#26: I Mapped My Meals in Tokyo

Where I ate, where I shopped, and what I bought.

Hello and happy April! It’s been a while.

In what now feels like true Floss form, I started this newsletter on the plane. (PSA: don’t watch the (first) Sex and the City movie in an aisle seat during the early, brightly lit hours of a flight, unless you enjoy squirming when the film’s multiple sweaty (and explicit) sex scenes play out in full view of your long-haul neighbours.)

After weeks off newsletter duty, I return jet-lagged but armed with a replete camera roll and abundant addresses. I know a lot of you are planning Japan trips and can promise an impressive consumption of grilled meats, mugwort-tinted mochi parcels and second-hand garms — that is, unless you’re a vegetarian, dislike sweets, or are a minimalist, in which cases I’m surprised (but quite honoured) that you’re here.

A brief recap: I arrived in Tokyo on March 10^th for fashion week and Ivan joined me on the event’s final day. We spent a few days in the city (plus a brief sojourn to Yokohama) before I left on a craft trip hosted by Tokyo Craft Salon, which took me and a huddle of Europe-based buyers, designers and journos to workshops and factories specialising in Japanese craft over the course of a week.

Our unit journeyed by plane, bus and train around Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagoya, where Ivan joined us for the trip’s last leg; the final week we holidayed, Shinkansen-ing between Kyoto and Tokyo. The cherry blossoms came late — hence my very dramatic gasps when we did see solo clouds of pink, often of the less delayed plum variety — but it was still delicious, restorative and Ozempic for one’s bank balance (trying to remind myself that the spending was mostly inevitable and largely premeditated; remember the shopping ban? It’s back).

Below are my favourite Tokyo spots from the trip, minus all the 7-11 onigiris, ice creams, and vending machine green teas I inhaled throughout. I’ve linked a Google Map at the bottom of this email, and will do Kyoto next week.

A big thank you to friends who sent me in the direction of delicious things — especially Ayaka, my fashion week guide, who was responsible for many a favourite meal and shop.

Restaurants, Bars

• Ryan: Soba is my Japanese noodle of choice — an inconvenient preference to have considering it’s also near impossible to find in London restaurants! This trip, I tried to right that deficit by dining twice at Ryan, which happens to sit below Kewpie HQ. It’s a bit fancier than your average soba spot but the prices are reasonable (setting considered), and they put thought into every dish — that being said, the tempura + cold soba main is a firm favourite. Book ahead to nab a seat at the counter.