First, Sushi

A decent Tabelog rating, open on Sundays and proximity to where I stayed... Sushi Kiyoshi (鮨 きよし) at Ginza's 7-chome fit the bill when I was looking for a place to eat on my first day in Tokyo during the work trip in September. Most importantly, it’s the place I managed to get a booking for the only free evening I got.

The Legendary One

To be honest, I don't really fancy staying in a 100-year-old hotel but turned out my week in the legendary Imperial Hotel Tokyo was very enjoyable. 

50 Hours in Tokyo: Sushi and Sake

I never planned the weekend in Tokyo to be a hardcore food trip per se - I wasn't even making any particular restaurant reservation until the week of departure. But I still thought I should at least do one proper sushi meal at some point during the weekend, so I made a dinner booking at this cozy sushi-ya in Ginza for Saturday evening.

Sushi Lunch on My Splurge Day

I decided to splurge a bit on food on my last day in Tokyo, starting with lunch at Sushi-ya, a secluded, 8-seater restaurant in Ginza. I was eager to give this a try since a few of my friends went and liked the food there.

Different Location, Same Verdict - Lunch at Ginza Iwa

I found myself walking around in Central looking for a place to eat last Saturday afternoon, and I remembered this sushi-ya that I have meant to try but never had a chance, so I rang them up to see if they got a spot available, and I was somewhat surprised that they did, so I was happy to go up to check it out for a quick meal.

Right on time - Lunch at Sushi Daisan Harumi

After a gruesome flight out of Hong Kong (which involved a 3-hour delay in the middle of night sitting in a plane on tarmac), I barely made it from Narita Airport to downtown on time for lunch at Sushi Daisan Harumi in the Shinbashi neighborhood in Tokyo.

More Tokyo - Lunch at Sushi Iwa

On the last day of the trip, I hopped on to the train on Marunochi Line for one last time to Ginza for lunch before my early evening flight out of Narita. This time I decided to check out Sushi Iwa because it's been on my "to-do" list for a while and is only one of the few finer restaurants in town which was open on a public holiday (it was the Spring Equinox Day then)

More Tokyo - Revisiting Sushi Yoshitake

This time around in Tokyo, instead of trying new places for sushi, I also wanted to return to a restaurant that I had fond memories of in my previous visit, so I asked Amex Platinum Concierge to help book me a seat at Ginza's Sushi Yoshitake, and they came back with a confirmed reservation on Tuesday evening.

Tokyo Short Trip - Sushi Kakutou

I found myself landing in the country of rising sun yet again within a short span of time (the second time this year, and fifth since last - if you must count). It's a rather short trip with a lot on the agenda; nonetheless I did end up in a few magnificent restaurants during the week-long stay which made the trip less unbearable.

A suiting finale meal - Ginza Harutaka

With only a short 2-day stayover in Tokyo after swinging by a few other places in central Honshu the days before, we were careful in picking the restaurants we would like to try and make arrangement well in advance to avoid any dissappointment. We didn't necessarily go for the ones with the most stars or the highest ratings, but wanted to look for new places that were consistantly good and recommended by some of our foodie friends. (you can read some of the other meals we had in Tokyo here and here)

Quest for Tempura - Kondo

Tempura is my second favorite type of Japanese food, just behind sushi. If you think tempura's nothing more than just some shrimps or fish or vegetables dipped in batter and deep-fried in oil, try come to Tokyo and go to one of the many good tempura restaurants. I randomly walked into the legendary Tenichi Honten at Ginza by myself 10 years ago and had the best tempura of my life, and that forever changed my view on this adopted Japanese cuisine ever since.

Lunch at Sushi Kanesaka

Our itinerary started at Tokyo and then off we went to the Honshu heartland of Gunma, Nagano and Niigata prefectures, and as final stop, we stayed a few additional days in Tokyo, both for cherry blossom sightings, and more importantly, for more food.

Eating in Tokyo: Sushi Yoshitake

If the old sayings that "the best way to judge a sushi chef is by the toro he serves" hold any weight, I am certain that Chef Masahiro Yoshitake is the best I have ever encountered.
 

Sushi Yoshitake

Well sh*t happens at work and that brought me to Tokyo for a few days - but with the opportunity to return to my favorite place on earth, I secretly called this blessing in disguise. The trip may be arranged at very last minute, but it didn't stop me from calling Amex Concierge to arrange a few dinner reservations for me before departure. They got back to me within an hour with 2 confirmed bookings - my hats off to them for such efficiency and high level of service.