Where to Dine - Tokyo - page 126

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My favorite places to shop for prepared foods are department stores. Located in base-
ments, these enormous food and produce sections hearken back to Japanese markets of
yore, with vendors yelling out their wares and crowds of housewives deciding on the
evening's dinner. Different counters specialize in different items—tempura, yakitori, eel,
Japanese pickles, cooked fish, sushi, salads, vegetables, and desserts. Almost the entire
spectrum of Japanese cuisine is available, and numerous samples are available (some
travelers have been known to “dine” in department-store basements for free). What I love
about buying my dinner in a department store is that I can compose my own meal
exactly as I wish—perhaps some sushi, some mountain vegetables, boiled soybeans,
maybe even Chinese food—in combinations never available in most restaurants. Obento
box meals are also available, and some department stores (such as Isetan in Shinjuku)
have sit-down counters for meals of tempura and other fare on the perimeter of their
food floor. In any case, you can eat for less than ¥1,200, and there's nothing like milling
with Japanese housewives to make you feel like one of the locals. Though not as colorful,
24-hour convenience stores also sell packaged foods, including sandwiches and obento,
as do local grocery stores such as Peacock and the budget-friendly Lawson 100.
Street-side stalls, called yatai, are also good sources of inexpensive meals. These res-
taurants-on-wheels sell a variety of foods, including oden (fish cakes), yakitori (skewered
barbecued chicken), and yakisoba (fried noodles), as well as sake and beer. A popular sight
at festivals, they otherwise appear mostly at night, illuminated by a single lantern or a
string of lights, and many have a counter with stools as well, protected in winter by a tarp
wall. These can be great places for rubbing elbows with the locals. Sadly, traditional
pushcarts are slowly being replaced by motorized vans, which are not nearly as romantic
and don't offer seating.

6

3 RESTAURANTS BY CUISINE

American
Good Honest Grub (Shibuya, $,
p. 156)
Hard Rock Cafe (Roppongi, Ueno, $,
p. 163)
Kua' Aina (Around Tokyo Station,
Aoyama, Shibuya, Odaiba, $,
p. 151)
New York Grill

Chinese
Daini's Table (Aoyama, $$,

p. 147)
Din Tai Fung (Shinjuku, $, p. 145)
Continental
Tribecks (Shinjuku, $$, p. 145)

Desserts
Tatsutano

(Shinjuku,

(Ginza, $, p. 136)

$$$$, p. 143)
Roti Roppongi (Roppongi, $,

Dojo
Komagata Dojo

p. 165)
Wolfgang Puck Cafe (Roppongi, Aka-
saka, $$, p. 168)
Wolfgang Puck Express (Harajuku, $,
p. 153)
Zip Zap (Harajuku, $, p. 153)

(Asakusa, $$,

p. 139)
Donburi/Kamameshi (Rice
Casseroles)
Hayashi (Akasaka, $, p. 144)
Tatsutano (Ginza, $, p. 136)
Torigin (Roppongi, $, p. 165)

Key to Abbreviations: $$$$ = Very Expensive $$$ = Expensive $$ = Moderate $ = Inexpensive