Any recommendations for restaurants in Japan? I would greatly appreciate your insight
Grab a few drinks at Bar Benfiddich
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Any recommendations for the United States?
What cities? What’s your budget? Have you already searched previous threads on Japan on the Asia board at FTC? We’d like to help, but please be more specific.
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I hear McDonalds is pretty good in Japan.
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7-11 too get me some of those egg salad sandwiches! And also some kfc for Christmas
Ryugin
Ishikawa, where Hayato’s chef trained, so you can compare
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Going to Toyko/Osaka during Xmas with my wife and 2 teens. First time in Japan. We have an unreasonable number of food recommendations in both cities. I’ve scoured FTC, Hungry Onion and recommendations from friends who have visited and people who live in Toyko. Have a couple of specific questions.
- eSim or pocket Wifi? We have 4 phones that will mostly be used for Google Maps navigation, Pokemon and general social BS. I think pocket wifi is cheaper but its another device to carry, need to charge overnight and you need to pick up/drop off. Do Airalo and other eSim get good coverage?
- Subway navigation seems easy if you use Google Maps and if you are not navigationally challenged. Anything else to assist with trains?
- Suica or Pasmo for trains - anybody have trouble adding money using Visa backed cards on their Apple Pay? I’m going to test soon.
- Is Tsujiki just a big tourist trap? I don’t want to wait for hours and pay tourist prices for food that you can get elsewhere. If we go where should we go?
- High end sushi is probably not going to happen this trip due to kids, timing and cost. Are there any good sushi places I can bring my kids where we can get out the door for ~$50pp?
- My friend is making reservations at PST. Seirinkan, Savoy or Pizza 38? Probably wont do all 4.
- Do you really need to bring an extra suitcase for stuff to bring back? I am probably gonna buy a nice knife and in the market for any high end bourbon/whiskey that are hard to get.
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Good call. We did Christmas in Okinawa last year and had a blast. Japan remains such a choice destination, given the strong dollar…
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Pocket WiFi. I like Ninja WiFi, 'cuz you can easily reserve online, with easy pickup and dropoff at either Narita or Haneda. Even if you have TMobile, I’d do pocket WiFi.
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Get Pasmo or Suica at the airport, and charge it up. Needless to day, everyone in your party should have their own card for ease of tapping while transiting as a group. Google Maps works well with the Tokyo public transport system. It even tells you which platform you should be waiting on, lest you go in the wrong direction on any given line. Many other people swear by the JapanTravel by Navitime app, but I personally have always used Google Maps. Trains are library quiet in Tokyo - No talking on trains.
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On my last visit, Suica wasn’t issuing physical cards, and the Suica mobile card only works on iPhones and not Android. So I went with Pasmo, cuz I like a physical card.
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Tsukiji is still worth checking out. No need to stand in queues if you don’t want - As kitschy as it can sometimes get (and yes, the prices are relatively higher, but the dollar is so strong I still didn’t feel like I got ripped off), I’ve yet to experience a truly bad visit with any restaurant or shop that I’ve randomly walked into at Tsukiji. Case in point: We had a great meal at @kouragami_tsukiji. Plus, the kitchenware shops at Tsukiji can be fun to browse as well. The Toyosu Market is more sterile than Tsukiji in feeling when I toured it, but honestly that’s where the majority of the serious business of fishmongering is now done in Toyko.
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Kura Zushi (Harajuku). Good, fast, clean, cheap, conveyor belt, friendly to families with kids in tow. It can get popular - Make a rezzy so you won’t have to wait.
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PST first choice, Savoy second choice, tied with Trattoria Da Isa (Nakameguro). Pizza 38 and RistoPizza would be my third choice. But if you do go to Pizza 38, then bang bang with a legendary fruit parfait at Sembikiya Honten downstairs afterwards!
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Knives and liquids obviously need to be in checked-in luggage. Play it by ear: Buy a suitcase in Japan if you truly feel the need while there (again, strong dollar)…
Enjoy Japan!
