa is absolutely the place to go and I found that they especially had an excellent variety of desserts compared to most other areas. Needless to say, this was probably my favourite area that I visited in Tokyo!

Foods to try: mochi, melonpan (with green tea ice cream), skewers, fried goodies, buns, other Japanese desserts

Ameya Yokocho

Next up is Ameya Yokocho, or Ameyoko, which I actually visited right after Asakusa… talk about a crazy day. I heard that this was a famous shopping street but I thought it would be similar to Takeshita Street or Omoide Yokocho but it was nothing like either of these. As opposed to a shopping street this area is a whole series of wide shopping streets that are mostly lined with restaurants but also shops that sell other goods like clothing.

Here, you can pretty much find any meals your heart desires like ramen, udon, sushi, and soba. I actually think this is the perfect compliment to Asakusa because here you can get a more proper meal and then head to Asakusa for snacks and desserts (or vice versa). CAUTION, this area has some pretty touristy places though and I probably got the worst meal of my Japan trip here (a terrible Kaisendon) so while I do think this area is great for food make sure to avoid restaurants with people outside trying to lure tourists in and I don’t think this is the best place to get seafood in the city.

Try to go to places that look like cute little local spots, don’t have people workers outside calling you in, have a Japanese menu, and bonus if they have a line out front because that probably means it’s a famous spot. For example, I went to the famous Kamo To Negi here for duck ramen and it was awesome! Overall, Ameyoko is a super fun and lively area at night with some great food spots, just make sure not to fall for a tourist trap.

Foods to try: Ramen, izakaya

Shin-Okubo

Shin-Okubo is the name for Tokyo’s largest Koreatown, which I had the opportunity to visit on my last day after having checked off most of the other areas of the city off my list. I am so glad I got to visit this area because there was an abundance of amazing food, not only from Korea but all around East/Southeast Asia!

On one side of the train station there is mostly Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, and Chinese restaurants which was such a cool surprise! I was tempted to buy a delicious looking banh mi but was determined to instead try some Korean food (figuring this is the closest I’ll get to Korea for the foreseeable future). I circled back to the other side of the train station and was met with a ton of Korean restaurants, beauty stores, and K-Pop stores. If you are a fan of Korean beauty products or K-Pop this is definitely a must visit area!

I eventually came across a cute looking Korean BBQ spot called Dejiny Land and got the largest set meal for about $31 CAD including the mandatory drink you need to order. This seemed expensive by Japanese standards before I found out just how much food there was included in the set… it was absolutely insane! I left feeling incredibly full, too full in fact, but satisfied with feeling it was money well spent. I wouldn’t specifically recommend this spot because while the beef seemed like it was high quality the dishes were just good, nothing spectacular, so I assume there are some better spots around. If you want a ton of food though it is not a bad option.

There were also a lot of Korean corn dog and waffle stands around, and some Korean pancake stands. If you are in Japan for a pretty long time like me and are looking to try dishes from nearby Asian countries then I definitely think you should checkout Shin-Okubo!

Foods to try: Korean BBQ, KOGOs, waffles, Thai/Viet/Indian/Chinese Cuisine

Shimokitazawa

Shimokitazawa is a little off the tourist path compared to these other spots, being found just outside the Tokyo metro system, but it is a pretty quick ride from the Shinjuku area. This area is known for thrift shopping and although I went there specifically for that reason, I was still completely taken aback by not only the number of thrift stores but the quality and the prices.

For such high-quality thrifted pieces in Canada, you would easily be paying double compared to a lot of the stuff I saw here… I’m thinking of buying a suitcase to check just so I can go buy clothes from here! Now if that wasn’t amazing enough, this place also had a high concentration of super cute local restaurants! Most of the restaurants were small, the food looked so delicious, the prices were quite reasonable, and the restaurants didn’t feel very touristy for the most part.

If you want more of the izakaya experience this area is also pretty close to Harmonica Yokocho, a series of alleyways that is really nice and way less busy than Omoide Yokocho in Shinjuku so you are a lot more likely to find a seat!

This area has exactly what you want from restaurants abroad in my opinion and there were so many of these amazing little food shops. The variety was also amazing with a little bit of everything! Come to Shimokitazawa for thrifting but stay for the food!

Foods to try: cafes, any other cute little restaurants!