Best restaurants at Midtown Hibiya

American chef Jody Williams's take on a small, homely Gallic bistro has been wildly successful in New York ever since it opened in 2012. Also operating an equally well received outpost in Paris, Williams now brings her ‘gastrothèque’ to Tokyo. The local version of Buvette is set to sit on the ground floor of new mega-complex Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, which is aiming for a March 2018 grand opening. How well this comfy neighbourhood hangout will slot into Mitsui Fudosan's latest temple to commerce remains to be seen, but it's certainly an intriguing concept. 

Want to experience traditional Kyoto in the heart of Tokyo? Make a beeline for Nanzen-ji Hyotei. Synonymous with traditional Kyoto-style cuisine, Hyotei has an astonishing 450-year-long history in the ancient capital. Now, you can have a slice of that goodness without having to hop on the shinkansen, with this new Hyotei restaurant in Midtown Hibiya. The concept of the new restaurant is to attract more people to enjoy the finest that Kyoto cuisine has to offer. Using ingredients from different parts of Japan, Hyotei serves kaiseki, Japanese fine dining, in a relaxed setting. While using the traditional Japanese materials like bamboo and tatami, Hyotei has created a slightly more casual atmosphere with counter seats and tables.

With a motto of ‘ingredients are jewels’, you get an idea of how big a role fresh ingredients play in Restaurant Toyo’s dishes and cooking philosophy. With its flagship restaurant in Paris, Toyo Tokyo is the place where the aesthetics of Japanese fine dining meet refined French style cuisine. Toyo is all about taking the flavours to the max and experiencing the food not just with your taste buds, but also with your eyes. The counter seats also make it possible to see how everything is prepared from scratch. The course menus are set, but preferences and allergies are taken into consideration if told at the time of reservation.

Set on the sixth floor of the Tokyo Midtown Hibiya complex, this new restaurant showcases the best ingredients from all over Japan. Every season, they select two Japanese regions and create delicacies with the best seasonal products from each one. Take Awaji Island (Hyogo Prefecture) and Shinshu (Nagano Prefecture), for example: dished might include butter-roasted mackerel from Awaji Island with a clam and leaf bud sauce and wild herb fritters, or Shinshu’s marinated mushrooms with shallots. Their 'Drawing Lunch' menu is also worth seeking out: choose from four main dishes, such as baked salmon or angus beef sirloin steak, always made with ingredients sourced from all across the country. It's Japan on a plate. Open March 29, 2018

In search of the freshest cheese in Tokyo? This restaurant answers your calling as they create all their delicacies by using milk delivered directly from a local farm in Tokyo’s suburbs. Try out all their cheesy delights from melty mozzarella, rich burrata to their silky smooth ricotta. One of the best ways to enjoy their cheese is by ordering one of the restaurant’s heavenly pizzas. Choose from eight different pizzas including the ever-popular margherita, al pino and salsiccia and get your cheese fix sorted in the most delicious of ways.

Del’Immo Hibiya takes pride in their decadent French style cakes and chocolate confectioneries for which they are best known for. The menu changes with the seasons, so you can try out all sorts of tempting parfaits and sweets all year round. Try out the highly recommended Hibiya store speciality, the Melange Fruits parfait. Watch out, even a spoonful of this luxurious treat might shoot you straight up into chocolate heaven.