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Thanks for the feedback. Kura Zushi looks like a good option and we didn’t have that many restaurants bookmarked in Harajuku.
Any difference between Savoy OG and the 2nd location?
https://autoreserve.com/
They want to charge $40 to make the reservation. Haha. I’ll just have my friend call from Tokyo
We were going to hire a guide to take us around Tokyo to restaurants and show us how to use the subway system but I decided that its not worth the $400 US. I’ve navigated subway systems on 4 continents I’m sure Tokyo will be fine.
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Holy crap. $400 to teach someone how to use the metro system? I’ll teach you for $195! Lol.
Harajuku has the animal cafes, in case the kids want to pet a hedgehog.
Non sequitur: Just thought of this. The good knife stores are generally concentrated around Kappabashi.
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Haha deal. It was 8 hours walking us around Tsujiki and a few other districts plus teaching us some local tricks like subway navigation.
What are some good chef knives <$200?
There is a very good kitchen knife store in Tsukiji.
Only passed through Osaka and it looks nice but I have no advice. The monorail thing they have was pretty cool though. If you’re staying through New Years, keep in mind the potential closures of restaurants and so on. My advice is for the Tokyo portion.
- Personally stopped using pocket wifi once I discovered eSim. ESim is pretty much same LTE coverage as if you had a normal cell phone plan in Japan so doubt it would ever get worse than a pocket Wifi. I’ve personally only used Ubigi but I recall Airalo is also commonly recommended so would expect similar quality. Only issue might be the fiddliness of setup. Ubigi has videos and they help a lot but it always feels a little awkward.
- Subways and trains you can just use Google Maps. Apple Maps surprisingly can give you better routing if buses might need to be involved. If you’re talking about navigation within the station then that depends on the station. The more lines the more complicated (so add extra time and take it slow if you’re in Shinjuku, Shibuya, or Tokyo station among others). I’ve also been to a station in Ginza where it was very difficult to move between platforms. You’ll also find that the app will recommend you take an exit number, but if I remember right it might not be the best exit and you also might not even find that exit. Compared to other cities, I found it less complicated than Seoul (though someone living in Seoul said they found Tokyo more complex) but more complicated than LA and SF (though LA and SF are incredibly simple due to lack of connections). Also, I used elevators a decent amount but sometimes they do take you to odd corners of the station.
- I don’t think Suica or Pasmo have mattered for me. I think I’ve used Suica only and never had issues. I used the Suica digital iPhone card and was able to load funds while in Japan and in the US using a Visa card. I think the issues with Visa got fixed in the last year or so. Given the amount of tourists that I’ve seen trying to get physical cards at the airport, I appreciate 1 more line I can skip by going digital and would recommend the digital Suica/Pasmo if available as an option and not being attached to physical cards. Plus, if you’re flying in to Haneda you can be ready to jump on a train immediately once you get your luggage. Though maybe with your whole family you might as well take a taxi? Saves the hassle of dragging your luggage through all the train stations. That’s Haneda only advice; I hear Narita is waaay more expensive. Also maybe area dependent. If your hotel is in, say Ueno, the fee would probably be significantly higher as it’s on the other side of Tokyo from Haneda. I think you can use Suica on taxi? Though for a taxi I’d bring enough cash to cover over 10k JPY fee. I had a taxi from a hotel in central Tokyo to Haneda once and I think it was between 8k and 10k JPY (we paid cash).
