J.S Pancake Cafe was our first stop in Shimokitazawa, a neighborhood located on the west side of Tokyo. Shimokitazawa is mentioned in every list of ‘Tokyo’s most Hipster\Indie\Young\Popular neighborhoods’. It is casual and charming, with narrow crisscrossing alleys of low construction packed with vintage and second hand clothing stores. However, I personally found Nakameguro and Koenji to be much more attractive. Read More
Being the sweet tooth that I am, and seeing as how I’m deprived of them in my homeland, I’m always on the lookout for doughnuts. During my Tokyo visit, I got to taste doughnuts from three different places: Floresta, Krispy Kreme and Mister Donut. To my enjoyment two of them offered special Halloween doughnuts! Read More
One of the first things I do when I start to plan itinerary for traveling abroad is check for local food markets. The street food, the merchants, the people, the vibe – food markets often embed the essence of the city\neighborhood. As opposed to London, where you can find many street food markets, I couldn’t find that many in Tokyo. The one that stood above the rest was Commune 246 – an open air street food market located in the hip neighborhood of Harajuku. It is a bit distanced from the commotion typical to Takeshita street and its area and the population type is much different. The people who go to Commune 246 are older and you’ll probably encounter many foreigners. Read More
Nakamise shopping street is 250 meters long and has close to 100 shops and stalls in which you can find traditional as well as cheesy souvenirs and authentic Japanese snacks. The street leads to the famous Sensoji Temple. The temple is the oldest and most visited temple in Tokyo. If your visit in Tokyo is short, and you have time for only one temple, I would highly recommend visiting this one. Read More
While I was doing my research online, prior to my Tokyo vacation, I came across many recommendation for Bills – an Australian restaurant. All the reviews I came across were raving about one dish specifically – the ricotta hotcakes, banana and honeycomb butter (¥1400). I knew I had to have it! Read More
Arriving to Kawaii Moster Cafe on Sunday morning, we were shocked to witness the long queue stretching for 3 floors and getting longer by the minute. Not wanting to spend a few hours in line along with Kawaii Japanese girls, we proceeded to pursue other adventures and came back afternoon. Luckily, we were let in straight away and didn’t have to queue at all! A few sitting options were offered at the four different zones: Mushroom Disco, Milk Stand, Bar experiments and Mel-Tea Room. Since Mushroom Disco was the most impressive one in my opinion I opted for this zone. There’s a cover charge of ¥3000 ($25/ 96₪) for dining in this zone, but we felt that it’s justified considering the incredible experience we had inside. Read More
Tensuke Tempura was one of the few places about which I didn’t really inquire much before going. On one of my last days in Tokyo, I visited Koenji, a nice quiet neighborhood, not far from Shinjuku. The neighborhood is packed with vintage and second hand clothing stores and quirky little shops. Knowing I have only a few days left and that I haven’t yet had a proper tempura meal, I was on the lookout for a great authentic tempura place in Koenji. There’s not a lot of information online in English about this place, but even the little I read made me feel like this place is worth a visit. Read More
Looking for cool\unusual arcades I read about Namja Town. Namja Town is a Namco theme park opened in 1996 inside the Sunshine City shopping complex in east Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo. In retrospect this arcade is mostly suitable to Japanese kids of younger age, since the vast majority of the attractions there require knowing Japanese. So after paying the entrance fee (¥500) and doing a quick tour around the place, we turned to the main reason we came there – tasting gyozas and weird ice cream. Read More
I’ve kept hearing all about Tokyo’s vending machines, and in particular, soft drink vending machines. Coming to Japan, I felt like I’m on a mission to gamble and try a different drink each day of my vacation in Tokyo. Read More
Apparently shaved Ice, or kakigori, is a thing in Tokyo, and many places are selling this dessert. The first image that came to my mind when thinking about shaved ice, was not so appetizing, to say the least. But when seeing Ice Monster images online, I was hooked. I had to taste this magnificent looking mountain of ice.
This Taiwan-based store has one branch in Japan, located right in the center of Harajuku, 3 minutes walk from Omotesando exit. The first time I wanted to go there, I saw that the Bubble Milk Tea Sensation is sold out. Knowing that I’m going to get back to Harajuku a few days later, I decided to leave Ice Monster for my next visit. Read More