Tokyo Eats & Drinks That Have Stayed With Me
These aren’t the most Instagrammed spots in Tokyo. They’re just the ones I keep thinking about and are my personal best Tokyo eats & drinks.
Tokyo is one of those cities where you could eat yourself into a coma and still feel like you've barely scratched the surface. I've been a few times now, but these are the places that have stained my memory in the best way.
Hamburg: Kiwamiya |📍Tokyo Station
Website | Instagram | Google Maps
No reservations. Walk-in only. Multiple locations, but my review is for inside Gransta Yaekita, Tokyo Station.
I saw the line and immediately had second thoughts about whether or not the wait would be worth. But I got in it anyway, and I’m glad I did.
Kiwamiya is a hamburg steak restaurant, not to be confused with a hamburger, which is a different thing entirely. At Kiwamiya, you can cook your own meat to your preferred doneness on a personal teppan griddle right at your table, which sounds like a gimmick until you’re actually doing it and realize it’s just a really satisfying way to eat. The beef is a blend of Kyushu black beef and Japanese beef, and the set comes with unlimited rice, salad, soup, and soft serve.
The waitress recommended taking our first bite plain, without any of the six dipping sauces, to get the full umami hit. After that, add the egg yolk and the other sauces.
Halal-certified hamburgers are available, which is relatively rare and a big deal for Muslim travelers.
Open Book |📍Golden Gai, Shinjuku
No signboard. Gobangai (Street No. 5), third bar from the outside. Open from 8pm.
Open Book is a lemon sour bar tucked into Shinjuku’s Golden Gai, founded in 2015 with the slogan “the world’s best lemon sour.” The bar belongs to the grandson of a Naoki Award-winning author and translator, and the shelves are lined with books inherited from him, which you can browse while drinking1. It’s exceptionally charming in a way that feels genuinely accidental rather than designed.
The place fits maybe eight people seated, a couple more standing. The lemon sour is the move, the only move, really. That’s the whole point of the bar.
Janai Coffee |📍Ebisu, Shibuya
Website | Instagram | Google Maps
Reservation required. Open 6pm–midnight. Closed Tuesdays.
Getting into Janai Coffee is part of the experience, which I know sounds annoying when you read it, but makes total sense once you’ve done it. To make a reservation, you have to navigate the website to find the secret booking page and trace the logo clockwise with either your finger or a computer mouse. Once you arrive and show your reservation, a barista guides you to push a concealed door, and suddenly you’re in what feels like a private lounge.
The drinks were good and consisted of coffee cocktails, craft cocktails, and a secret cocktail somewhere on the table that you have to find. The overall concept was very memorable, from the entrance to the atmosphere of the speakeasy.
Latte Art Mania Tokyo | 📍Minami-Aoyama
1 min walk from Gaienmae Station. Open 8am–7pm, Fri/Sat until 11pm.
Cute coffee shop, delicious latte.
The owner, Kenta Baba, has been crowned Japan’s number one in latte art four times. The space is small and narrow, but the coffee is legitimately good, not just pretty. The signature black latte is made with edible activated charcoal, and if you’re a matcha person, that’s an option too. If you don’t want to wait for a seat, there’s a takeaway window outside.
Mutekiya |📍Ikebukuro
Cash only. Open 10:30am–4am. One location, no branches.
Out of the way? Yes. Worth it? Yes.
Mutekiya is a ramen shop in Ikebukuro, which puts it outside the usual tourist circuit, and I think that’s part of why it feels special. There will be a line.
They boil high-quality pork bones for long hours and strain the soup twice through fine-mesh cloth, which is why the broth doesn’t smell heavy but has a rich, sophisticated, sweet flavor. The chashu pork is thick and generous. The noodles hold up. One practical note that I had to learn from other people’s reviews: the green tea on the table is extremely concentrated, so make sure to dilute it.
“The Open Book | Bars and Pubs in Shinjuku, Tokyo.” Time out Tokyo, Time Out, 28 Sept. 2021, www.timeout.com/tokyo/bars-and-pubs/the-open-book. Accessed 20 May 2026.