The Best Restaurants in Tokyo, by the Record

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

A second-floor yakitori counter in Motoazabu built around a single obsession: Tamba-Sasayama chicken, raised locally and taken seriously. The chef pairs skewers with wine rather than beer or sake, and it works, particularly seared breast with Guérande salt and liver glazed with balsamic. The name translates loosely as a ray of sunshine on Darkness Hill, which is either poetic or a lot of pressure for a chicken restaurant.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

A U-shaped counter wraps around a live charcoal grill at this yakitori counter near Oshiage, where the kitchen staff call out to each other like a well-drilled team. Chunky skewers of named-breed chicken go over high flame, and the chef leans toward salt over sauce, letting the meat do the talking. The room smells exactly like you want it to, and the skewers disappear faster than you planned for.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

The menu arrives handwritten in the chef's own brushwork, which sets the tone for an izakaya that takes its craft seriously without losing the easy warmth the format demands. Seasonal sake pairs naturally with dishes built around small surprises, and shochu comes blended and rested before it reaches you. The vessels are made by artisans, the service is run by a couple who clearly communicate, and the name, meaning glaze and moon, says the rest.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. The Infatuation Where To Eat When You’re Visiting Tokyo
2. The Infatuation The 11 Best Ramen Shops In Tokyo

A mixed-use complex in the heart of the city with over a hundred food options under one roof, which sounds like a nightmare until you realize it contains a second location of Sushi Saito. Florilège holds two Michelin stars here, and the rest of the lineup runs from Arabica Kyoto coffee to Sembikiya parfaits to wagyu burgers at Shogun Burger. Arrive hungry and without a fixed plan; the place rewards wandering.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. The Infatuation Where To Eat When You’re Visiting Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. The Infatuation Where To Eat When You’re Visiting Tokyo

A pull-string activates a heating device tucked into the beef tongue bento, which tells you everything about how seriously Japan takes train food. This ekiben shop inside Tokyo Station stocks around 170 regional bento boxes sourced from across the country, each one a kind of edible postcard from wherever you're not going. Grab one with your green tea before boarding the shinkansen and feel extremely correct about your life choices.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. The Infatuation Where To Eat When You’re Visiting Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. The Infatuation Where To Eat When You’re Visiting Tokyo

1. The Infatuation Where To Eat When You’re Visiting Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

Each diner gets their own personal hot pot at this casual Ginza counter, cooking thin-sliced wagyu or pork through simmering broth and finishing in sesame dressing, ponzu, or a raw egg for sukiyaki. It's a no-fuss, deeply satisfying format, the kind of place where the tableware, handmade in the mingei folk-craft tradition, quietly outclasses the surroundings. The menu is essentially two items, and nobody seems to mind.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

Shojin ryori, the centuries-old vegetarian cuisine of Buddhist monasteries, gets a modern Roppongi address at this quiet, thoughtful restaurant. The kitchen works with land and sea vegetables alongside traditional ingredients like fu and yuba, the kind of pantry that rewards curiosity. For the curious who want to go further, there's a cooking school inside. The international crowd in this neighborhood means the chef can lean into the tradition without having to explain it apologetically.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. The Infatuation Where To Eat When You’re Visiting Tokyo

The omurice here was developed specifically for Juzo Itami's film Tampopo, and you can still order that exact version today. Taimeiken is an old-school yoshoku restaurant in Nihonbashi, serving Western-influenced Japanese classics like omurice and katsu to loyal crowds who've been coming for generations. Walk-ins fill the casual ground floor; the second floor takes reservations and dresses things up a little. The third-generation chef now runs the kitchen.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

A glass atrium lounge on the 41st floor of the Park Hyatt Tokyo, where afternoon tea arrives in three acts: savory bites first, then pastries built around whatever fruit the season offers, and finally a trolley of madeleines and canelés rolled right to the table. The tea list runs from British classics to hojicha and matcha lattes, and the city spreads out below in every direction while you decide between them.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. The Infatuation Where To Eat When You’re Visiting Tokyo

A whole street of monjayaki shops in the old Tsukishima neighborhood, each one built around an iron griddle sunk into the table and a tiny spatula you'll need coaching on. Tokyo's answer to okonomiyaki is runnier, crispier at the edges, and cooked by you, which is either charming or terrifying depending on your confidence. Staff will talk you through it, and a cold beer while you wait for the crust to form makes the learning curve feel pretty reasonable.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. The Infatuation Where To Eat When You’re Visiting Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

The nikomi offal stew has been simmering in Hatcho miso, sugar, red wine, and bouquet garni for what feels like a century, because it basically has. This old-school Tokyo restaurant in Morishita built its name on that stew, and the kitchen rounds it out with pickles, crudités, anchovy-dressed salads, and seasonal tempura. A short wine list sits alongside the sake and shochu, which is either charming or audacious depending on your mood.

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The 11 Best Ramen Shops In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The 11 Best Ramen Shops In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The 11 Best Ramen Shops In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The 11 Best Ramen Shops In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The 11 Best Ramen Shops In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The 11 Best Ramen Shops In Tokyo

1. The Infatuation The 11 Best Ramen Shops In Tokyo