13 new restaurants, cafés and bars to try in Tokyo

In the salaryman enclave of Shinbashi – think cheap and cheerful izakaya sandwiched between ramen joints and casual standing eateries – lies a new sushi restaurant that looks more suited for the glitz of neighbouring Ginza. While Sushi Restaurant Issekisancho may have the polish of a classy, upmarket sushi counter, its prices are friendlier on the wallet.

At Issekisancho you can enjoy an omakase sushi meal for just ¥8,800, which gets you eight pieces of nigiri as well as eight dishes including a light and jiggly sea cucumber chawanmushi that tastes of the ocean, and a buttery, foie gras-like monkfish liver that’s been stewed in a sweet-savoury mixture of soy sauce, sake and mirin. There’s also the more sumptuous Issekisancho full-course dinner at ¥13,000, where you get five extra pieces of nigiri sushi in addition to the aforementioned dishes.

The offerings at Issekisancho are classic Edo-mae, or exemplary of Tokyo-style sushi. The shari (sushi rice) is made up of two strains of Niigata rice: the sushi-grade emi no kizuna is folded with shinnosuke, which brings some stickiness and a hint of sweetness to the mixture. This is then seasoned with a blend of pure rice vinegar plus an exclusive sake lees vinegar from Ehime that’s born of a 27-year fermentation process. 

While the fish and seafood selection here varies according to the season, you can always count on having prime tuna in various levels of fattiness. More importantly, the chefs incorporate subtle creative touches to elevate the sushi without straying too far from authenticity. All this is complemented by a free-flow of the restaurant’s signature clam soup that works as a palate cleanser, and helps balance out the alcohol for those who choose to indulge in sake or wine with their sushi.

Setagaya’s Ramen Koike, whose innovation in this most unassuming of culinary staples has won it Michelin Bib Gourmand status, adds to its growing list of sister eateries with tsukemen spot Aidaya. But this recent opening, in Ueno subdistrict Okachimachi, doesn’t make a speciality of its superior-quality tsukemen dipping noodles. Instead, the signature dish is a simple bowl of white rice topped with Japan’s celebrated Kuroge wagyu sirloin beef.

Aidaya is nestled in a shopping alley that is easily overlooked from the main street. Once you’ve located it and found a spot at the counter, wall art mixing giant-sized calligraphy with graffiti tags (as well as a cluster of Supreme stickers back in the kitchen) lets you know that Aidaya isn’t quite your traditional tsukemen joint.

The tsukemen options themselves are worth shouting about. Medium-thick noodles with an exceptionally chewy texture, sourced from sister shop King Seimen in Tokyo’s Oji, are offered with your choice of either one (¥950) or two (¥1,250) soy sauce-based dipping broths, from a four-strong lineup comprising ‘pork bone seafood’, garlic, prawn, and the spicy, Sichuan-derived tan tan.

As for that Kuroge wagyu speciality, it’s something of an affordable luxury at ¥700 a pop, and the price includes one free refill of rice. On the other side of the counter, an Aidaya cook will pluck a pinky-red slither of this delicacy from a wooden box, then cook it to perfection before your eyes. Enjoy just as it is, or pour over some raw egg and mix it into the meat’s juices.

An acclaimed modern izakaya infused with the air of a Parisian brasserie, Lanterne now has a more mellow sister location. Named Lanterne Hanare and located in Higashi-Kitazawa, it is a perfect temporary hideaway from Tokyo’s sensory overload.

To create Lanterne Hanare’s pleasantly understated aesthetic, in which the Euro influence is more subtle than at Lanterne's other outlet in Ikejiri-Ohashi but still very much present, the team (who were also responsible for Aelu and Maison Cinquante Cinq) secured a property previously occupied for around five decades by an oden joint. It now has the relaxedly intimate atmosphere of a cosy Japanese residence, with little nods to Western art and music culture dotted around the space. A sizable u-shaped counter dominates the first floor, while upstairs await private rooms with table seating.

The menu is a compelling reinterpretation of that at the original Lanterne, which is known for its superior karaage fried chicken. That simple, succulent staple is offered here too, and joined by a new variation, exclusive to Lanterne Hanare, in which the karaage is stuffed with a chunk of sweet green onion (sourced from Ibaraki prefecture) alongside the chicken (¥950).

We recommend finishing an evening of small-plate izakaya dining with a seasonal dish of rice cooked in an earthenware pot: when we visited in midwinter, this featured sautéed oysters and a konbu-bonito broth (¥2,200).

Drinks-wise, the lineup includes the highball that traditionally accompanies karaage, as well as a sake and shochu selection that emphasises natural brewing.

