Where to Dine - Tokyo - page 133

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marbling. There are also crab dishes (including a crab sukiyaki), kaiseki, sirloin steaks,
and eel dishes. Especially good deals are the obento box meals (available day and night
and offering a variety of small dishes) and the set lunches served until 2:30pm. In the
basement is a sake bar with more than 80 different kinds of sake from all over Japan,
which you can also order with your meal.
3-5-8 Ginza. & 03/3567-1021. Reservations recommended. Beef sukiyaki or shabu-shabu set meals
from ¥8,000 for dinner, ¥2,500 for lunch; obento meals and mini-kaiseki ¥2,400-¥5,800. AE, DC, MC, V.
Daily 11:30am-10pm. Station: Ginza (3 min.). On Chuo Dori, across from the Matsuya department store.
7 Tarafuku FUGU Located 1 block west of Chuo Dori, this simple restaurant
specializes in fugu, or blowfish (not available in summer). There's no English-language
menu, but a lit signboard outside the front door shows various set-meal options that
include fugu cooked in various ways, including fugu kaiseki meals. In addition to the
regular menu, less expensive seasonal meals are also available. For something different,
try the fugu hirezake, consisting of fugu fin immersed in sake and set ablaze. All I can say
is that charred fugu must be an acquired taste. In addition to this location, there are two
nearby branches within a block, so if you make a reservation, make sure you have the
right one. Before you eat here, be sure you read about fugu, in “Japanese Cuisine,” in
chapter 2 (p. 21).
Suzuran Dori, 7-8-18 Ginza. & 03/3573-0129. Reservations recommended. Set dinners ¥6,090-
¥13,650; set lunches ¥2,500-¥4,980. AE, DC, MC, V. Mon-Fri 11:30am-2pm and 4:30-11pm; Sat 11:30am-
2pm and 4-10pm; Sun and holidays 11:30am-10pm. Station: Ginza (3 min.).
Zipangu NOUVELLE JAPANESE Just outside the Ginza and located high in the
sky—on the 47th floor of the Caretta Shiodome Building, with shimmering views over
Tokyo Bay—this contemporary Japanese restaurant offers set meals for lunch that are
difficult to describe—the constantly changing presentations border on nouvelle Japanese
cuisine, with international influences (luckily, there's an English-language menu). In the
evenings, the stone-and-wood venue is more of a drinking bar, with an a la carte menu
offering chargrilled steak or salmon, yakitori, sashimi, and dishes that go well with wine.
In any case, this is a great choice if you're visiting nearby Hama Rikyu Garden.
Caretta Shiodome, 1-8-1 Higashi-Shimbashi. & 03/6215-8111. Reservations required. Main dishes
¥1,460-¥4,536; set lunches ¥2,940-¥6,300. AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 11:30am-2:30pm and 5-10pm (last
order). Station: Shiodome (2 min.) or Shimbashi (5 min.).
INEXPENSIVE
In addition to the restaurants here, check out Meal Muji, 3-8-3 Marunouchi
( & 03/5208-8241 ), a cafeteria on the second floor of the popular minimalist Muji
clothing and housewares store, where you can load up on salads and mostly vegetarian
choices daily from 11am to 8:30pm. There are also a number of restaurants on the eighth
floor of Matsuya Ginza department store serving everything from French and Chinese
food to sushi, tempura, noodles, and more. Aux Bacchanales, a brasserie offering sand-
wiches, salads, and daily specials, has a branch at 6-3-2 Ginza ( & 03/3569-0202 ) and
is open daily from 9am to 11pm (p. 167). Botejyu San, an okonomiyaki restaurant
originally from Osaka, has a branch in the basement of Caretta Shiodome, 1-8-2
Higashi Shimbashi ( & 03/5537-7808; p. 154), and is open daily from 11am to 3pm
and 5 to 11pm (to 10pm Sat-Sun). Gonpachi, at the G-Zone, 1-2-3 Ginza
( & 03/5524-3641 ), serves a variety of Japanese food from 11:30am to 3:30am.
For atmospheric dining, head to an arch underneath the elevated Yamanote railway
tracks, about halfway between Harumi Dori and the Imperial Hotel Tower. It has a hand-

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