Today, food writer Melinda Joe joins Condé Nast Traveler to audit some of the internet's most recommended destinations in Tokyo–and weigh in on whether there are other spots people should try instead. Where can you get the best sushi or ramen? Where is the best spot for some wagyu? Melinda shares her local's guide to the perfect Tokyo experience.
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00:00I'm Melinda Zhou, a food writer based in Tokyo for more than 15 years.
00:05Over that time, I've helped a lot of people navigate this confusing but beautiful city that we call Tokyo.
00:11Today I'm going to curate my perfect Tokyo experience, looking at a number of recommendations from the internet,
00:17but ultimately, I would like to take you to some places off the beaten track.
00:30When you come to Tokyo, of course, you have to eat sushi. Tokyo is the birthplace of nigiri sushi, which is the kind of sushi that we all know and love.
00:39We have so many options here in Tokyo, from your cheap eats standing sushi or the kaiten sushi, which is the revolving sushi bar,
00:48to the little neighborhood run mom and pop style sushi restaurants, and of course, the high end omakase style sushi restaurants.
00:57When you're looking for sushi in Tokyo, you're going to see a ton of recommendations,
01:01especially concentrated around Tsukiji, where the old fish market was.
01:05So one of the main ones will be Sushi Zanmai, which is, of course, a very solid chain.
01:11My recommendation is Sushi Karawaki in Ginza. It's a relatively newly opened space,
01:17and the reason I love it is that it's traditional style but with innovation,
01:22and you have a very, very charming sushi chef that makes you feel very comfortable.
01:27Konnichiwa!
01:29Konnichiwa!
01:30O machishimashita! Irashimase!
01:31Of course, this is an omakase course, so it's all chef selection, seasonal,
01:36and whatever the chef thinks is best on the day.
01:39One of the things that's really special is how he uses fish that is not actually found in a lot of other restaurants.
01:48Instead of getting the fish from the market, he has direct relationships with fishermen and with special distributors.
01:54Oh!
01:55Oh!
01:56Oh!
01:57Mmm!
01:58This is a little bit strange today, but I just had a place for this place to come on with the fish.
02:02It's the top of the fish's head and head and head and head and neck.
02:09It's really good steak.
02:11Well, how do you taste it?
02:12How do you taste it?
02:13The taste is from the fish.
02:15I don't know if you have a good time for the customer, which is one of the most important things that I want to do with the first time.
02:25That's why I'm going to give you the best of the sushi.
02:29This is what I want to do.
02:31There are so many of the fancy ones that I want to do,
02:36There's only one way to take in the staggering scale of Tokyo and that's with a view from
03:05above. Let's take a look at what the internet says for recommended views. All right, yeah, Mori Tower in
03:12Roppongi, of course, a great choice. Oh, the Metropolitan Building in Shinjuku, that's a great
03:18idea, especially if you want to get a view without having to pay an entrance fee. So if I'm going to
03:24pick a place with a view, I feel like we should also have some time to enjoy that view with a great
03:31drink. And so my pick is the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo. For me, the bar at the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo achieves
03:37the trifecta of great location, wonderful view, and world-class cocktails. Also, it opens at 3pm and
03:46I'm a big fan of day drinking. So this is my choice for where to go when you want to have an afternoon
03:52tipple and watch the sunset. I'm going to meet my friend, producer Eriko Miyagawa, and we're going
03:58to have some drinks mixed by one of my favorite bartenders in Tokyo, Wada-san. So it looks like
04:03the menu is based on the seasons. Yes. If we say, oh, this is a beautiful season of Japan, it's easy,
04:11but that's pretty much anyone does. So why don't we go further, which is a sweet wind travels around
04:18the season of Japan. Okay, so what do you recommend for us today? Why don't we introduce our spring cocktail,
04:24which is Usui Sakura Zensen? Oh, this is based on American rye whiskey, and honey comes from
04:31Kurume City, and lemon comes from Hiroshima, and aromatized with a little bit of matcha. Matcha
04:39comes from Kyoto Uji. You said that this has a story. What you see leaking is cheers of geisha.
04:46Huh? Isn't that so cool? That's so cool. Drink. Hmm. Comes in waves. Hey. Right? Yeah.
05:05If you're coming to Tokyo for the first time, of course you want to have ramen. I was the same way
05:10when I first came to Tokyo. Lo, so many years ago, I had ramen all the time. It was such an easy way
05:17to go get something that was delicious and filling and great for just one person. There are so many
05:23great places to choose from. Let's see what the internet says. We have Ramen Ichiran, the Shin Yokohama
05:29Ramen Museum, also Ramen Street in Tokyo Station. Actually, these are all great choices. Shin Yokohama
05:35Ramen Museum is so much fun, actually. It's like going to the Disneyland of ramen. The Ramen
05:40Street in Tokyo Station is also a really good way to see what's going on in the ramen scene
05:45today, all in one place. What I really recommend is an experience that you can have only in Tokyo,
05:51and that's why I want to take you to Ginza Hachigo.
