Going to Japan this time, I’d never been more disorganized with restaurant recs scattered across Instagram/TikTok pins, Google Maps pins, links and docs sent by friends, random iPhone notes (even though I use Notion?)... in this world of infinite content, I wish I had a simpler list to go off.

Looking back, I ended up not caring about how many Michelin stars a restaurant had, or how highly rated or hyped or new it was either. I really just had 3 sentiments—vibes, if you will—when it came to the places I ate at:

1. I can’t stop thinking about this and how good it was

2. I’d be down to go again

3. Left little impression (or as the kids say, was mid)

I obviously am not going to tell you about disappointing places, but instead will offer you a list of bookmarked places I wish I’d visited but didn’t get around to—so you can let me know if it was worth it or not.

Without further ado, here’s my humble list of Japanese food recs, sorted by the categories listed above. As always, each rec comes with a Google Maps link for easy bookmarking.

“I can’t stop thinking about this and how good it was”

Tsukemen Enji (Kichijoji, Tokyo - $)

I don’t think I’ve ever thought about tsukemen (dipping noodles) before I had it here, but now I can’t stop thinking about it. Everything from the texture to the flavorful sauce was just *chef’s kiss*—This was one of our most affordable, yet delicious meals we enjoyed.

Kobe Beef & Matsuzaka Beef Shabu Shabu (Ginza, Tokyo - $$$-$$$$)

Delicious sukiyaki and shabu shabu with very premium beef options. It’s a set menu but comes with more than enough food, though prices vary depending on which set you choose. Gives a great assortment of veggies (including rare mushrooms, which were my favorites)—we ended up coming here again with a larger friend group on our last night.

Ito-King Tenjin (Fukuoka - $)

Specialty dessert shop featuring the famous Amaou strawberry, and was probably my favorite dessert I had all trip. Everything is amazing here, though they are famous for their sugar-glazed strawberry skewer and dorayaki that comes in different cream fillings with an whole fresh strawberry inside. I was in heaven and spent ~$60 trying the entire menu and buying all the gift boxes here.

Godaime Hanayama Udon (Tokyo - $$)

I don’t generally like udon, but I loved this place—maybe because they have super wide, flat, chewy udon noodles that are really unique. They have ones in soup, or ones that you dip (what I ordered). There’s usually a long line but they have multiple branches—we went to the one in Nihonbashi which was larger and less crowded.

Nihonbashi Kaisen Donburi Tsujihan (Tokyo - $$)

Michelin-starred and worth it—these seafood bowls were so delightful and delicious. You can pay extra to have more toppings (ikura, uni, crab) added on—but the original already has 10 types of fish. When you’re about 2/3 done with your meal, give your bowl back to the chefs and they’ll pour a delicious sea bream broth into your bowl for an entirely new experience. The lines are long but there are many branches—the less central ones have a shorter wait.

“I’d be down to go again”

Glitch Coffee Roasters (Tokyo and Osaka - $-$$)

Really fancy award winning coffee that one should really only drink black (lattes in Japan are really watery, anyway…). It was delicious and I’m glad I tried it, but I also realized some people love coffee on a whole different level: James actually ran into the exact same person in the Tokyo shop as he did in Osaka. Talk about a glitch in the Matrix.

i’m donut? (Tokyo and Fukuoka - $)

Would recommend if you love donuts and/or stores with fun names. It’s fluffy and light with a good (non-mochi) chew and not-too-sweet pastry cream. But it’s a LONG line. We went around closing time to the one in Harajuku—most flavors were sold out but we got to try the bestseller, pistachio cream, which James said was the best donut he’s had in his life.

Ginza Kagari (Ginza, Tokyo - $)

This is that 1-star Michelin ramen restaurant in everyone’s list. It’s great for toripaitan ramen, and the price point makes it even greater. However, it’s a long wait—there’s a separate line to order than to eat—and while it was delicious I feel like I’d rather wait in a shorter line here for Mensho instead.

Anakuma Cafe (Harajuku, Tokyo - $)

A fun literal hole in the wall, where you order coffee on an iPad and a bear(?) mascot hands it to you through said hole. They interact with you as well through props, gachapons, and whiteboard messages. It’s a fun experience for some tasty coffee and tea—also feels very “Harajuku.”

鰻のエイト (Fukuoka - $$)

Unagi restaurant that serves 2 dishes—unagi in stone pot with beef (kind of like bimimbap) or unagi with egg in a bamboo box. It’s clearly a fusion restaurant but the dishes were delicious—and even came with a cute little pudding dessert at the end.

Kobe Beef Steak Mouriya Gion (Gion, Kyoto - $$$$)

James thinks there’s only 2 ways to enjoy really fancy marbled beef: hot pot or grilled. We already tried shabu, so we came here to try teppanyaki beef. This place was super good—not only the beef, but also the veggies that balanced the meal. The salad was also so interesting—we still don’t know what veggies we ate but it was great.

a note on fine dining

I generally don’t like to recommend these because they are usually super expensive and your mileage may vary when it comes to whether you’d think they are worth it. If you do like fine dining, I highly recommend Tableall for booking sushi/fancy/Michelin-starred places—their team of concierges will call in and make reservations for you, and even suggest alternatives if you can’t get the reservation you want. Here were my favorite fine dining meals:

• Noguchi Tsunagu (Kyoto - $$$$) - 2-Michelin coursed meal featuring “the best ingredients one can buy,” including A5 wagyu, mackerel, barracuda, izu lobster, and bear (yes, you read that right).

• Sushi Arai (Ginza, Tokyo - $$$$) - 1-Michelin sushi, with some of the best fish I’ve tasted in my life. There’s 2 floors—one where the “master” serves guests and another where the “apprentice” serves guests. We could only afford the apprentice but it was still some of the best sushi I’ve had.

“Places I wish I visited”

• Shirohige’s Cream-Puff Factory (Tokyo, $) - home of the Totoro cream puff—but they were doing a pop-up elsewhere when I visited. I’ve heard it’s mid but I still wanted to try it for the cuteness!

• Tsukiji Unitora Nakadori (Tokyo, $$) - I love uni but the lines were too long (it’s also in Tsukiji Market) even if you got up super early for it. I’ve heard this place is all hype, but I’m still sad I didn’t get to decide for myself.

• Itoh Kyuemon (Kyoto, $) - they sell these very Instagrammable matcha parfait bars that I wanted to try… except I was sick and it was freezing cold outside and I couldn’t justify eating ice cream under those conditions.

• Izakaya Toyo (Osaka, $$) - I saw this in Netflix’s Street Food: Asia and really wanted to go—except I was sick on for our day trip to Osaka. James went with his friends to a different restaurant instead…

Final Notes

Food in Japan is awesome, especially since Japanese food is my favorite cuisine! I think there are things they do especially well that are super worth trying in Japan, such as:

• convenience store food—looking at the Lawson’s tamago sando in particular

• noodles—they are just of a different quality, especially in handmade noodle shops

• seafood / fresh fish

• fancy beef

• fruits—super expensive but SO delicious and sweet

• sweets—there is a delicate, milky flavor to a lot of the desserts and they don’t tend to be too sweet

• markets—I will happily eat street food here since I really trust Japanese food safety standards

I hope you enjoy this list and get to try some of these places one day!