5 Best Restaurants in Tokyo, Japan

This Australian-style café near Coredo Muromachi is a casual hangout serving potent espressos and milky flat whites. For a quick bite to eat, try a meat pie, or stop by for the money-saving breakfast, which features a coffee and toasted sandwich for ¥650.

Quick and easy plant-based food isn't always easy to come by in Tokyo, but this small spot serves up excellent vegan fast food—namely, falafel, veggies burgers, and plant-based brownies. Most customers buy takeout, but there are a few tables, plus craft beers and coffee on the menu, if you fancy lingering. There's also a branch in Shibuya.

At the northern end of the izakaya-lined Hoppy Street (a few blocks west of Senso-ji), this hip Scandinavian-style café serves up sweet and savory Norwegian waffles along with coffee made using single-origin beans. In the evenings, there are craft beers and cocktails on the menu, too.

Prominently standing at the edge of Yanaka, just a short walk to the west from the National Museum, this historical café is a popular stop for lunch or a light snack. A century old, the café has been stylishly renovated and serves homemade sandwiches, curries, cakes, and kaki gori, a traditional treat of flavored shaved ice. The first floor has a bar and dark wood tables, while the second is an airy Japanese-style tatami room with low tables. Although Kayaba isn't usually too crowded in the morning, expect to line up if you arrive at lunchtime.

When you're looking for a break from all the ramen, tempura, and yakitori, this restaurant on the 45th floor of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel serves a fusion of French and Japanese cuisines. The prix-fixe lunches include a three-course business lunch (¥6,500), and there are dinners with four and five courses (¥12,200 and ¥16,500). A plush brunch (¥9,500) is also available weekends and holidays. Best of all, the dining room overlooks a panorama of the Tokyo Sky Tree and Tokyo Tower, which is where the eatery gets its name.