Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
142
EXPENSIVE
Grill Fukushima
CLASSIC FRENCH Parent company Seiyoken opened one of
Japan's first restaurants serving Western food in 1876. Its restaurant here, ensconced in a
nondescript building dating from the 1950s, is nonetheless the classiest place to eat in
Ueno Park, serving pricey but quite good French cuisine, with a relaxing view of greenery
outside its large windows and classical music playing softly in the background. The a la
carte menu, in French and Japanese, includes seafood such as lobster in an orange sauce
and meat dishes ranging from filet mignon in red-wine sauce to roast lamb, but most
people order one of the many fixed-price meals. There's a varied selection of French wines
as well as wines from Germany, California, and Australia. The Grill is located to the right
as you enter the building and is not to be confused with the much cheaper utilitarian
restaurant to the left.
In Ueno Park.
&
03/3821-2181.
Main dishes ¥4,200-¥7,875; set dinners ¥10,500-¥18,900; set lunches
¥4,800-¥10,500. AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 11am-8pm (last order). Station: JR Ueno (6 min.). Btw. Kiyomizu
Temple and Toshogu Shrine.
MODERATE
d
Innsyoutei
KAISEKI/OBENTO This traditional Japanese restaurant in
Ueno Park has been a Tokyo landmark since 1875. Downstairs is a simple tearoom, but
for a meal you'll be ushered upstairs to a dining room with tables overlooking trees or a
private tatami room. For lunch, it offers a variety of set meals (including a vegetarian
meal), obento, and kaiseki meals from an English-language menu, while dinner features
kaiseki and chicken sukiyaki. If you've never had kaiseki, this is a good choice, but it's
also a convenient lunch spot after visiting Ueno Park's many museums.
In Ueno Park.
&
03/3821-8126.
Reservations recommended. Set dinners ¥5,300-¥10,500; set lunches
¥1,680-¥6,300. No credit cards. Daily 11am-4pm and 5-11pm (to 10pm Sun). Station: JR Ueno (6 min.).
Btw. Grill Fukushima (see above) and the row of orange torii leading downhill.
6
e
Izu'ei
EEL Put aside all your prejudices about eels and head for this modern yet
traditionally decorated multistoried restaurant with a 260-year history dating back to the
Edo Period, and with views of Shinobazu Pond. Because eels are grilled over charcoal, the
Japanese place a lot of stock in the quality of the charcoal used, and this place boasts its
own furnace in the mountains of Wakayama Prefecture, which is said to produce the best
charcoal in Japan.
Unagi donburi
(rice topped with strips of eel), tempura, and sushi are
available, as well as set meals. There's no English-language menu, but there is a display
case outside, and the menu has some pictures.
2-12-22 Ueno.
&
03/3831-0954.
Reservations recommended. Main dishes ¥1,595-¥5,250; set meals
¥2,100-¥10,500. AE, DC, MC, V. Daily 11am-9:30pm (last order). Station: JR Ueno (3 min.). On Shinobazu
Dori, across the street from Shinobazu Pond and the Shitamachi Museum, next to KFC.
Tokori
KOREAN BARBECUE One of three restaurants in a modern concrete build-
ing called Bamboo Garden (the other two restaurants serve Chinese and Japanese food),
this friendly establishment offers Korean-style barbecued meats, which you grill yourself
at your table, as well as salads, kimchi (spicy Korean cabbage), Korean-style pancakes,
rice porridge, noodles, and soups from an English-language menu with photographs. Set
lunches feature one-pot meals or grilled beef, along with side dishes of soup, salad, and
kimchi.
1-52 Ueno Park.
&
03/5807-2255.
Main dishes ¥840-¥1,880; set lunches ¥1,000-¥2,200. AE, DC, MC, V.
Daily 11am-11:30pm. Station: JR Ueno (2 min.). On a steep hillside across the street from JR Ueno Sta-
tion's west side, in Ueno Park next to the Ueno Royal Museum.
