14 best cheap Michelin-starred meals in Tokyo

Bib Gourmand / curry starting from ¥1,000

Tucked away on the second floor of a building in the back streets of Shibuya is this restaurant dedicated to serving pork vindaloo. This curry from Goa in western India is inspired by a Portuguese dish first introduced to the subcontinent in the 1500s. It’s made with a mixture of spices including red chillies, cumin, cloves and pepper, plus vinegar, which gives it a distinct sour and spicy taste that differentiates it from any other curry. And this restaurant’s vindaloo is so good, the curry earned the venue a Michelin Bib Gourmand award.

Pork Vindaloo Taberu Fukudaitoryo only offers one thing on the menu. Just sit down and the chef will whip you up a plate of delicious curry – no tricky decisions required. It comes with a bed of rice and chopped salad, topped with a pork vindaloo roux, and a hard boiled egg on the side for ¥1,000. Hungry? A larger portion of curry costs an additional ¥200, but if you only want extra rice or salad, you can get those for free.

There are nine different condiments on the side to dress up your dish, including pickled veggies, fish sauce vinegar, daikon lemongrass paste and yoghurt sauce, giving every bite a different experience. This restaurant is eat-in only, but if you’re keen to re-create the magic at home, you can always purchase packages of the vindaloo roux (¥650), which also comes in pork motsu (intestines), lamb and veggie flavours.

Bib Gourmand / pizza starting from ¥1,300

Owner and chef Shunsuke Matsumaru may not have spent years training in Italy, but that hasn’t stopped his pizzeria from flourishing. If you want proof of this, look no further than Pizzeria e Braceria L'Insieme in Kameido being named one of the world's best pizzerias by 50 Top Pizza for 2022. 

The homely restaurant has an open kitchen in the back where you can see pizzas being spun and cooked in the large pizza oven. Unlike some pizzerias that only offer margherita and marinara, you’ll find a generous range of red and white variations including some with unorthodox toppings. Pizza purists should stick to the classic margherita, topped with a generous helping of mozzarella and parmesan cheese, while adventurous eaters might want to go for the Americana, a white pizza topped with mozzarella, sausage and French fries.

What sets the pizzas here apart is the superb dough. It’s made with special pizza flour from Italy that has a wonderful chewy texture when cooked and doesn’t become flimsy or weighed down from added toppings. 

While open for both lunch and dinner, we highly recommend stopping by for lunch as sets come with a full pizza and drink for just ¥1,400. 

Bib Gourmand / meals starting from ¥1,100

This restaurant, which specialises in katsuo (bonito flakes), started out as a pop-up shop and now has its own restaurant in Shibuya. But make sure to arrive early if you want to dine here; it’s only open for breakfast until supplies last, which is usually around lunch time. And what you get  is simple – a bowl of rice topped with a generous helping of katsuo shavings and miso soup on the side for ¥1,100. You can also upgrade your meal by adding a katsuo karaage (deep-fried bonito; ¥660) or a organic raw egg (¥330) to make your bowl into a tamago kake gohan (rice topped with raw egg). 

Bib Gourmand / udon starting from ¥858

Sanukiya is known for its flat, whole wheat udon noodles that are made in house daily. These light brown noodles have a chewy texture, and it’s recommended that you try them on their own before dipping them into the mentsuyu sauce. You won’t be disappointed with the simple kake udon (¥858) of plain noodles in broth or the tempura udon (¥1,210). But if you’re looking for something more substantial, go for the maitake mushroom cream udon (¥1,518) or the spicy tomato and yonezawa beef udon (¥1,375). There's also a full course meal including foie gras chawanmushi (steamed egg custard), a sashimi platter and grilled yonezawa beef starting at a reasonable ¥4,797.

Bib Gourmand / lunch set from ¥814

Located just behind Sensoji Temple in Asakusa, Yadoroku is the oldest onigiri specialist in Tokyo. Choose from a range of different toppings including salmon, ume (plum), tarako (pollock roe), shirasu (white bait) and okaka (dried bonito flakes), all for an affordable ¥297-352. Lunch sets are available from ¥814 and include two rice balls, miso soup with tofu, and takuan (pickled radish), or you can make it three rice balls for ¥1,100.

Bib Gourmand / dishes starting from ¥650

A neighbourhood favourite, Okei serves gyoza to the same recipe it has used since the store opened in 1954. This means more than 60 years of refining and perfecting the formula, and it shows: crisp on one side, chewy on the other, with a juicy and flavourful filling of cabbage, ground pork and garlic chives. 

You'll see placards on the benchtop advising you on toppings, as well as the house recommendation for the golden ratio of soy sauce, vinegar and chilli oil. A plate of six gyoza will cost you only ¥650, but the shop makes just 1,440 gyoza each day and often sells out before closing time, so we recommend going as early as possible.

Bib Gourmand / ramen starting from ¥1,100

While Toy Box in Minowa offers shio (salt) and miso ramen, the Tokyo-style soy sauce-based ramen is the star here (all ¥1,100 each). The stock is made with only local free-range chicken and water, combined with nine different kinds of soy sauce to give the broth a deep, yet uncomplicated flavour. The thin, flat noodles made from Hokkaido wheat complement the soup well and the bowl is topped off with menma bamboo shoots and a slice of tender chashu pork. For an additional ¥150, you can get the optional (and highly recommended) ajitsuke tamago (ramen egg), or, for an additional ¥200, house-made wontons.

Bib Gourmand / meals starting from ¥900

Just in front of Mejiro Station, you can find one of the best yoshoku (Japanese-style Western food) restaurants in the city. Chef Koga, who trained in France and Japan, cooks all the classic yoshoku dishes, from steaks and croquettes to stews and salads, using modern cooking techniques and equipment to take the dishes to new heights.

