Tokyo Food and Dining Suggestions Needed

[nathanm]

I will be in Tokyo for a few days in the middle of May and want some suggestions of great places to eat.

This would include:

1. Amazing and famous Japanese restaurants. I have the list of Michelin 3 star restaurants for example, and I will try to get into to Sukiyabashi Jiro. I have eaten at 7chome Kyoboshi, and probably will again.

2. I would also like to try some of the best examples of some more specialized Japanese food that is not likely to make lists like Michelin:

Tonkatsu - is the best place still Tonki ?

Okonomiyaki - not sure where to go

Yakitori - there must be some place that is hallowed as the best in Tokyo (or anyway, very good)

Unagi - there must be a place that is considered the best at that

3. I might try Quintessence, but mostly my focus is on Japanese food.

4. I am interested in whether there are interesting culinary things to do besides restaurant dining. I have been to Tsukiji several times so probably won't go again on this trip, but if there is something else.

Any recommendations would be helpful.

[prasantrin]

Tonki has never been the best tonkatsu. It's good, but certainly not the best. Even a chain like Katsukura is as good if not (at times) better than Tonki.

Most tonkatsu is at the very least good, but if you can try Butagumi if you're interested in better cuts of pork. That's really all that makes the difference between excellent tonkatsu and good tonkatsu.

[nathanm]

Ok great, I'll try that one.

I forgot to put on my original list that a great place to eat Japanese beef wouldn't be bad - either teppanyaki style or other.

Other Japanese food styles are also welcome.

[prasantrin]

Furthermore, May is not really the best time for unagi, but if you really want some, try to get wild unagi. Obana or Nodaiwa might have some, but it's not as common as it used to be. You may not be able to find any, and don't bother if you can't get wild.

(well, i'd still bother because I love unaju, but if you're looking for the "best", then don't bother if you can't get wild)

Maybe ask your concierge to recommend a place.

There is actually at least one michelin-starred yakitori place. So if you're looking for foods that are not likely to be michelin-ed, skip yakitori.

chow.com is one of the few boards with a comparatively active Japan board. Do a search first and narrow down your selections before asking any questions (if you do). They get tired of answering the same things over and over again.

craploads of okonomiyaki places out there. My favourite is actually in Kobe, not Tokyo. If you're after okonomiyaki, at least take a side trip to Osaka (or kobe). You'll get better okonomiyaki there.

[prasantrin]

to further press for an osaka side-trip, one of the most interesting food-related things I did in Japan was to make instant ramen from scratch at the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum. You'd need a Japanese person to go along with you, but it was really quite fun.

Sake factory tours are also interesting. the last one I did was set up by a former student (at her family's sake factory), but there are probably others that are open to the public. Again, talk to your concierge if you have one.

Along with sake, whiskey factory tours are quite fun, too.

[Lisa Shock]

If you happen to be in the mood for real Neapolitan style pizza, try Pizzaiolo Garibaldi Gotanda. The owner is a chef who worked for several years at Pizzaeria Del Presidente in Naples, and was the pizzaiolo on duty when President Clinton ate his pizza there. The oven is near the front, behind the area with the cold cases of fresh, house made cheese, pickles and toppings. The dining area is in back, the reviews online do not show it, it's fairly nice sort of reminded me something from the american west in the early 1800s. They also serve a full menu of real, not americanized, Italian foods with names americans may not be familiar with. The only down side is that they do not speak English and the menu is katakana which in this case is entirely phonetic Italian. Having a good knowledge of the names of real Italian dishes is very, very helpful here. Anyway, it's top notch real Italian food.

http://bento.com/rev/3212.html

http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/hidenoochan777/17092536.html

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=35.625613,139.724923

http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1316/A131603/13020343/

(note the char on the crust)

[Lisa Shock]

Oh man, I meant to put a smiley face in the parentheses, just goofing around about the char! I am not taking sides on that very minor issue.