Tokyo · food
Best Food in Tokyo
The dishes worth crossing the city for, ranked with honest verdicts, from the essential sushi and ramen to the one tourist trap we would skip.
Tokyo in brief
- What food is Tokyo most famous for?
- Sushi above all; Tokyo is the birthplace of nigiri, the bite-sized Edomae style. Close behind come ramen, tempura and tonkatsu. The city holds more Michelin stars than any other, but its real strength is the everyday: a $7 bowl of ramen can be as memorable as a tasting menu.
- What should you eat in Tokyo on a first trip?
- Start with the big four: sushi, ramen, tonkatsu and tempura. They are everywhere, easy to order, and Tokyo does each better than almost anywhere. Add one yakitori-and-beer night in an alley like Omoide Yokocho and you have tasted the city in five meals.
- What are the must-eat restaurants in Tokyo?
- For these dishes we would send a first-timer to Sushizanmai near Tsukiji for accessible sushi, Fuunji in Shinjuku for tsukemen ramen, Tonkatsu Maisen in Aoyama, and Daikokuya in Asakusa for old-style tempura. None needs a reservation, and all are used to visitors.
What to eat in Tokyo at a glance
The nine dishes worth seeking out, where to try each, and roughly what a typical serving costs. Tap a neighborhood to open our guide to it.
| Dish | Best for | Try it at | Typical cost | Neighborhood |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sushi | The Tokyo essential | Sushizanmai, Tsukiji | $15-30+ | Ginza |
| Ramen | Cheap, everywhere | Fuunji, Shinjuku | $6-9 | Shinjuku |
| Tonkatsu | The comfort plate | Maisen, Aoyama | $13-20 | Harajuku |
| Tempura | Light Edomae classic | Daikokuya, Asakusa | $10-17 | Asakusa |
| Yakitori | The izakaya night | Omoide Yokocho | $1-2/skewer | Shibuya |
| Unagi | The summer splurge | Izuei, Ueno | $20-40 | Ueno |
| Soba & udon | The everyday noodle | Kanda Matsuya | $3-10 | Kanda |
| Wagyu & yakiniku | The beef splurge | Roppongi yakiniku | $35-100 | Roppongi |
| Monjayaki | The local curiosity | Tsukishima | $7-12 | Tsukishima |
The best food in Tokyo is sushi, ramen, tonkatsu and tempura, the four dishes the city does better than almost anywhere, all cheap, everywhere, and easy to order. Tokyo also holds more Michelin stars than any other city, but you do not need a tasting menu to eat well here: a $7 bowl of ramen or a $3 stand-up soba can be the meal you remember. Below we rank the dishes worth seeking out by how essential they are on a first trip, with honest verdicts, where to try each, and roughly what it costs.
How to choose what to eat in Tokyo
Eating cheaply? Ramen, soba and tonkatsu sets are filling, excellent, and rarely over $10. Want one big splurge? Make it an omakase sushi counter or a wagyu yakiniku grill. After the experience as much as the food? Spend a night on yakitori and beer in an alley like Omoide Yokocho. The table and the neighborhood guide below show where each dish sits, what it costs, and which of our Tokyo guides covers the area you will eat it in. One honest note up front: skip the themed restaurants and maid cafes if you are there to eat.
Ranked, with honest verdicts
The best food in Tokyo, ranked
Nine dishes worth crossing the city for, ordered by how essential they are on a first trip, plus one famous-name experience we would skip.
- 1
The Tokyo essential Worth the hypeSushi
Tokyo invented modern nigiri, and you can eat it at every price: a $1 plate off a belt or a hushed counter omakase.
Nigiri sushi was born here in the 19th century as Edomae, fast food made with fish from the bay in front of Edo, the old name for Tokyo. That range is the joy of eating it now: a kaiten (conveyor-belt) shop or a Tsukiji counter like Sushizanmai gets you fresh, honest sushi for the price of a sandwich, while an omakase counter in Ginza is one of the great meals anywhere. For a first taste, the Tsukiji Outer Market in the morning is hard to beat. Go where the fish is turning over fast, and order what the chef points to.
Try it at: Sushizanmai near Tsukiji, or a Ginza omakase counterTypical cost: $15-30 casual; $100+ omakaseBest area: Ginza and the Tsukiji Outer MarketEdomaeTsukijiSplurge or cheapSourcesen.wikipedia.org
- 2
The everyday obsession Worth itRamen
The cheapest great meal in the city: a $7 bowl built with the seriousness most places reserve for fine dining.
Ramen is Tokyo's everyday religion, and the range of styles is the point: rich tonkotsu, soy-based shoyu, the city's own clear chicken-and-fish, and tsukemen, where thick noodles come dry to dip in a concentrated broth. Most shops are tiny, seat a dozen, and run on a ticket machine by the door where you choose and pay before you sit. Ichiran's solo booths make an easy, low-pressure first bowl; for something the locals queue for, Fuunji in Shinjuku is the tsukemen benchmark. Slurp loudly, it cools the noodles and is no insult.
