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Wednesday, June 15, 2016

16D15N Japan Food Reviews (Tokyo)

A review of the restaurants and cafes I visited in Tokyo. Themed restaurants are reviewed in their individual posts and won't be found here!

P.S. I don't think I am a very good food reviewer but the directions to get there will surely help you!

-Update in progress-

Harajuku
Harajuku Gyoza-ro (原宿餃子樓)
Type of Food: Gyoza


Review: 
We ordered food to share as usual. There was quite a bit of queue when we were there and it was drizzling :/ But it was worth the wait, hot gyozas were served and they were delicious! The refreshing cucumbers we ate while waiting for the gyozas were yummy as well!

Recommended?
Yes!

Location: 

Nearest station: Meijijingu-Mae station


Harajuku Gyozaro
原宿餃子楼
Harajuku Gyozaro
原宿餃子楼
Honolulu Coffee Omotesando (closed)
p.s. There are other outlets that you can visit
Type of Food: Cafe


Review: 
It was a peaceful and chill place to rest from the rain. The coffee was good. Pancakes were good for sharing.

Recommended?
Good for a short break

Website

Location: 

Nearest station: Omote-sando station

Maisen Tonkatsu (とんかつ まい泉)
Type of Food: Tonkatsu

Put some soyu sauce and eat the minced radish. Surprisingly nice!

We ordered 2 different types of tonkatsu by the way!

Ice cream for dessert!

Review: 
We had this as a late lunch/early dinner after we decided we were done exploring Harajuku. There was no queue and the restaurant was quite big. However, some of the tonkatsu were already sold out when we came to eat T.T Apparently they have limited amount of tonkatsu! Next time I will definitely come earlier!

Despite not getting to try the most popular tonkatsu, the ones we ordered were equally delicious. I was scared that it will be oily, but it wasn't and the meat inside was still hot and juicy! Even though it was quite a big portion, you don't get sick of the taste. It was also a very filling meal since it comes with rice, miso soup and lots and lots of sliced cabbage!

We didn't even know we still had ice cream to eat after! Luckily the yuzu ice cream is very light and we managed to finish it as well!

Recommended?
YES! It's the best tonkatsu I've had!

Location: 

Nearest station: Omote-sando station


Ikebukuro
Milkyway (パフェテラス ミルキーウェイ) 
Type of Food: Dessert/Parfait

Store front

Food samples on the ground floor

Stairway to the stars!

Star-shaped table outside the cafe~

More food samples on display!

So pretty

Interior




Everything star shaped!


Our sandwich~

1 chocolate & 1 coffee drink~

We shared a parfait!


Review: 
We were not too hungry when we arrived. We mostly wanted to sit and rest a bit since we have been up since early morning and walked a lot the whole morning! We shared a sandwich and parfait. If I recalled correctly, the menu is mostly in katakana; so you might face a bit of difficulty with the menu. The food was not bad. I thought the variety of parfait was amazing though. They even have horoscope themed parfait! The ambiance was nice.

Recommended?
Yes; especially if you like stars and dessert. It's a nice place to chill too!

Website

Location: 


Nearest station: Ikebukuro station

Ootoya (大戸屋) 
Type of Food: Japanese set meals

Store front

Menu

Our order!

I had udon and rice set meal! :P

Grilled salmon set meal~

Review: 
We had not planned to eat in this restaurant in my initial itinerary. Luckily for us, we ended up dining here since our airbnb host recommended it in her guidebook and there is a outlet in Ikebukuro. They have a variety of set meals to choose from and they are not expensive! The food were filling and delicious!

Recommended?
Yes!! It's affordable, filling with a lot of variety of set meals.

Website

Location: 

Nearest station: Ikebukuro station

Odaiba
Calbee Plus 
Type of Food: Snacks
Store front

Interior

Chips in chocolate sauce and soft serve

Review: 
Calbee Plus has a small seating area at the back of the shop. You need to dispose of your trash into their respective bins (burnables, recyclable etc) after eating. There is a small sink inside as well.

