#106: Tokyo, Again
Superlative sushi and book shopping, plus an updated Google Maps with new and old addresses.
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Hello! I found the prospect of writing this week’s newsletter a little daunting. I reorganised my desk, stacking all my matchboxes and lighting a candle in a ritualistic act of procrastination. I squeezed lemon into my water after lunch, knowing it’d buy me less than a minute of not yet writing.
Tokyo was the longest, and final, stretch of our trip so there is a lot to taste vicariously through my past self, and a lot to remind me of the fact that I am not on holiday and instead in a city where the weather app taunts me more every time I open it.
To make this newsletter as useful as possible, I am reverting back to a classic city guide format (as opposed to the diaristic one of the last two weeks). I will go from hotels to restaurants to shops to misc. As per last week’s Kyoto guide, I will share a link at the end with a Google Map combining this email’s recommendations with my favourite addresses from my last visit. Without further ado…
Hotels (minus Millie’s apartment, where we stayed for the first few nights. Best host and mini bar: she stocked her fridge with the ‘best of’ Japanese beers, including an extra dry Asahi I wish we could find in London.)
The Okura: There are excellent hotels that could operate almost anywhere in the world, and ones that are tethered to a place. I write that knowing The Okura has many outposts (including Kyoto and Bangkok, where we stayed a few years back), but spiritually, Tokyo is the singular experience—and I don’t just say that because of the lobby. (Which, I must say, even renovated is so beautiful in person.) The mall-forward Azabujan area is not my favourite to stay in, but within the hotel, every detail was perfect, from the welcome treats (matcha sablé cookies and hojicha), to the bathroom amenities (Three skincare and hinoki toothpaste), hotel bar martinis, and the Japanese breakfast. This was my dream hotel and still is.
We stayed for two nights towards the end of our trip, and on the final afternoon, set out to make use of the spa. We wore our swimsuits under our robes with slippers, and took the lift to the lobby (the spa is in the new wing; I wanted to stay in the old one). We’d barely made it into the lobby before a rabble of staff spotted and surrounded us, effusively (palms were raised) stopping us from proceeding further into the hotel’s public space. We were politely told that robes and slippers are not allowed outside of rooms, and changed back before re-derobing in the spa facilities. Though embarassed by the spectacle we caused, I found the reaction endearing.
Janu Tokyo: We ended our trip with a generous press stay, and here there were no qualms about robes. It was also conveniently down the road from The Okura, and attached to the Azabudai Hills mall, where you can find an incredible supermarket/food court and my favourite wagashi store, Suzukake.
I’ve never stayed in a hotel space that so defied the confines of ‘room.’ Ours was more of a full-sized apartment, including the balcony with a view of Tokyo Tower, which I assume Janu had been designed to maximise views of.
Only strong peer pressure can get me to exercise on holiday but they did book me a massage, and on my way to the treatment room I glimpsed the largest and sleekest hotel gym I’ve ever seen, if you’re into that sort of thing. The Japanese breakfast here was also wonderful, though I ate mine very wistfully pre airport departure.
Restaurants and Bakeries
Ryan: Ryan is my Tokyo ritual, and also my first restaurant rec in my last Tokyo guide—I am at heart a creature of habit. Ever since I first travelled to the city for work, and was introduced to it by the Japan fashion week organisers, I’ve gone back for lunch, usually before or after swinging by the second-hand shops in Shibuya. In recent years I’ve either asked, or been lucky, to be seated at the bar, where you can see not only the full open kitchen but the soba rolling in its dedicated (I’m guessing temp-controlled) booth on the left.
The short lunch course, where you have your choice of soba, is a lot of food. I probably shouldn’t have chosen the tempura soba, given you are served a tempura course, but was very happy and full regardless. Apart from the perfect soba, the tempura (daikon radish sandwiched with simmered yellowtail!) and dessert (monaka wafer filled with red bean, mandarin, and fermented butter) were some of my favourite bites of the trip.
Fuku Yakitori: My mum went to Fuku a while back and, while still sat at its bar facing the charcoal grill, texted me to say I had to book it for my next trip. She was right; it is the platonic ideal of a yakitori spot. You order à la carte—which I prefer because repeats—and it is just noisy enough to put you at ease. If you, like us, don’t speak Japanese, we booked through the concierge service Jpneazy.
