My Favourite Foodie City: Tokyo by Tonkotsu's Emma Reynolds

Emma Reynolds shares some highlights on Tokyo from her little black book with Victoria Stewart
A bustling Tokyo food market
Daniel Berehulak /Getty Images
By Victoria Stewart16 November 2016

As the co-owner of the Tonkotsu ramen and the Tsuru sushi restaurants in London, Emma Reynolds has done countless research trips - she calls them “five-day whistle-stop eating and drinking missions” - to Japan, spending many hours in both its secret and well-known restaurants.

In the weeks following the opening of their new Japanese restaurant, Anzu, in St James’s, she shares some highlights on Tokyo from her little black book.

Where do you always return to eat when you visit Tokyo?

Star Bar in Ginza Star Bar (1-5-13 Ginza, Tokyo) every time. It’s become busier over the last few years but if you can get a table, you’ll have some of the best classic cocktails - such as the martinis - imaginable.

Cocktail time at Star Bar

Where do you go for street food?

Osakan street food is so good - takoyaki and okonomiyaki hail from here, but if we’re talking Tokyo then walk from Shinbashi to Yurakucho in the railway arches where you’ll find accessible yakitori, takoyaki and other one-dish casual food places. Drink nama beeru (draught beer) and cold sake, proper salary-man style.

What about for a high-end meal?

Sushi at Daisan Harumi in Ginza (1-17-7 Shimbashi, Minato 105-0004, Tokyo) is very expensive, but really good. It’s a tasting menu, so I say be bold and eat things you wouldn’t usually order - the uni (sea urchin) gunkan is incredible.

Also try Wagyu at Imahan Honten in Nihonbashi (2-9-12 Nihonbashi Ningyocho, Chuo 103-0013, Tokyo) where the tasting menu is incredible.

Where is good for great snacks and people watching?

It’s busier than Oxford Circus on a Saturday afternoon, but wander around Shinjuku at night, hit Lucky Voice karaoke, order some nama beeru (draught beer) and lose track of time.

Are there any food shops or halls to explore?

Ginza department store
JapanKuru/Flickr

It’s essential to wander around the foodhall of a high-end department store, like Mitsukoshi in Ginza or Daimaru in Tokyo Station. An obsessive food culture and total respect for seasonality and quality ingredients means you’ll find the best fruits and vegetables on the planet - one-stalk melons for £100, individually wrapped strawberries and fresh fruit juices. The ready-to-eat food is pretty spectacular too. Maisen katsu stands out, but pretty much anything you see there you’ll want to eat. Katsuobushi is the cured, smoked skipjack tuna that’s shaved and added to dishes like okonomiyaki, or ground to create powder for dashi, and There’s an awesome shop selling it on the road leading to Tsukiji market, which is worth seeing. As for booze, the Japanese whisky shop in Tokyo station used to be good before Martina from Tonkotsu Mare Street bought half the global supply…

Any final must-do food or drink tips for Tokyo?

Can I say everything? There are too many to mention! Have a katsu curry teishoku - something we are serving at Anzu - from the katsu place in Narita airport before your getting your your flight.

Visit Emma Reynolds’ new restaurant Anzu, 1 Norris St, St. James's, SW1Y 4RJ; anzulondon.com

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