東京Tokyo

Michelin Bib Gourmand Neapolitan, a sneak peek at what's opening in HK. Two minutes from Tokyo Midtown.

Order: Marinara · Margherita

Kakinuma-san's pizza church. Two pizzas only (marinara, margherita), only plays The Beatles, steampunk interior. The godfather of Napoletana in Tokyo.

Order: Margherita

Ranked #6 worldwide in 50 Top Pizza. Peppe Erricchiello's star-shaped pizza is the point — eight points stuffed with ricotta and spicy salami.

Order: Pizza Don Salvo (eight-point stuffed star)

Eight-seat omakase pizza counter with a 5-flour Roman dough. #2 in 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific 2026. The view alone is worth it.

Order: Omakase pizza course (8 courses)

Chef Nakamura, a Ginza Yoshitake alum, in an apartment-building counter. The Yoshitake experience at a fraction of the price.

Zaiyu Hasegawa's 2-Michelin-star playful modern kaiseki. DEN moved from Jimbocho → Jingumae (not Aobadai as some lists say). Reserve by phone, 2 months out.

Order: Dentucky Fried Chicken · foie gras monaka · Den salad

Classic off-grid izakaya — no reliable reservation line, cheeky statues and photos everywhere. Trust the kitchen.

Order: Chef's omakase

Family-run yakitori — the Yardbird of Japan. Charcoal counter, English menu, legendary meatball and wasabi chicken breast.

Order: Tsukune (chicken meatball) · wasabi chicken breast · cheese skewer

1-Michelin-star yakitori in a Ginza subway basement — the first yakitori ever to earn a star. Okukuji Shamo chicken throughout.

Order: Chicken liver pâté · tsukune · oyakodon finale

Tonkatsu in a 60-year-old wooden house. Pick your heritage pork breed from the menu — compare two side by side. Tabelog Tonkatsu 100 for 2026.

Order: Kurobuta rosu katsu

The 'Kill Bill' restaurant — towering wooden izakaya, sushi / skewers / tempura. The Nishiazabu flagship is the one with the vegan menu (ask for it, it's not offered by default).

Reliable Nobu — black cod miso, yellowtail jalapeño. The Toranomon location.

Order: Black cod miso · yellowtail jalapeño

Cook-your-own okonomiyaki in a 1937 wooden shack. The real-deal old-Tokyo experience.

Order: Ebi (shrimp) okonomiyaki · yakisoba

Private-room A5 wagyu yakiniku. Reservations required — the whole room is private format.

Order: A5 wagyu tasting course

Family-run sushi two minutes from Kawaguchiko Station. Owner's family runs the wholesale fish side (Uomasa) so it's genuinely fresh.

Order: Salmon bowl · chirashi lunch set

The original Tokyo Afuri. Yuzu shio / shoyu ramen — light chicken-seafood broth, citrus lift. Open until 5am.

Order: Yuzu shio ramen · tsukemen

The world's first Michelin-starred ramen (star lost in the 2024 category reshuffle, shop still excellent). Reopened 2023 at the new Yoyogi-Uehara location after the founder's passing.

Order: Shoyu soba with black truffle oil

Michelin Bib Gourmand soba + tempura in a Kagurazaka alley. 10-minute walk from Iidabashi.

Order: Tenzaru soba (cold soba with tempura)

'Ogre's iron club' — spicy + numbing miso ramen, customizable heat 1–5 for both kara (chili) and shibi (sansho). Start at 2/2 if you eat spicy.

Order: Karashibi miso ramen

Elliot's call: best highball in the world. Ask for a Hakushu Highball and tell them Elliot from Hong Kong says hi.

Order: Hakushu Highball · Sunday's Highball (if he has any in stock)

Standing highball bar, est. 1918. The other half of a highball tour with Apollo and Rockfish — get the wagyu roast beef sandwich.

Order: Iceless highball · wagyu roast beef sando

Tiny 7th-floor bar famous for the iceless Suntory Kaku highball. Claims to be the original iceless highball — disputed, but a religious experience regardless.

Order: Kaku highball (iceless)

Master bartender Hisashi Kishi's basement cocktail counter. Hand-carved ice, no-nonsense classics.

Hidetsugu Ueno's legendary counter bar. No menu — tell him what you feel like, he builds it. The ice alone is worth the trip.

Tiny basement Scotch bar obsessed with Campbeltown malts. Dress quietly, order slowly.

Hi-fi vinyl listening bar — 3,000+ records, a proper Tannoy rig. Conversations happen, just quietly.

Small, classic, old-school Ginza bar. Closed Sundays and holidays.

Shingo Gokan's three-floor flagship. Ground-floor 'Guzzle' for standing, basement 'Sip' for classics with a shoe-shine, 2F 'Savor' for cigars (members only). Reservations required for the basement.

40-seat basement cocktail + vinyl room, 3,000 jazz and world records on a high-end rig. Open until 3am.

'Drunkard's Alley' — 70 years old, ~40 tiny bars in a 2m-wide lane next to Shibuya Station. Saya is the female-friendly pick if you want a specific door.

