Sushi, Ramen, Michelin...If You Want to Learn About Japanese Must-Try Food then Read This

If “eating” is an art, Kaiseki Cuisine is the epitome of this art. Only items in season are chosen. The cuisine places tremendous importance on the original flavor of the food, refined cutlery and arrangement, ordering of dishes, and central theme of Zen Buddhism. All this makes Kaiseki Cuisine much more than just good gastronomy, but more like an art exhibition banquet. In the capital Tokyo, there are many “big name” restaurants offering excellent Kaiseki. The “Ishikawa” is said to have the best Kaiseki in Tokyo, with amazing flavor. Kyoto’s famous “Kikunoi” has a branch in the Akasaka district in Tokyo. If you are looking for more affordable pricing, “Nagamine” in Ginza is a great choice.

Whenever Japanese cuisine is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is sushi. If you want fresh and affordable sushi in Tokyo, the Tsukiji Market is your best bet. Tsukiji is Japan’s biggest seafood market, where excellent sushi shops can be found.”Sushi Dai” and “Yamato Sushi” are most popular here, but these two places often have long queues at their storefront. The store owner Saito Takashi has been hailed as the new God of Sushi. In 2000 he joined Ginza’s “Kyubey”; in 2007, he started this restaurant. From 2010 to 2016 it was consecutively rated 3 stars by Michelin. There are only 7 seats in the restaurant. As it is extremely popular, it is often extremely hard to get a spot here. This restaurant places high importance on the standardization of rice, fish/scallops, horseradish and the onigiri. Each grain of rice is evenly distributed with all fish and scallops being the best cuts. The horseradish is freshly made, which is why the taste of the finished dish is just right. The service is definitely top-notch. They are very friendly and have many returning customers and fans.

Japanese Ramen originated from China but has long since took on unique characteristics. In general they include Tonkatsu, Miso, Salt or Soy Sauce soup bases, on top of which you then have roasted pork, bamboo shoots, eggs and seaweed, for an excellent flavor. Of these, Ichiran, Ippudo, Menya Musashi are some of the more well-known ramen chains. There are many branches all over Tokyo business districts. Menya Itto’s ramen has been consistently coming out on top of the ramen rankings. Its just right combination of ingredients, soup base and noodles form their famous Tsukemen which is highly popular. Once you are done with the noodles, you can add soup to it which dilutes the thickened soup base, but you can still smell that wonderful aroma of shiba.

Tempura is one of Japan’s 4 major cuisines. Seafood, meats, or vegetables are dipped in a batter then fried. Mikawa Zezankyo, a shop tucked away in the alleys of Tokyo, is an established tempura store which has turned this home-cooking dish into an art-form. Traditional Tokyo cuisine is called “Edo-Mae” and offers 3 specialties: sushi, eel and tempura, each of which boasts master-level chefs. Ono Jiro, the “God of Sushi” is well known; for tempura there is Saotome Tetsuya from “Mikawa Zezankyo”. How do they make common food into such amazing works of art? It only takes 1 visit to Mikaza Zezankyo to experience a comprehensive shift in visual and taste.

Eel on a bed of rice is a classic Japanese cuisine for many food connoisseurs. Unagi tastes great. 1. The eel is juicy and drizzled with a caramelized sauce; and 2. the rice is meticulously prepared while the fish must be laid on such rice to be top-class. In Tokyo, eel cuisine often stems from centuries of experience. “Nodaiwa”, a restaurant highly praised by famous Asian food critic Chua Lam, Emperor Hirohito’s favorite Izu-Sakae, the renowned Obana, and Kawabata Yasunari’s favorite Tsuruya ... besides great taste, you’ll also get a slice of history.

Yakitori is basically chicken on skewers. The chicken is diced or sliced and put on skewers. Soy sauce, sugar and marinating alcohol are made into a sauce and lathered on the skewers which are then roasted over fire. It’s the most typical food to accompany a drink at a Japanese Izakaya, or a bar. The owner of the Torichou restaurant is the head chef, focusing on the chicken preparation. In addition to the traditional grilled chicken, the specialty "chicken white soup pot" is also very popular. The hand-made chicken meatballs and the carefully prepared soup base are absolutely delicious if served with special dandan noodles.

Japanese-style grilled meat is also quite famous. Many Koreans living in Japan say that the origin of Japanese grilled meat is Osaka. Friends who are meat-lovers, don’t miss the chance to eat chunky Japanese beef! Manryo has 4 grilled meat restaurants in Osaka, the Tenjinbashi location is the only one that offers stone grill. The grilled meat here is very tasty and affordable, it is a very good grilled meat restaurant, so it is very popular, and very lively at night. The recommended "Ichibo loin" grilled meat is only 980 yen. After the beef is sliced thinly, it is roasted and eaten, and has a very unique taste. Tea drinks such as oolong tea and corn tea are provided free of charge.

The puffer fish is hailed as the ultimate taste in Japan, and the degree of fresh delicacy is evident. Because the puffer fish is highly toxic, it must be eaten at a restaurant with professional preparation. Generally puffer fish restaurants offer diners a full puffer fish set, including puffer fish sashimi, puffer fish skin, puffer fish hot pot, and finally puffer fish risotto. It’s even more delicious when you dip puffer fish sashimi into sauce made from grapefruit juice and vinegar. This Michelin two-star restaurant, which specializes in puffer fish dishes, is an established shop that has been in business for more than 80 years, now passed down to the third generation. The puffer fish hot pot in the store is extremely delicious and popular with diners. The pufferfish sashimi in most places would be thinner. This store is unconventional with thicker slices, which makes the sashimi more chewy.