Try it at: Ichiran for an easy first bowl; Fuunji in Shinjuku for tsukemenTypical cost: $6-9How to order: Buy a meal ticket at the vending machine firstCheapEverywhereLate night - 3
The comfort plate Worth itTonkatsu
A panko-crusted pork cutlet, fried to a shatter and served with shredded cabbage and rice; the most reliably satisfying meal in Tokyo.
Tonkatsu is the dish that converts skeptics: a thick pork loin or fillet in crisp panko crumbs, sliced so the juice shows, with a tangy brown sauce you pour over yourself. It almost always comes as a set with rice, miso soup and free refills of finely shredded cabbage. Tonkatsu Maisen, in a converted bathhouse in Aoyama near Harajuku, is the easy benchmark and copes well with a queue of visitors. Order rosu for the fattier loin or hire for the leaner fillet.
Try it at: Tonkatsu Maisen, Aoyama (a short walk from Harajuku)Typical cost: $13-20Order: Rosu (fattier loin) or hire (lean fillet)Comfort foodEasySet mealsSourcesen.wikipedia.org
- 4
The Edomae classic Worth itTempura
Seafood and vegetables in a lacework batter, fried so light it barely registers as fried; another Tokyo original.
Like sushi, tempura started as Edo street food and grew up. At its best, eaten piece by piece at a counter as the chef fries it, it is delicate rather than heavy: a single prawn, a shiso leaf, a wedge of sweet potato, dipped in a thin dashi sauce or just salt. Daikokuya in Asakusa has been frying since 1887 and serves the older, darker, sesame-oil style over rice as tendon; it draws long queues and mixed reviews, and it is the comforting opposite of the airy Ginza counters rather than a refined version. Do one of each if you can; start with Asakusa for the history with your lunch.
Try it at: Daikokuya in Asakusa for old-style tendon; a Ginza counter for the airy versionTypical cost: $10-17 tendon; $70+ at a counterBest area: Asakusa for old-style; Ginza for countersLightOld TokyoCounter diningSourcesen.wikipedia.orggltjp.com
- 5
The Tokyo night out Worth itYakitori
Charcoal-grilled chicken skewers, a cold beer, and a smoky alley packed shoulder to shoulder; the city's best cheap night out.
Yakitori is chicken cooked over charcoal a skewer at a time, every part of the bird, seasoned with either salt (shio) or a sweet soy glaze (tare). The dish is really an excuse for the setting: a yokocho, one of the narrow post-war drinking alleys, where you perch at a counter, order a few skewers at a time, and keep the beers coming. Omoide Yokocho beside Shinjuku station and Nonbei Yokocho in Shibuya are the two most atmospheric, and the most visitor-friendly. Expect a small seating or cover charge at many counters; it is normal, not a scam.
Try it at: Omoide Yokocho (Shinjuku) or Nonbei Yokocho (Shibuya)Typical cost: $1-2 a skewer; about $25 a nightOrder: Momo, negima, tsukune; salt or tareSkewersAlleysBeer - 6
The summer splurge Worth itUnagi
Freshwater eel, steamed then charcoal-grilled with a sweet-savory glaze over rice; richer and more refined than it sounds.
Unagi is a specialist's dish: the eel is filleted, skewered, steamed to render the fat, then grilled over charcoal and brushed with a soy-mirin tare as it cooks. Served as unadon (over a bowl of rice) or unaju (in a lacquer box), it is one of Tokyo's great traditional meals, and traditionally eaten in the hottest part of summer for stamina. Izuei near Ueno, an unagi house dating to the Edo period, is a graceful place to try it. It is not cheap, and a good plate takes time to grill; that wait is part of the deal.
Try it at: Izuei near Ueno, an Edo-period unagi houseTypical cost: $20-40Best time: Midsummer, the traditional eel seasonGrilled eelTraditionSpecial occasionSourcesizuei.co.jpen.wikipedia.org
- 7
The everyday noodle Worth itSoba & udon
Buckwheat soba and thick wheat udon, eaten hot in broth or cold with a dipping sauce; the fastest honest meal in the city.
Soba (thin, nutty buckwheat noodles) and udon (thick, chewy wheat ones) are Tokyo's everyday fuel, and the cheapest way to eat one is the best fun: a tachi-gui, a stand-and-slurp counter inside or beside a train station, where a hot bowl costs about $3 and is gone in five minutes. For the handmade version, Kanda Matsuya has been rolling its own soba since 1884. Eat it cold in summer (zaru soba, on a bamboo tray with a dipping cup) and hot in winter; either way, slurping is expected.
