Oh just a word of caution. Whatever you do, stay away from the zoo. It's depressing as hell.
Did you go to the Shinjuku National Garden?
Nope, I haven't. If you're staying just around Tokyo, it should be a good one to go to though. I end up needing to walk through a few gardens for whatever reason visiting temples and whatnot so I've never actually sought out a garden as a primary destination.
I know this may be weird but, did you go to the robot restaurant? Haha, I keep seeing it on Youtube and I'm dying to know if it's as cool as it looks.
I think you and I have very different ideas of what is "cool" because you'd have to pay me to go to this type of thing...
Any good restaurants you can recommend, or any interesting foods I should try? I'm looking forward to all the ramen I can get my hands on, haha.
Oh gosh... you're going to be floored by the sheer number of food places in Tokyo. It's mind boggling. There are so many good restaurants, I'm not sure it's worth it to plan on going to particular ones because that's going to make your travel itinerary more difficult. You can find really awesome food anywhere in Tokyo.
As for ramen places, just walk around and find the places that have a huge line out the door for the experience. I have the places I like to go to around home that i like, but if I'm hanging out in Tokyo and I have time, I just walk around until I find one with a long line and wait. Have never been disappointed that way. Japanese people really like to line up for things.
The one thing I always make sure to go and eat every time I'm in Japan no matter how short the trip is a Tsujiri Parfait. There is a Tsujiri cafe on the 10th floor of the Daimaru Department Store attached to the Tokyo station. Again, be prepared for like an hour wait in line, but it's so worth it. It's so good. Omg you'd be missing out if you don't go IMO. I usually make a list of food items I need to consume, and am flexible about what restaurant I go to, EXCEPT THIS. It has to be a tsujiri parfait at a tsujiri cafe. It can be in Tokyo or at its original cafes in kyoto, but it has to be this one.
At some point, check out a "depachika" which is short for the basement floor of a department store to go rummaging for food. It's like this crazy food paradise. You could live the rest of your life there if you wanted to. One thing that might be fun to get is a cake/tart kind of thing from one of the fruit parlors. In Japan there's a strong culture of gifting high quality fruits (as in like a $100 cantaloupe). A way to get a taste of these yummy fruits without going crazy is to buy a dessert that incorporates these fruits. Major department stores like mitsukoshi, isetan, and takashimaya have bomb diggity depachikas. I think mitsukoshi still has those weird elevator ladies... which is always a fun experience. While you're at it, walk around the restaurant floor (usually the top floor) of the dept store and see the huge array of fake foods samples in front of each restaurant. They're everywhere in Japan (and there are gift shops that even sell some), but the dept restaurant floor is a place where you can see a ton of them at once.
Other things to try would be crepe stands, yakiniku, okonomiyaki, takoyaki, izakayas, and one of the conveyor belt 100 yen sushi franchises (kappa zushi and sushiro are the two biggies. Within Tokyo there are a bunch of independent ones, but the two big chains are a bit of an experience in themselves.) It's usually literally my first stop on my way home from the airport. Like I can't make it home to greet my cats until I'm done stuffing my face there first. It's certainly not the same quality as high end sushi, but sure beats 99% of sushi in the US at a fraction of the cost which is mind boggling.
If you are looking to have good tempura, sushi, or eel, you want to seek out a specialty restaurant that only serves that. These are the places that get pricey, but if you can afford it I would go. Same goes with a nice steak place. Oh holy **** you have not lived until you've had japanese steak melt in your mouth.
Even family restaurants like Denny's is like freaking amazing there. I usually go at least once. Below is a Denny's menu in Japan, and literally the food comes out looking just like the picture.
If you're on a budget and you're looking at restaurant menus to see if you can afford it, remember that you don't need to add tip. And depending on the establishment, sometimes tip is included on the menu.
I'm sure I'm missing a bunch of stuff. But it's hard to fit into just a week. You only have so many meals to eat.
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