Tokyo’s bar scene has officially joined the cocktails-on-tap trend, thanks to local mixology icon Atsushi Suzuki. Hidden on the second floor of the building next to Suzuki’s Taisho-era inspired speakeasy, The Bellwood, BW Cave is a recently opened cocktail bar crossed with an izakaya. Mirroring the vibe of its sister establishment, BW Cave features an interior of weathered wood accents and graffiti of playful caricatures for an atmosphere that's both edgy and inviting. 

Behind the bar, a gleaming gold-hued panel of taps showcase four kinds of signature martinis. The selection currently includes a classic martini (¥1,100) crafted from BW Cave's special gin, vermouth and olive. Adventurous drinkers might lean towards the ‘Green & Spicy’ martini, spiked with tomato and sansho, or the ‘Easy & Tropical’ martini, a smooth mix of coconut gin, banana vermouth and cacao. 

These pre-mixed creations offer a speedy and exciting alternative for those craving something more complex than a beer or whisky highball without the wait for a crafted cocktail. 

Complementing the drinks, the food menu features shareable snacks like marinated quail eggs, garlic-jalapeño edamame pods, and crab croquettes with pickled cabbage, all curated to pair with Suzuki's masterful mixes.

Flan pâtissier​​ is a traditional French sweet experiencing a revival in its homeland – and one now tipped to become the latest in Japan’s never-ending succession of food trends. The growing Japanese popularity of this custard tart-like confection is said to be partly thanks to a pop-up specialist, Paquet Monté, that appeared last year at Shinjuku’s Isetan department store. Paquet Monté has now opened its eagerly awaited debut store in quietly hip Yoyogi-Hachiman.

A sense of luxury pervades this renovated two-storey residence, despite the relative affordability of the treats on offer. The second floor features a private space (¥3,000 per 90 mins for two to three people; reservation required), while Paquet Monté’s terrace is a good spot for people-watching. Another option is to enjoy a take-out treat in nearby Yoyogi Park.

The time-honoured method of creating flan pâtissier​​ involves pouring a custard-like flan liquid (a simple blend of fresh eggs, salt and butter) into a pie dough and the baked. It is the latter element to which Paquet Monté adds something truly special: chef pâtissier Tamami Honda worked to create a special multi-layered tubular pie dough that the store claims is the first of its kind to be seen in Japan.

Choices for the flan filling include classic vanilla (¥900) plus a selection that changes each month: recent offerings have ranged from a yuzu and strawberry combination to chocolate supplied by the nearby Minimal. We advise heading to what is Tokyo’s first flan pâtissier​​ specialist before the trend truly blows up and the inevitable queues appear.

The cultural dialogue between Japan and France has been a long and fruitful one, from the latter country’s Japonisme art boom through to the perennial Japanese love for French fashion. Food is a key part of this conversation, and Apothéose is a standout example. At this new Toranomon Hills restaurant, fine French cuisine makes maximum use of ingredients nurtured by Japan’s climate.

Attention to detail abounds in this space situated 250 metres above ground, offering superb after-dark views. Lighting and certain other design elements are courtesy of Space Copenhagen, who also worked on the acclaimed Noma, while ambient background sounds (such as the flow of mountain spring water) were produced by a sound design team.

Apothéose’s opening marks a homecoming for chef Keita Kitamura, who most recently served as a chef de cuisine at the Michelin-starred Restaurant ERH in Paris. While conceiving his new venture, Kitamura took the time to travel around his homeland and connect with producers who now supply Apothéose.

This dedication is evident in Kitamura’s new kitchen, where Apothéose’s sole dinner offering (¥25,000) is fine-tuned each and every day. His cauliflower tart, which arrives on a distinctive driftwood-style vessel, conveys both the scents of Asian spices and the textures of Japanese vegetables, while the legume hachette contains no less than 15 kinds of seasonal vegetable. These are sourced from an organic farm in Hokkaido, then steamed with a small amount of water and oil (a method known as échouvet) to gently heighten their natural flavour.

A Bangkok restaurant whose innovative Thai cooking earned it a Michelin star just seven months after its 2019 opening, Saawaan now has a more casual sister venue in Tokyo. Saawaan Bistro, found within the sprawling, greenery-covered Azabudai Hills complex, is a modern dining bar comprising a dining area with 100 seats, a counter bar serving tapas-style dishes and cocktails made with Thai herbs and spices, and two private rooms.

Though the Saawaan approach to its homeland’s cuisine is recognised for its innovation, it's equally a rediscovery of almost forgotten aspects of Thai food. Saawaan’s award-winning chef, who goes under the enigmatic name of Earth, brings modern accents to elements derived from descriptions of historical court cuisine.