Try it at: A station tachi-gui stand, or Kanda Matsuya for handmade sobaTypical cost: $3 standing; $6-10 sit-downGood to know: Slurping cools the noodles and is normalCheapFastHot or cold - 8
The beef splurge Worth the hypeWagyu & yakiniku
Marbled Japanese beef you grill yourself over charcoal, or have seared at a teppan; the meal to blow the budget on.
Wagyu, the intensely marbled Japanese beef, is best met at a yakiniku restaurant, where you grill bite-size cuts over charcoal at your own table and eat them the moment they are ready. It is interactive, generous, and as expensive as you let it be: a mixed plate of good (not top-grade) beef is a fair splurge, while a few cuts of A5 climb fast. Roppongi and Ginza have the city's deepest bench of yakiniku and teppanyaki rooms. If you would rather not cook, sukiyaki or shabu-shabu, where thin beef is cooked in a pot at the table, is the gentler version of the same idea.
Try it at: A Roppongi or Ginza yakiniku roomTypical cost: $35-100+ depending on the gradeGood to know: You grill the cuts yourself over charcoalWagyuGrill-your-ownSpecial occasionSourcesen.wikipedia.org
- 9
The local curiosity MixedMonjayaki
Tokyo's own runny, savory griddle-pancake, cooked on the hotplate in front of you; a fun night out more than a great dish.
Monjayaki is Tokyo's hyper-local take on okonomiyaki: a loose, deliberately gloopy batter of cabbage and fillings that you fry on the table griddle and scrape up with a tiny spatula as it sets. Tsukishima's Monja Street has more than eighty shops on one strip and is the place to try it. Be honest with yourself about what it is, though: the appeal is as much the social, do-it-yourself ritual as the flavor, which is mild and a little stodgy. Worth doing once for the experience; order okonomiyaki, the firmer Osaka-style cousin, if you want the tastier version.
Try it at: Tsukishima Monja Street, more than 80 shops on one stripTypical cost: $7-12Good to know: You cook it yourself on the table griddleTokyo specialtyGrill-your-ownTsukishimaSourcesgotokyo.orgen.wikipedia.org
The tourist trap Skip itThemed restaurants and maid cafes
The ninja restaurants, maid cafes and character cafes are a show with a cover charge. Go for the spectacle if you must, not for a meal.
It comes up a lot, so to be clear: Tokyo's themed restaurants, the maid cafes of Akihabara, the ninja and prison-themed izakaya, the character and animal cafes, are entertainment first and food a distant second. You pay a cover charge and often a per-photo fee for mediocre, marked-up plates and a performance. If a maid cafe or a character cafe is genuinely on your list as an experience, go in with eyes open and keep your expectations on the show. For an actual good meal, almost anything else on this page is a better use of the money.
Typical cost: $20-35+ once cover and photo fees are inBetter for: The spectacle, not the mealWhere: Mostly Akihabara, Shinjuku and ShibuyaSpectacleCover chargesNot about the foodSourcesen.wikipedia.org
Rankings and verdicts are our own; star ratings open each spot's main Google listing. Prices are an approximate per-person guide for a typical meal and shift with the spot, the cut, and the exchange rate.
Eat it standing up
Tokyo street food, and where to find it
Tokyo does its street food in markets and along temple approaches rather than from carts. Three places to graze, in order of how good the eating is:
Tsukiji Outer Market
Grilled scallops, fat tamagoyaki on a stick, sea-urchin, and the freshest sushi breakfast in the city. Come hungry and early; most stalls wind down by early afternoon.
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Ameyoko, Ueno
A loud market alley under the train tracks: skewers, takoyaki, kebabs and cheap seafood bowls. The closest Tokyo comes to a chaotic open-air market.
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Nakamise-dori, Asakusa
The lantern-lined approach to Senso-ji, packed with traditional snacks: ningyo-yaki cakes, fresh senbei crackers, and warm age-manju. Touristy, but the snacks are the real thing.
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By neighborhood
Where to eat in Tokyo, by area
Tokyo has no single food district; each neighborhood has its own character. Where we would point you, by craving:
Ginza
The splurge: high-end sushi and tempura counters, plus the basement food halls (depachika) under Mitsukoshi and Matsuya.
Shinjuku
The night out: Omoide Yokocho's yakitori alley, ramen shops, and izakaya packed under the station's east side.
Shibuya
Casual and late: ramen, the tiny bars of Nonbei Yokocho, and food halls inside the new station towers.
Roppongi
International and upmarket: wagyu and yakiniku, sushi, and the widest range of non-Japanese food in the city.
Tsukiji & Asakusa
Old Tokyo: the Tsukiji outer market for a seafood breakfast, and Asakusa's temple-approach snacks and centuries-old tempura.
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