Tokyo Travel Guide - Eating Out

Prices for food in the Japanese capital range from a few hundred yen to many thousands with the cheapest places being the Western fast-food joints, the Japanese fast-food places like Yoshinoya or a conveyor-belt sushi house, just about as authentic Tokyo as it gets. Then there are the small street places and the noodle bars found just about everywhere serving wheat and rice noodles in all manner of different tasty broths.

If you go a little more upmarket, the choices are endless. If you want to splash your yen, then Ginza is certainly the place to be. Some restaurants are notoriously difficult to eat at, requiring not only huge amounts of cash and a reservation but also in some cases an introduction from a regular customer. Slightly less difficult but still pricey are the likes of Ginza Shiseido Parlour, now more than 100 years old, which serves up fishy delights like lobster and abalone at appropriately extortionate prices.

Here you’ll find abundant cafes and bakeries selling the very popular watermelon-flavoured buns with orange and even coffee varieties becoming fashionable.