Tokyo is known for its fabulous dining, but with more than 100,000 restaurants, it can be hard to narrow down where to get a reservation. You won’t want to miss Inakaya East, a long-established Robatayaki restaurant and one of the city’s most beloved eateries. Here, we’ll tell you why we love and introduce you to several other Tokyo restaurants you won’t want to miss. Suffice it to say, you’d have to go out of your way to get a bad meal in Tokyo.
What Is Robatayaki?
This style of Japanese cuisine translates to fireside cooking, and is often shorted to robata. It refers to a style of cooking, similar to grilling, during which food is cooked at varying speeds over hot coals. This form of traditional Japanese barbecue originated in the Miyagi Prefecture in northeast Japan centuries ago.
Typically, the food is a combination of seafood and vegetables. This style of Japanese charcoal cooking differs from other local methods because it uses a wide, flat, open fireplace instead of a shichirin (a smaller, lighter, transportable stove).
What Sets Inakaya East Apart?
At Inakaya East, diners will see their food being made over one of two robatayaki cooking fires. There’s a traditional ambience at the restaurant, but also a modern edge, which attracts many celebrity diners, including a US president. The restaurant has become so successful and sought after that there are now sister establishments in Roppongi (Inakaya West) and Manhattan (Robataya New York). Enjoy the boisterous personalities of the staff and chefs as they shout orders back and forth and welcome customers with a loud, “Irasshaimase!”
What Can I Eat at Inakaya East?
Choose from succulent seafood, meat, tofu and vegetables – in any combination. Dishes include sashimi, zocui (rice porridge), nimono (boiled dish), sunomono (pickled dish), rice balls and more. The specially trained chef, sitting upon a raised platform surrounded by ingredients, will prepare the food in front of you, robatayaki-style with a large wooden paddle. Be sure to wash it all down with one of the high-quality sakes on the menu.
Other Excellent Tokyo Restaurants to Try
Kotaro
This little gem takes some work to find, but there’s a reason regulars book weeks in advance for a chance to try Chef Kotaro Hayashi’s specialties. Our favorites include his signature potato salad with a lightly smoked soft-boiled egg and inventive takes on class izakaya dishes. There’s also some incredible small-batch sake on the menu.
Tamawarai
Love soba? Head to Tamawarai for flavorful, satisfying noodles mixed, rolled and cut by hand. Many of the noodles are made of restaurant-grown buckwheat. You’ll have to stand in line for up to an hour to get in, but when you do, order generously and with a side of soba miso and creamy yuba (tofu skin).
Den
Den has two Michelin stars and is on the Asia’s 20 Best Restaurants list. If that’s not reason enough to dine there, come for the careful commingling of innovative and traditional. There’s a tantalizing sense of humor in Chef Zaiyu Hasegawa’s menu, including a signture “Dentucky Fried Chicken.”
Yakitori Imai
Enjoy the convivial atmosphere of grill master Takashi Imai’s yakitoriya. Every seat in the house overlooks the open kitchen, so you can watch him sling skewers of chicken, French pigeon, Basque pork and a huge array of vegetables over the main charcoal pit.
Torishiki
Another yakitori favorite, Taorishiki is owned by Yoshiteru Ikegawa, who is a true grill artist. His skewered specialties include chochin (the yolk of an unhatched egg), grilled tofu and warm chicken broth that you’re offered at the close of every meal.
Kikunoi Akasaka
The water is softer in Kyoto, a fact Chef Yoshihiro Murata of Kikunoi Akasaka recognizes. He knows that kaiseki, Japan’s hyper-seasonal traditional cuisine, is always better in its birthplace of Kyoto and to that end, he ships water in from the ancient capital city, thus ensuring the perfection of his dashi soup stock. The Akasaka branch of his famous eatery feels quite tranquil for Tokyo. Grab an affordable obento lunch box if you’re in a rush.
What to Eat in Tokyo
It’s hard to define Japanese cuisine, given its staggering variety. However, a few common threads can be found, including simplicity and fresh, seasonal ingredients. Here’s a primer on types of Japanese cuisine, so you can order with confidence at any of the restaurants we named above – or the thousands of others throughout Tokyo.
Yakitori: Grilled chicken skewers, including liver and skin, often a vegetarian option, and usually seasoned with salt or a sweet yakitori sauce called tare. Eaten hot, straight of the stick.
Tonkatsu: The pork version of chicken katsu, featuring a thick, fatty pork chop fried in breadcrumbs and serviced with cabbage, rice, mustard and tangy sauce. Sometimes served sandwich-style.
Gyoza: The country’s beloved dumpling snacks, filled with minced pork, onion, cabbage and ginger, the grilled on a teppanyaki (flat grill). Served with soy-and-vinegar dipping sauce and chili oil.
Unagi: Freshwater eel and one of Japan’s finest delicacies. In Tokyo, you can find at least three Michelin-starred restaurants that specialize in unagi. Try it filleted and covered in sticky, sweet soy sauce (kabayaki).
Takoyaki: A favorite street food item, these are walnut-sized spheres made with flour, eggs, baking powder, dried fish and dashi (seaweed broth), then filled with boiled octopus, chopped spring onion, tempura batter crumbs and pickled ginger. They’re cooked and carefully to achieve a thin, crispy skin and creamy center. Usually eaten without sauce, but some like them with a Worcestershire-like sweet sauce. The best takoyaki are found in Osaka.
Yakisoba: Stir-fried wheat noodles mixed with meat, vegetables and seafood in any combination that speaks to you. The classic combo is pork, cabbage and beansprouts, topped with a fried egg. Add dried seaweed, pickled ginger and yakisoba sauce to make it personal.
Mochi: The globally popular Japanese desert, a sweet, soft rice cake in a huge variety of flavors, including sweet red beach paste and sakura (cherry blossom).