- As a counterpoint to JL, Nemuro Hanamaru (Nemuro Hanamaru KITTE Marunouchi - Google Search) is probably the most popular and highest rated revolving sushi in Tokyo per Tabelog. Expect a wait though so maybe not ideal with kids. Also, Ginza Onodera has a revolving sushi place in Tokyo (Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera - Google Search). As another idea vs. Kura, there’s Sushiro (https://www.akindo-sushiro.co.jp/en/). I believe they have a fairly good rep and are also a larger chain. This (https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravelTips/comments/1bp1yp2/best_conveyor_belt_sushi_in_tokyo/?rdt=33395) Reddit thread links to an article that somebody wrote about how different kaiten sushi places are better depending on where you are. Looks like for Tokyo thats Sushiro. And generally you go to Sushiro for quality, Kura for family friendliness/entertainment value, and Hama sushi for price.
- Only tried PST and Savoy among those 2. I’m not sure if Savoy takes reservations but one of their related/affiliated stores Domi LA takes reservations through Omakase. Just check if there are any restrictions. Pizza Marumo in Ebisu also takes reservations through Tablecheck and is great but I think folks here likely already know about all the awesome pizza options in Tokyo.
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Thanks for the detailed response @Bagel. We did eSIM on our last trip to Asia and it worked perfectly so probably leaning in this direction. Gonna add those other sushi spots.
Found another Ginza Onodera option called Toryumon. It’s where all of the apprentices train making sushi but the quality is supposed to be similar. Lower prices with good quality and my kids won’t know the difference in knife cuts.
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My kids really enjoyed standing sushi and the bullet train. Have a nice trip.
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Knife Stores
Tsukiji: Knives | Kitchenware | Store List｜The Tsukiji Outer Market - Official Website. Nenohi is the blingiest and also $$$ to boot. Sugimoto has nice chinese cleavers. Masamoto is great too, although service was lackluster last time I went.
Yamayuki supplies a casual kaisendon place in Tsujiki.
Kappabashi: Jikko is worth a stop (they also have a branch in Osaka)
Osaka: Lots of knife stores too, I’m just less familiar with the brands. Located south of Osaka is the knife manufacturing hub - Sakai.
Yamazaki’s distillery is just on the outskirts of Osaka. Reservations required…
Anything else to assist with trains?
Make sure to take note of the station exit # stated on whatever map app you use. Some of the subway stations especially the large ones can be a veritable maze.
Hit the depachika sushi boxes hard! Terrific QPR.
Book KFC for Xmas.
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Was looking into KFC for Xmas. Seems kinda kitschy but I think we are gonna do it. Have a reminder to order a month out.
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Not that tough. We did it (to go) spur of the moment on Xmas day in a random KFC near Ginza.
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Went to Japan this past summer. Will echo a few things others said, caveat just my opinion.
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I went with a Ubigi eSim. Set it up in LA and turned it once I landed. It worked great but ultimately personal preference between that and pocket Wifi. One caveat with eSim. It’s only data. You won’t receive US text messages or phone calls (I didn’t realize but you’ve done before so probably up on that). Maybe pocket Wifi is the same.
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Added Suica to my Apple Wallet before leaving. Completely seamless and easy to add money while there.
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Had a great lunch omakase at Mantensushi Marunouchi. It was like 8000y, roughly $49/p when we were there. Ton of food though, maybe too much for kids.
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I went to PST, Seirinkan, and Marumo. Contra my expectations, Seirinkan was the best, followed closely by Marumo. PST (Higashi Azabu) was not bad but found the crust a little flat. Pizza is variable though and personal preference. I also have controversial pizza opinions (QSPC), so take with a grain of salt.
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We bought one (extra suitcase) there. Wasn’t expensive or a problem!
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ducking into this thread late, and I haven’t had Marumo, but thought Seirinkan was significantly better than PST. (maybe I also have QPSC.) Marumo seems to be all the rage. I told my food-inclined friends that Seirinkan was a marvel and they still went to Marumo.
@ShadrackToussaint I’m afraid we share some sensibilities, where’d you stay in Tokyo? I was in Ebisu last trip, and now have a few days pre-Hokkaido at that hipster ryokan near Shimokitazawa. Trying to figure out where to stay on the back end. Might just go back to Ebisu but casually open to changing it up just to explore more spots.
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