They serve a few variety of snacks and we ordered Calbee chips with chocolate sauce and soft serve. The chocolate is very rich and when paired with the chips, it's a yummy contrast of sweet and salty. Ice cream is also nice! :P

Recommended?
Definitely for snacks lovers~

Location:  Level 2 in Divercity.  Also located in various parts of Japan.

Nearest station: Daiba station/Tokyo Teleport station

Premium Kaio (海王)
Type of Food: Conveyor belt sushi

Our sushi arrived on a train!


Miso soup



Number of plates we ate~

Review: 
As I mentioned in the daily post, somehow I am missing photos of our dinner here and I pretty sure I took some photos with my camera... Fortunately, there are still some photos taken using my friend's mobile and I have put in some of the sushi we ate here.

There was a queue when we arrived. Lucky for us, we were able to jump abit of the queue when there was a counter/bar seat available and there were only 2 of us. The queue also moves quite fast since the restaurant is quite big. You order using the electronic pad and sushi is sent to your table by a train! すごい! There's matcha powder on the table for you to make your matcha drink.

The sushi are fresh! We order 1 plate of tamogo sushi but it tastes ok only. Miso soup in Japan is always nice when compared to Singapore ones!

Recommended?
If you want to eat affordable sushi.

Location:  Level 6 in Divercity

Nearest station & exit: Daiba station/Tokyo Teleport station

Opening hours: 11am to 11pm

Shukubou (旬坊) 
Type of Food: Soba, udon & rice bowl
Store front 

Display board outside


Rice bowl

Soba

Review: 
It's a small local shop with 2 obasan managing the shop when we were there. Note that this shop allows smoking inside.

I can't remember the exact names of the dishes; can't even remember if there were English words on the menu actually.. But the shop serves soba, udon and rice bowls. The obasan who took our order certainly don't speak English though. The rice bowl was not bad. The soba was okay, I have no idea what those white things in the soba are - they are sticky, chewy and rather tasteless though; kind of like rice cakes? There were no other tourists visiting this shop; guess it is more targeted to locals. We saw a few local men dining while we ate there.

Recommended?
If you want to dine in a local establishment without the crowd of tourists.

Website

Location:  Street level at Decks Tokyo Odaiba


Nearest station: Odaibakaihinkoen station/Tokyo Teleport station

Shibuya
Afuri
Type of Food: Ramen
Store interior

Yuzu shio ramen


Review: 
The store is small and there was a short queue when we arrived. Order is made through the vending machine and you will be guided to your seat. We order their yuzu ramen of course.

This ramen's broth is lighter and more refreshing on your taste buds. I find it difficult sometimes to finish the ramen's broth cause they are usually very rich, but this one is drinkable for me! :P

Recommended?
Yes!! It's a different kind of ramen and it is light and refreshing!

Website

Location:

Nearest station: Ebisu station


Gontran Cherrier Tokyo @ Shibuya (closed)
Type of Food: Bread/Pastries

Store front


Coffee

Our order of bread!


Review: 
The bread were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside! They have a variety of breads to choose from. This outlet is closed already but they have another branch at Shinjuku!

Recommended?
Good for breakfast or a short break!

Website

Location: 


Nearest station: Shibuya station

Ichiran (一蘭 渋谷店)
Type of Food: Ramen
Store front

Ichiran is located on the basement level

Entrance

Order your ramen here

Your ramen-eating booth~

Choose how you want your ramen to be done

Tea!

Ramen!!

Review: 
The store is quite small but since we were there before the lunch hour, there was only 1 other person in front of us. When we walked passed Ichiran during the lunch hour, there was a long queue forming all the way up the stairs.

Once we enter the shop, you make your orders using the vending machine. Then you wait for the staffs to guide you to the available booths. Once seated, you choose the firmness/softness of your noodles and spiciness level. Free flow tea is available at your booth as well. You can even order extra servings of ramen as long as you still have broth left in your bowl!

The broth is very rich and delicious. The tonkotsu is not as melt-in-your-mouth nice as the one I had in Osaka, but it is still tastier than most tonkatsu in Singapore. Yum yum! It was a satisfying meal after our luggage pulling!

Recommended?
Yes!! Ichiran is always a must-try in Japan! There are other outlets in Japan too!

Website

Location:  B1 of Iwamoto building

Nearest station: Shibuya station

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