Signature dishes include Gaeng Thai Plaa (¥2,242), or noodles topped with steamed shrimp and edible flowers in a fermented seafood sauce. The Neua Kem Tom Kati (¥2,068), based upon a recipe handed down by chef Earth’s grandmother, features salted and marinated beef fillet in a coconut soup prepared over three days.

Cocktails include the Holy Basil and Spice (¥1,210), a gin-based concoction whose Thai ingredients give it a tangy, spicy taste, and a passion fruit cocktail (¥1,540) that has vanilla vodka and artichoke in the mix. Setting the scene for these truly sensory experiences is a low-lit, modern Asian interior whose plentiful flora resonate with the ‘biophilic’ vibe of surrounding Azabudai Hills.

Fine dining and an eco-friendly mindset come together in perfect balance in the cooking of Mauro Colagreco. His three-Michelin-starred restaurant Mirazur, on the French Riviera, was ranked number one on 2019’s World's 50 Best Restaurants list, while this Argentine-born chef’s contributions to ‘circular’ gastronomy led Unesco to appoint him as a Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity. With Cycle, his first restaurant opening on Japanese soil, Colagreco’s vision has reached Tokyo.

A sense of being rooted in nature is apparent upon entering Cycle. Sizeable trees dot this warmly lit space in Otemachi, where the tables are made from wood buried by a volcanic eruption over 2,000 years ago. Outside, the woods of the Imperial Palace serve as ‘borrowed scenery’ in the tradition of a Japanese garden.

Colagreco’s circular approach to cuisine is similarly evident from the beginning. Multi-course menus (lunch from ¥16,500, dinner from ¥26,400) consist of dishes each offering a concise message regarding sustainable eating, and start with a welcome bouillon made with the removed, usually discarded, parts of the day’s vegetables.

Everything that follows is artfully presented, such as a four-dish appetiser selection in which each offering visualises a theme. Regeneration, for example, is represented by a ‘flower’ dish consisting of a mackerel and apple tart with pickled chrysanthemum flowers.

The main dish when we visited, entitled ‘Rose’, was Yezo deer wood-roasted with ingredients including rose-family apples and rose petals in order to manifest a scent of the titular flower. Dinner at Cycle is an indulgence that almost belies that work, such is the nature-based healing it delivers to the senses.

Koganeyu, an East Tokyo bathhouse acclaimed for its 21st-century reimagining of the traditional sento, has diversified into liquid-based reinvigoration of another kind with the opening of Bathe Yotsume Brewery. This craft beer bar, complete with in-house microbrewery, is located on Kinshicho’s Yotsume-dori avenue a stone’s throw from Koganeyu. The street is a mini-mecca for sento lovers: besides Koganeyu itself, Yotsume-dori is also home to Daikokuyu and Sakurayu.

Riffing on the well-established practice of sipping a cool beer after soaking in the hot tub, at Bathe the beers are served from behind a sento bathhouse-inspired bar counter. Attention to crafting just the right vibe encompasses interior design by Yosuke Hayashi (also responsible for Koffee Mameya), music spun on vinyl inside a dedicated DJ booth, and even the chemistry set-style drinking glasses sourced from a maker in India.

Several imposingly large brewing tanks, visible behind glass, are used to produce Bathe Yotsume Brewery’s three house beers. Forest is a mellow Weizen recipe that evokes forest bathing, while the softly fragrant Sunrise pale ale possesses a restrained sweetness. Rounding out this in-house lineup is Shower, an IPA in which the vivid scent of citrus hops combines with a deep bitterness.

Non-alcoholic drinks are offered too, making Bathe Yotsume Brewery a destination for families and non-drinkers as well as craft beer devotees.

This Toranomon eatery is the brainchild of some of Tokyo’s sharpest operators. Transit, who are responsible for a string of much-loved venues including Ginza’s Modern Greek restaurant The Apollo, have tapped renowned interior designer Masamichi Katayama and his Wonderwall studio to create this casual restaurant complete with in-house craft beer brewery from August Beer.

Down in the B2F basement of Toranomon Hills Station Tower, Wonderwall’s future-facing design for Dam incorporates sleek surfaces and strip lighting (thankfully not overly bright) in place of the retro stylings usually associated with artisanal brewing. Illuminated text above the counter bar spells out a quotation from writer and noted drinker Ernest Hemingway (‘I drink to make other people more interesting’), while a series of sizeable photorealistic portraits by painter Kotao Tomozawa look out over seating from within open-faced booths.

The food is overseen by Fumio Yonezawa, who was the first Japanese to serve as sous chef at three-Michelin-starred NYC restaurant Jean-Georges. Particularly recommended is the elevated take on fish and chips (¥1,900), which can be ‘upgraded’ to a sharing-friendly assorted plate (¥4,200) that adds your choice of two seafood picks from a selection that includes squid and soft-shelled crab with salmon.