05:54Hello. Hello. Thank you. Thank you very much.
05:58Thank you very much. Would you like to have a favorite dish?
06:02I was like, the Lady O'Li Grumandies. That's right? That's right.
06:05That's right. That's right. That's right. I know.
06:07Do you know what I mean?
06:10I was at France at the hotel in France, and I was able to go to Brunchecheque for the
06:13Chef, so I was able to try to do a different dish in the restaurant. So I was able to challenge a different dish
06:19with a different dish. So I wanted to try to try to try to make a different dish.
06:22It's like a casual, casual,
06:27like Japanese people from the children of the day.
06:35I looked at the French menu from different directions,
06:41and I thought I could make a new ramen.
06:47你可以在座野8合間で
06:50そういう想いで再現にかやってみました
06:54お待たせ致しました
06:55ラビオリグルマンデーズ中華そば です
06:59美味しそうですね ありがとうございます
07:05ちょっとコンソメに近い味深さ 感じます
07:13コンソメをイメージして作りました
07:16Ah, soですね. The balance is really important, and that's what I'm finding in this bowl of ramen.
07:24You have the texture of the noodles, which is both delicate and pliant, and with enough chew to make
07:34you feel like you're really eating noodles. But you see that they are thin, so that they don't
07:41feel too overpowering. There's not a trace of heaviness in this for me at all. It's really
07:47the natural flavor of the ingredients coming through.
07:55Well of course Kyoto is the capital of temples in Japan, but in Tokyo we also have a lot of cool
08:01temples to visit. So let's take a look at what the recommended ones are. The very first one that comes
08:07up is of course Sensoji in Asakusa. And it is a beautiful temple, it is iconic, it is huge,
08:13and if you need to get your Instagram moment then of course I think you should go there.
08:17What I recommend for a really unique experience right here in the middle of Tokyo, Fukugawa Fudodo.
08:24One of the things that makes the temple so unique is that every day, five times a day, they perform
08:39a goma ritual, which is a fire ritual. That is a time that people can pray for different wishes
08:48and come for spiritual purification.
08:54It doesn't really matter if you are yourself religious, it's just more you get a sense of
09:00how these institutions are still very much a part of people's lives here.
09:12When people come to Tokyo they always ask me about Kobe beef, but I think there's a little
09:16misunderstanding about what exactly Kobe beef is. Kobe beef refers specifically to a brand of beef
09:23made from cattle grown in a certain prefecture in Japan, Hyogo Prefecture. It is one kind of beef
09:31in the category of Wagyu. Kobe beef is of course delicious, it's strictly regulated, but there are many
09:38other brands of Japanese beef or Wagyu that are also wonderful. So where can you taste this succulent
09:46beef? Let's see what the internet says. Okay, so it's so popular that tons of things come up and I'm sure
09:53that a lot of them are great, but I would like to take you to what I think is maybe the best Wagyu
10:00experience, Wagyu Mafia. There's no way to put into words the intensity of the energy and the pure flavor
10:12that they deliver here at Wagyu Mafia. I mean it's really spectacular. It's not like at a restaurant
10:22at all and it's not like at a house. It really feels like a performance.
10:29You're such a big personality. When people think about Wagyu Mafia, they think about the performance and they
10:37think about indulgence. Food has to be fun. Food has to be enjoyable. Before Wagyu Mafia, you sit down
10:46quiet for two hours. At the very end of the meal, you get a tiny bit of Kobe beef, but you're not allowed
10:52to talk big, you know. With Wagyu Mafia, I wanted to create excitement because I think the happiness is
10:58new part of the umami. People shout and I have a 93-year-old lady as one of my regular customers.
11:07She can understand that. She said, oh, I feel young now. This is a food I want to serve to my family,
11:12my friends, and I want to eat. Yes. Yeah. Day off, I come back to Wagyu Mafia to eat it.
11:18Tokyo's drinking culture and its bar scene is legendary, not only for the precision and craft
11:31of bartenders at high-end cocktail bars, but also for the sheer breadth and variety of the drinking
11:37establishments that we have here. We have lively izakayas where you can get a cheap and easy drink.
11:43We have bars that are standing room only where you can drop in to say hi and have a beer. And then we
11:49have experiences that you can only find here in Tokyo. I'm going to take you to a one-of-a-kind place
11:56called Twilo. The best way to describe it is that it's a kind of food truck meets high-end cocktail bar
12:03that moves around the city in a different place every night.
12:07Like, I see she's drunk.
12:14I'm going to drink poison.
12:26It seems like absent.
12:29I'm drinking whiskey. Thank you.
12:32Let's try it.
12:35One of the things that makes this city so dynamic is the way that you have old and new
13:04right next to each other.
13:05You might have a restaurant that is a hundred years old next to a really tiny contemporary
13:12restaurant with only eight seats, or you might find the most unusual shop stuck in a high
13:19rise building with no real sign.
13:22When you walk around Tokyo, you will always find something new.
13:26There's so much to see in this city.
13:28You have to just be open with all of your senses and start taking a look.