The 28 Best Izakayas in the World

1. Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide
2. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

The restaurant's name painted across the side of the building sets the tone before you're even inside. Tori Tori is a Mills District izakaya, meaning you'll spend a happy evening moving between yakitori skewers, creative sake cocktails, and fried rice packed with crab. No reservations, so the drill is arriving early or accepting your fate in the line out front, which most regulars seem to take as a point of pride.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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1. Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide

1. Le Fooding Le Fooding Guide

The kappo bar runs just six seats, where dry-aged sashimi is the main event at this retro izakaya. The team ages king salmon for two weeks and otoro for four, which is long enough to make the usual raw-fish conversation feel a little naive. Beyond that counter, the broader menu covers snacks, soups, and grilled and fried courses. The Michelin Guide has it listed as a selected restaurant.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
2. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

Wooden poles criss-cross the ceiling of this Sonezakishinchi izakaya, recreating the bundled pine torches of Wakayama's Oto Fire Festival, which the chef still returns to attend every February. The menu runs from gingered chicken liver and potato salad to whatever the season suggests, and the grill runs on Kishu Bincho charcoal, the Wakayama hardwood the chef treats as a point of personal honor. Bib Gourmand from Michelin.

1. Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand

Nikkei in Cairo sounds like a novelty act, but Izakaya commits to the premise. The format is Japanese izakaya, small plates and raw bar designed for grazing, but the kitchen runs on a Peruvian sensibility, so gyoza and robata dishes arrive with South American instincts folded in. Local sourcing keeps the menu grounded wherever the concept wanders. A 50 Discovery from The 50 list.

1. The 50 The 50 Discovery

An izakaya on the tenth floor of Ginza, opened by one of Kyoto's most beloved kappo restaurants, that insists on shipping its water in from the old capital. The meal starts with four set dishes, arranged with enough care to suggest kappo roots, then opens into à la carte territory: oden, baked gyoza, squid yakisoba, and curry rice or ramen to close. It runs late, which matters in a neighborhood that tends to close early.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

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2. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

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The potato salad arrives spangled with bacon, cold beer follows, and suddenly the lengthy menu feels less overwhelming. This is a casual Japanese izakaya in Sinsa-dong, run by a chef who earned a Michelin star elsewhere and seems perfectly happy here making traditional bar food in a relaxed room. The sashimi plate rotates with the season and each piece is aged and prepared individually. Walk-ins are welcome, though calling ahead saves the guesswork.

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The handwritten daily specials sheet is the first thing to read at this intimate Honolulu izakaya, where the fish changes with the season and the kitchen takes both seriously. Foie gras over braised daikon and egg yolk rice with uni and truffle butter signal the general direction: indulgent, a little theatrical, no apologies. The baby sardine chips do the work of a bar snack, but with more personality than a bar snack has any right to expect.

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1. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

Kiha is a train-themed standing bar where the decor commits harder than most commuters do. Ambient rail sounds play, empty ekiben boxes line the staircase, and upstairs there's a full replica of a train car, with conductor outfits for photos. You pay by the clock rather than the drink, so the snacks stay simple: canned sardines under cheese, karaage, fries. It's The Infatuation's pick for both Tokyo's best bars and izakayas.

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2. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

1. Vancouver Magazine 2025 · Honourable Mention · Restaurant Awards: Best Japanese
2. Vancouver Magazine 2026 · Honourable Mention · Restaurant Awards: Best Japanese

1. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

By day this is a fishcake shop with trays of neatly arranged product and no particular interest in your evening plans. At 7pm it flips into a standing-room oden bar tucked into Harmonica Yokocho, where you eat simmered fishcakes off your feet and drink sake in cheap, small cups. Tell the staff when you're halfway through and they'll top it off with oden broth, which locals insist helps the hangover. Nobody has verified this, but it's warm.

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2. The Infatuation The Best Izakayas In Tokyo

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The original 1930s wooden beams, plastered over for decades while the building housed a scooter-rental shop, are visible again here. Zigu is a modern izakaya tucked into the ground floor, running a menu of small plates, tempura, and sushi with local touches woven through: mochiko fried chicken, kale noodles, green papaya rolls. Waikiki usually does loud and obvious; this room does quiet and considered.

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