Pair that with August Beer’s signature Daily Paper Saison (¥780 regular size), or perhaps a glass of Dawn Brew (¥880 regular size). The latter offering is as much of a collaborative effort as Dam itself: the restaurant worked with Tokyo’s Little Darling Coffee Roasters, and the Rise & Win brewery in Japan’s ‘zero-waste town’ Kamikatsu, to develop this limited-edition coffee brown ale whose aroma is a heady blend of malt and carefully roasted coffee beans.

As Japanese cuisine permeates across the globe, it's inspiring some compelling fusions. One standout example is Censu, a Hong Kong restaurant that elevates the izakaya to casual luxury level while freely blending French, Chinese and Japanese cooking. Since opening in 2021, it has been consistently fully booked with queues snaking outside. The success of this venture has inspired founder Shun Sato to bring the concept back to his native Japan.

Censu Tokyo, located just across from Meiji Park, is helmed by chef Fumiyuki Kinsu, who trained at a Michelin-starred French restaurant before further honing his craft at Censu Hong Kong. Here, the stylish yet relaxing interior is an ‘HK x Tokyo’ fusion in which plentiful Japanese cedar wood meets elements emblematic of Hong Kong, such as neon tubes. Counter seating on the first floor allows glimpses of Kinsu and his team as they cook, while on the second storey, table options include terrace seating illuminated by sizeable paper lanterns.

On the menu you’ll find some acclaimed dishes from the original Censu: Hong Kong Wing (¥1,380) consists of deep-fried chicken tossed with fried and aromatised chilli peppers, while the inquisitively named Censu Cheese Burger? (¥980) is a spring roll stuffed with, yes, the ingredients normally found inside a cheese burger.

To these staples, Kinsu has added dishes exclusive to Censu Tokyo. Highlights among these include an interpretation of the traditional Hong Kong ‘drunken clam’ (¥1,480) in which clams are marinated in rice wine, plum wine and whiskey. Kinsu’s version, in place of the jasmine used in HK recipes, is instead infused with cherry blossom leaves. Speaking of rice wine, Censu Tokyo offers its own exclusive sake alongside a list of brews from premium makers across Japan.

Text by Darren Gore

Will the smartphone and future tech finally kill off the art of conversation? Not if Dial, a dessert-focused eatery with a salon-like vibe, has anything to do with it. With its name derived from the word ‘dialogue’, this spot nestled midway between Kuramae and Asakusa has come up with a low-tech, yet playfully clever, means of stimulating interaction between two customers. Those visiting alone, meanwhile, might find that Dial also encourages some illuminating inner conversation.

Inside this European retro space, a wall-mounted wooden shelf unit holds dozens of tiny boxes, with each containing a single card upon which is written a phrase or question intended to spark off an interesting dialogue. ‘Which one photo or movie would I keep on my phone, if I were forced to delete all others?’ reads one card, while another suggests the customers discuss ‘A teacher who cared about me when I was a student’. Boxes and their cards are helpfully categorised into ‘light’, ‘mid’ and ‘deep’ topics.

Dial’s signature hachette dessert plates are themselves likely to become a topic of conversation. The plant-based soufflé chocolat (¥1,800) is made with chocolate sauce from bean-to-bar specialist Minimal, while a strawberry and sumire parfait (¥2,200) combines two ice cream flavours: violet and Mara des Bois strawberries.

You’ll also find a selection of teas (¥800 each) including rooibos in both ‘citrus' and ‘oriental’ varieties, Darjeeling, a caramel-butter oolong, and Bali green tea flavoured with lychee, grapefruit, peach and rose. Breakfast and lunchtime bites are also available, including a plant-based falafel sandwich plate (¥1,600).

Text by Darren Gore

Paysage, a sweets brand created by up-and-coming pâtissier Hideki Eto, has opened its first stand-alone premises within the swanky, Kengo Kuma-designed Forestgate Daikanyama complex. Paysage’s new space is imbued with a calm, muted sense of luxury, and offers the chance to see pastry chef d’excellence Eto at work while enjoying his delectable wares.

Eto cut his sweet tooth working at upscale restaurants including Dominique Bouchet Tokyo before launching Paysage in 2021. This debut flagship includes a first-floor boutique offering both eat-in and takeaway customers an extensive lineup of vividly colourful cakes made with seasonal ingredients, as well as fluffily textured sable. This is complemented by an adjacent salon de thé where our recommendation is to indulge in a leisurely afternoon tea (¥7,500).

On the second floor, which is scheduled to open this April, an intimate chef’s table will allow six patrons at a time to join chef Eto as he demonstrates his confectionary creativity.

Text by Darren Gore