Our favourites are the menchi katsu mince cutlet (¥900), and the juicy hamburg patty made with 100 percent local wagyu and served with broccoli, green beans and roasted potatoes (from ¥1,800).

All dishes come served in or with sauces made from a blend of Japanese and Western ingredients, like Dijon mustard, wasabi, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. Be sure to leave space for one of Meijiro's famous kakigori desserts, a mound of fluffy shaved ice topped with seasonal fruit compote (from ¥900).

One Michelin star / ramen from ¥1,200

The second ramen restaurant in Tokyo to get a Michelin star after Tsuta, Nakiryu ('crying dragon') is known for its house special dandanmen, a testament to its quality. A noodle dish originating from Szechuan in China, dandanmen is characterised by its spicy soup and distinctive use of sesame seed.

Lesser restaurants tend to produce a heavier soup that can get a tad cloying – but not Nakiryu. The red pepper-based version here is as light as shoyu ramen, a very refined bowl but still gutsy. There’s a good punch of chilli heat coupled with the rich nuttiness of sesame seed, while the noodles are firm to the bite. You can even opt for extra spicy for an additional ¥50.

On the menu, you’ll also find shoyu and shio ramen, along with rice bowls. Topping (all day) and side order (evening only) options include thin and thick pieces of grilled pork, shrimp wonton and more. Don’t mind the queue; since everyone is limited to just a bowl of noodles, you won’t have to wait that long, relatively speaking. 

One Michelin star / ramen from ¥1,100

Sobahouse Konjiki Hototogisu is only the third ramen restaurant in the world to get a star (awarded in 2019, after Tsuta and Nakiryu). The signature shouyu soba is made from three types of soup stock – pork broth, wa-dashi (Japanese stock) and hamaguri clam dashi – and topped with truffle sauce as well as porcini oil and flakes for that bold umami punch.

However, the restaurant recommends the shio soba – and we concur. The elegantly balanced base stock blends two types of salt (Mongolian rock salt and Okinawan sea salt) and it’s the perfect foil for the hamaguri clam and red sea bream soup’s distinctive seafood sweetness. The noodles are then finished with Italian white truffle oil, porcini mushroom sauce, pancetta bacon bits and inca berry sauce. This adds a pesto-like robustness and depth in the overall flavour. It is moreish, and you’ll be compelled to finish the soup till the last drop.

Bib Gourmand / gyoza set meal from ¥1,320

In a lot of ways, Anda Gyoza comes across more like a Taiwanese restaurant than a Japanese one. For one thing, its gyoza are rounder than the usual crescent-shaped dumplings found throughout Tokyo – they look more like plump tortelloni. Then there’s the liberal use of herbs, deployed to great effect as flavouring. As such, the food feels wholesome but still tasty.

What’s even more surprising are the gyoza fillings, featuring seasonings and condiments that are more south-east Asian than Japanese. There’s a chicken dumpling flavoured with coriander, dried shrimp and coconut, which reminded us of Thai tom yum. Other delights include pork with carrot and curry powder, and chicken with ginger, fish sauce and dried basil.

We recommend ordering the suigyoza set meal, which will get you eight boiled gyoza (two pieces each of four different fillings), an excellent corned pork rice studded with cubed carrot, cucumber and pickled daikon, and a bowl of seaweed soup. The best part is that you can order this throughout the day.

Bib Gourmand / soba starting from ¥1,000

In the front window of Kyourakutei, you can watch soba noodles made from scratch: the stone-grinding of the buckwheat grains, dough being kneaded, and finally, the long, soft tendrils being cut. Inside the store, the retro atmosphere is charming and relaxing, putting you at ease to choose from Kyorakutei's extensive selection of soba. 

If you’re a true soba enthusiast, you can try noodles made with both 100 percent soba (buckwheat) flour and 80:20 soba to wheat flour – the pure soba noodles are known for being darker and firmer, with a nuttier taste. The chefs here are extremely selective in sourcing all their ingredients, from the soba grains to wasabi, salt, and even the kombu seaweed for the dashi, so you know you’re getting the best.

One Michelin star / ramen starting from ¥1,200

Ginza Hachigo’s ramen soup is like consommé: a clear liquid gold that’s light yet complex and full of flavour. It’s made by boiling down Nagoya Cochin chicken, duck, scallop, dried tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms, konbu (seaweed), an heirloom green onion from Kyoto and surprisingly, cured ham. And it’s just phenomenal. 

Even better, this bowl of ramen will only set you back ¥1,200; throw in an extra ¥200 and you’ll get a perfect boiled egg with a gooey yolk.

To secure your spot, you’ll have to be prepared to queue. The restaurant has no booking system, so we recommend getting there early and being patient – it’ll be one of the best bowls of ramen you’ll have in Tokyo.

Bib Gourmand / tonkatsu from ¥1,320

Ryogoku stalwart Tonkatsu Hasegawa uses premium Hiraboku Sangenton pork from Yamagata. As such staff here would advise you to enjoy the meat with pink salt to bring out its natural sweetness.

The lunch and dinner menus are similar, but for lunch, certain sets (which come with rice, miso soup and pickles) are offered at a lower price. For example, pork-loin cutlet meal is ¥1,320 at lunch, instead of ¥1,650 for dinner. But if you’re looking go the whole hog, so to speak, get the super premium pork-loin cutlet meal (¥3,080; pictured). The thick slab of pork is beautifully marbled while the creamy white fat is meltingly good and packs lots of umami flavour.