Small basement DJ bar. House, techno, disco. ¥500 drinks, ¥1,500 cover. Two minutes from Shibuya Station.

Dreamlike all-red DJ bar — chandeliers, taxidermy, oil paintings. Late-night (weekends to 9am).

Eight-seat omakase cocktail counter. Four- or six-course seasonal tastings built around a single fruit or vegetable. Reserve well ahead.

Ground-floor hotel bar at the Tokyo EDITION. Modern Japanese-inflected classics in a big, dressy room.

Order: Mugi & Shoga · Pinot & Two Grapes

Hiroyasu Kayama's 17-seat farm-to-glass apothecary. Homemade absinthe, herbal cocktails made from ingredients he grows. No. 18 on the World's 50 Best Bars 2025.

Small loft-style spot in Golden Gai with a signature Fuji Sun Sour. A reliable Golden Gai entry point for first-timers.

Tiny absinthe-forward apothecary-style cocktail bar. Anchor of the Ebisu bar-hop.

Whisky + vinyl listening bar. Vintage Tannoy speakers, a 9-page whisky list, no photos, quiet-conversation rule.

Zouk Group's Tokyo debut (Oct 2023). 1,000-cap big-room on Corridor Street. Zedd / Tiësto / Deadmau5 residencies.

300-cap after-hours club, opened 2023. Boiler-Room style parties that go until 9am on weekends.

The Lost in Translation hotel. Reopened Dec 2025 after a 19-month, $500M renovation by Jouin Manku — all 171 rooms redone, Alain Ducasse's new Girandole brasserie on property, New York Bar back on the 52nd floor.

Inside Roppongi Hills — walk to everything from here. Home to Maduro jazz bar, Roku Roku sushi, and The French Kitchen.

Ian Schrager + Kengo Kuma. Modern, calm, design-forward. The Gold Bar downstairs is a destination even if you're not a guest.

Ark Hills location — more workhorse than design-y, but the MIXX Bar & Lounge on the 36th floor has one of the best skyline views in Minato.

Forested Shinto shrine to Emperor Meiji. Two minutes from Harajuku Station. Early morning for the walk in, evening for the lantern path out.

The permanent, central-Tokyo teamLab — maze-without-a-map digital art. The newer, easier pick of the two teamLabs.

Barefoot, knee-deep water, full-body digital art. More visceral than Borderless. Scheduled to close end of 2027 — go before it's gone.

Five floors of Kusama's polka-dot and infinity-net work.

Six narrow alleys, ~200 postwar bars, each seating 4–10. Nightlife time capsule. Most bars have a cover charge — budget accordingly.

'Memory Lane' / 'Piss Alley' — smoky postwar yakitori alley by Shinjuku Station's west exit.

Largest and most accessible of the Fuji Five Lakes. Direct bus from Shinjuku (~2h). Best Fuji views from the north shore at Oishi Park.

Three-minute cable car up 220m to Mt Tenjo. The postcard Fuji-plus-lake view.

Lakeside park on the north shore. The money-shot view of Fuji across the water. 350m flower promenade in season.

The pedestrian back street running from Harajuku through to Miyashita Park. Streetwear, select shops, flagships. Hit Hare, Ambush, Kith along the way.

Yoon Ahn's jewelry and streetwear label — first flagship, opened 2023.

Japanese mode-street label, oversized layered silhouettes in muted tones. Good one-stop for a Tokyo fit.

Ronnie Fieg's NYC streetwear label's first international flagship. Kith Treats (ice cream) counter upstairs.

Elevated shopping + hotel complex with ~90 shops, a rooftop park, and a skatepark. LV men's flagship, Gucci, Kith.

The iconic Harajuku fashion building at Omotesando / Meiji-dori. The spiritual home of Japanese youth street fashion.

Tokyo Base select shop — 100+ Japanese designer brands (Undercover, White Mountaineering, and the usual suspects).

Tokyo Base's house label — high-end casual, all made in Japan.

Tokyo Base contemporary mode label, with multiple locations across the city. The flagship-level stores are Shibuya Scramble Square and Ginza Six.

Tokyo Base's newest select shop — 'now, mix, soul,' genderless mode-meets-casual. Launched Sept 2024.

The Ginza outpost of Japan's premier select-shop chain. Fashion and lifestyle, curated floor by floor.

Japan's premier men's-only department store. Eight floors of designer menswear and grooming.

Rei Kawakubo's 7-floor curated concept store. Rotating installations, all the major designers, plus CDG in-house.

Japan's flagship fashion department store. Widely rated Tokyo's most style-forward depachika — eat before you shop, or after.

The iconic cylindrical women's fashion mall at the Shibuya Scramble. Trendsetter for gyaru and young Tokyo styles.

Low-rise white-block retail + dining complex opened 2021. Ogawa Coffee Laboratory, boutiques, small restaurants. Five minutes from Shimokitazawa Station East Exit.

Multi-use building next to Shimo-Kitazawa Station. Coworking lounge, Kitasando Coffee roastery on-site, mini-theater, studio. Drop-in day passes ~¥3,300.