Tokyo for eaters: the neighbourhoods that matter

Tokyo has more Michelin stars than any city on earth — but you don't eat stars, you eat neighbourhoods. Each district has a food personality, and the fastest way to eat well is to base yourself near the one that matches your appetite, then wander. Here's the map.

Ginza — the counters

The grown-up district: the great sushi and tempura counters, and the places that trained half the chefs everywhere else. Kyubey ＋ for sushi, or a quiet late bowl of chicken-broth ramen at Ginza Kagari ＋. Come for the splurge dinner, and book ahead.

Shinjuku — smoke and noodles

After dark, Shinjuku is yakitori smoke in the tiny stalls of Omoide Yokocho and a queue outside Fuunji ＋ for its thick-broth tsukemen. High energy, low ceremony. It's also the easy place to fall into a proper tempura set at Tsunahachi ＋.

Shibuya & Harajuku — young and casual

Fast, fun, easy on the wallet. Ichiran ＋ ramen in a solo booth, gyukatsu — crumbed beef you grill yourself — at Motomura ＋, conveyor sushi at Uobei ＋, and Harajuku's Gyoza Lou ＋ for a cheap plate of dumplings between the crepes.

Asakusa — old Tokyo

The flavours that predate the neon: Daikokuya ＋'s dark sesame-oil tempura, sukiyaki at Asakusa Imahan ＋, and street snacks the length of Nakamise. The most "old Japan" your palate gets in the central city.

Tsukiji — breakfast at the market

The inner market moved to Toyosu, but the Tsukiji outer market ＋ stayed — and it's a seafood breakfast worth an early alarm. Tamagoyaki on a stick, sea urchin, grilled scallops, the freshest sushi of the trip before 8am. Go early, go hungry.

So where do you base yourself?

For eating, Shinjuku and Shibuya put the most within a short walk and run the latest. Ginza is the splurge base, Asakusa the old-flavour one. But the best food base depends on the rest of your plan too, not just dinner — which is exactly the sum our planner runs.

Or skip the working-out

Tell us you're here to eat and we'll build the days around it: dinners in the right district, the market on a morning you're already up, nothing an hour's train from your bed. A solid first cut in about a minute — swap anything you don't fancy.