My nephew and nieces are in Tokyo now for a few days. Any recommendations ?
Wake up early in the morning, like 6-7. Go to Tsukiji market, and line up at Sushi Bun (english@pê). If you really want to, line up at Sushi Dai or Daiwa, but I like Bun. Order the 3675 yen “C” set. These days with the weak dollar it may seem steep, but it’s actually quite a good deal.
Go to some of the famous large department stores (Isetan, Waki, Takashimaya, Mitsukoshi, et al) and roam the food halls and eat what looks interesting, odd, or pretty.
Around 8-9pm, wander around to some overpass near a subway/train station and see if there are any bustling yakitori (grilled meats) joints. Some of these places may only have 5 stools-10 stools. Just pick one. Point at whatever meat your neighbor is having, and order beer. Drink up!
Nick:
What sort of things are your nieces and nephew interested in? Cary’s recommendations are good re food on a budget (ramen as well); Tokyo is a great city for eating.
Beyond food, there are places such as the Ghibli Museum (animation), Akihabara (electronics), Harajuku/Shibuya (youth fashion), Imperial Palace (not that you can see much beyond the main gates and the moat), Ryogoku (sumo stadium), etc., not to mention the night-life (bars open until 5 am). If they’re here for more than a couple of days, they might also want to catch the shinkansen and hit Kyoto.
If they want more specific recommendations, let me know.
Thanks so far. I guess they did the fish market this AM. I was looking for more specific restaurant recommendations. Sushi primarily.
What is their price range and can they speak Japanese?
Maguro Bito is a chain that serves continuous sushi at the bar on a moving belt (sushi boat type place). It’s affordable and the quality is quite high compared to the sh*tty kaiten places in the states. Prices are coded into the dishes so you don’t even need to speak any Japanese.
For more upscale places, the sky is the limit.
Do they have interest in other forms of Japanese cuisine? Sushi is such a small subset of Japanese cuisine.
I had great sushi at Kyubei in the Hotel Okura. Wasn’t cheap.
Also had a great meal with great view at EN.
I would say they have a decent price range. They’re used to the better Chicago restaurants. Yes other places would be of interest.
Nick!
Ryugin for a dinner. Do a lunch at Sushi Dai around Tsjukiji. Do a lunch at Kyubei - almost the same cuts as the 350 dollar dinners at a fraction of the price. The lunch was about 75 bucks and rivaled Urasawa. Get reservations at Jiro if they have a local friend that will call and go with them. My friends balked at the Jiro price, so we had to cancel, and now everyone regrets it. Kyubei and Ryugin are fantastic.
Their Grandmother is receiving an award from the Japanese government. I’m assuming someone can get them into Jiro ?
Thanks for all the reco’s
If they’re considering Jiro, go to Sawada instead (or Mizutani or Saito). Same quality except Sawada is a long experience and he’s really friendly (see, e.g, http://www.chuckeats.com/2010/06/21/sawada-tokyo-redux-reloaded/). We went in January and it was spectacular. We also went to Ryugin, which was truly excellent – but Sawada was the better experience.