The Ultimate Guide To Tokyo
Onigiri (rice balls) are to Japanese as sandwiches are to westerners - a quick, cheap, healthy and portable source of nourishment. Also like the humble sandwich, in recent times they have had a "premium" makeover. Unlike the premium sandwiches, …
Tsurumaru Udon is a chain of udon noodle shops located throughout Tokyo. Despite having udon in the name, they are surprisingly soba friendly, with a soba variant of all dishes available. The menu (with tiny English text!) offers up 12 …
On a public holiday with a typhoon crawling it's way towards Tokyo, and my regular freelancer's 'hot desk' closed for the day, I decided to try out Takarajima 24 - an internet cafe that advertises completely private rooms and that it "competes …
Store closed: Sadly, Happy Salada closed its doors at the end of November, 2014. When I visit Happy Salada in Akasaka, owner Raphael and his multinational staff are flat out preparing salads for the lunch rush. The store itself is very squeezy, …
The Seto Udon shop next to Akasaka Mitsuke station is surprisingly spacious. Near major stations, standing noodle bars are what you'd expect but this one is all seated. With subtle indoor lighting, the interior avoids my pet peeve of gaudy …
While Marugame Seimen is not quite as cheap as Hanamaru, it still offers consistently tasty noodles and outstanding value for money. When you can get lunch for 280yen in a high cost location like Aoyama (the Oval Building branch that I visited …
Japan has seen an explosion in both the production and popularity of craft beers (called jibiiru in Japanese) over the last few years. For those not satisfied with a production line pilsner from one of the big four breweries, there are plenty …
EDITS: September 15, 2021: The Landmark Square closed on March 31, 2021. July 7, 2013: From our own efforts and the reports by many others, it appears that this offer wasn't made in good faith but was rather, just a cynical attempt by this beer …
Nadai Fuji Soba is yet another one of the cheap'n'fast soba chains that proliferate around a train station near you. As we've mentioned before, (apart from the er... high sodium content of the broth) soba is about as healthy as you can expect …
Beer gardens are a summer institution in Japan. Sitting in a cheap plastic chair on the rooftop of a department store with a cool beer watching the sun setting and the neon lights flickering on is a great way to unwind after a stinking hot day. …
Tirol chocolates (pronounced chiroru in Japanese) are small squares of chocolate available from convenience stores, supermarkets and even pharmacies around Japan. Although they're small, they're also very cheap - and highly varied. Since their …
Twice a year, Japanese variety TV program Ikinari Ougon Densetsu (Sudden Golden Legend) runs a competition called Setsuyaku Battle (Economising Battle) in which two Japanese celebrities compete against each other for 1 month living on less than …
Cona is part of a chain of 500yen pizza restaurants which also includes Voco (in Ebius) a similarly named branch in Dogenzaka and Ura-Cona in Maruyamacho. While the speciality is Roman Pizza, the exhortation of the menu for "High tension …
Tokyo parks get crowded. On weekends (especially if you have more than one small child) your kids will run off and disappear like ninjas on a moonless night. Due to the crowds, there also tend to be queues of 6 kids or more waiting to use a …
Store closed: Brimmer Beer Box is no more. The beauty of Brimmer Beer Box is its simplicity. They serve quality beer in a box for a good price. They don't sell pizzas, just locally brewed craft beer for 500yen a glass. While that's not as …
Cona (previously Voco) Pizza is yet another pizzeria in Tokyo targeting the 500yen price point. While the pizza is good, the thing that sets Cona apart from the others is the huge range of pizzas on the menu and the casual bar style. The week …
If you're a freelancer, a location independent entrepreneur or you just need a space where you can concentrate and get some work done, then the Open Source Cafe in Shimokitazawa is worth a look. While not as cheap as a coffee at Starbucks, the …
The Ozeki Supermarket branch in Shimokitazawa is not huge, but unlike the Peacock Supermarket on the other side of the station, it's always teeming with housewives and keen locals picking up their groceries. That's because it's simply cheaper …
One of the surprises when I first arrived in Tokyo was discovering the alternative universe of snacks, chocolate and sweets. In Japan, Mars is simply the fourth planet from the sun and Cadbury and Hersheys are considered to be exotic import …
Please note: This was an April Fool's Post, Don't look for the sushi vending machine! Japan is deservedly well known for its vending machines. Along with the ubiquitous soft drink machines there are machines that vend everything from noodles, …
Yoshi Soba is a standing soba noodle bar which also sometimes has seats. While they're not as ubiquitous as some of the other bigger noodle chains, their stores seem to be located in places where you can't help but stumble across them - which is …
UR Housing is a public corporation that offers rental housing and accommodation in Tokyo and in cities all over Japan. The 'UR' stands for 'Urban Renaissance'. While the cartel of real estate agents and property owners in Japan typically extort …
Thali-ya is difficult to categorise. They serve mostly authentic Indian food, but is it a bento shop? A cafe? A Shokudo? It's definitely a twist on the typical Indian eatery in Tokyo - sitting somewhere between CoCo Ichibanya and "normal' Indian …
Sushi Misakimaru is yet another one of the big sushi chains that proliferate in Tokyo, with 45 branches in the Kanto region. Not all stores are the same - some are 'kaiten' sushi (pre-made sushi on a conveyor belt) while others are more like …