Restaurants by Cuisine

Commune 246 Street Food Market @ Tokyo, Japan

One of the first things I do when I start to plan itinerary for traveling abroad is check for local food markets. The street food, the merchants, the people, the vibe – food markets often embed the essence of the city\neighborhood. As opposed to London, where you can find many street food markets, I couldn’t find that many in Tokyo. The one that stood above the rest was Commune 246 – an open air street food market located in the hip neighborhood of Harajuku. It is a bit distanced from the commotion typical to Takeshita street and its area and the population type is much different. The people who go to Commune 246 are older and you’ll probably encounter many foreigners. Read More

Enrique Olvera & Meir Adoni Back to Back | Catit, Tel Aviv

During November the most popular restaurants from around the world sent their chefs for an entire week to take over the kitchen of some of the most exciting restaurants in Tel Aviv. This big culinary project is called Round Tables. The dinner at Catit was not part of this project. So why am I telling you all of this? Since I was too late to join the party and book a table to the Round Tables project, I missed the places I wanted to visit. The only tables left were in restaurants that less interested me. I was truely disappointed so when I saw chef Meir Adoni of Catit is hosting Enrique Olvera, the chef of the best restaurant in Mexico, I was so thrilled. I felt like this would be the perfect “compensation”.

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Brunch | Truck De Luxe, Tel Aviv

Truck De Luxe has been a favorite of mine ever since they opened. The place is actually the second one from the folks behind Pundak De Luxe, which is located in the midst of Jaffa Flea Market. They opened Truck De Luxe right by Dizengoff Square, next to 6 in May restaurant that made aliyah from Jerusalem. First thing you’ll notice about this place is the big truck inside the restaurant. This place is the closest you’ll get to a food truck in Tel Aviv since there’s a municipal by law which prohibits peddling. This is really a shame since I love the food truck culture very much. Read More

Almakel – Tel Aviv

We started our Friday walkabout with a visit to the Meat Paleo Market, which took place at Tel Aviv Port. Meat Paleo initiate all kind of events for the paleolithic community, and this time they organized this great market and brought together the best of Israeli produce straight from the breeders and farmers. Meat Paleo do these kind of events every once in a while, so you can follow them on Facebook if you would like to know when the next event is taking place. Read More

Bills – Odaiba, Tokyo

While I was doing my research online, prior to my Tokyo vacation, I came across many recommendation for Bills – an Australian restaurant. All the reviews I came across were raving about one dish specifically – the ricotta hotcakes, banana and honeycomb butter (¥1400). I knew I had to have it! Read More

Kawaii Monster Cafe – Harajuku, Tokyo

Arriving to Kawaii Moster Cafe on Sunday morning, we were shocked to witness the long queue stretching for 3 floors and getting longer by the minute. Not wanting to spend a few hours in line along with Kawaii Japanese girls, we proceeded to pursue other adventures and came back afternoon. Luckily, we were let in straight away and didn’t have to queue at all! A few sitting options were offered at the four different zones: Mushroom Disco, Milk Stand, Bar experiments and Mel-Tea Room. Since Mushroom Disco was the most impressive one in my opinion I opted for this zone. There’s a cover charge of ¥3000 ($25/ 96₪) for dining in this zone, but we felt that it’s justified considering the incredible experience we had inside. Read More

Tensuke Tempura – Koenji, Tokyo

Tensuke Tempura was one of the few places about which I didn’t really inquire much before going. On one of my last days in Tokyo, I visited Koenji, a nice quiet neighborhood, not far from Shinjuku. The neighborhood is packed with vintage and second hand clothing stores and quirky little shops. Knowing I have only a few days left and that I haven’t yet had a proper tempura meal, I was on the lookout for a great authentic tempura place in Koenji. There’s not a lot of information online in English about this place, but even the little I read made me feel like this place is worth a visit. Read More

Ice Cream Paradise – Namco Namja Town, Tokyo

Looking for cool\unusual arcades I read about Namja Town. Namja Town is a Namco theme park opened in 1996 inside the Sunshine City shopping complex in east Ikebukuro, Toshima, Tokyo. In retrospect this arcade is mostly suitable to Japanese kids of younger age, since the vast majority of the attractions there require knowing Japanese. So after paying the entrance fee (¥500) and doing a quick tour around the place, we turned to the main reason we came there – tasting gyozas and weird ice cream. Read More

Ice Monster – Harajuku, Tokyo

Apparently shaved Ice, or kakigori, is a thing in Tokyo, and many places are selling this dessert. The first image that came to my mind when thinking about shaved ice, was not so appetizing, to say the least. But when seeing Ice Monster images online, I was hooked. I had to taste this magnificent looking mountain of ice.

This Taiwan-based store has one branch in Japan, located right in the center of Harajuku, 3 minutes walk from Omotesando exit. The first time I wanted to go there, I saw that the Bubble Milk Tea Sensation is sold out. Knowing that I’m going to get back to Harajuku a few days later, I decided to leave Ice Monster for my next visit. Read More

Luke’s Lobster – Harajuku, Tokyo

When I first sat down to write my first blog post I encountered a small obstruction. I was unable to use my keyboard because of Japanese snacks. Yes, a mountain of Japanese snacks literally got in my way of writing this one. Just got back from 2 weeks long vacation in Tokyo, following posts will portray some of Tokyo’s sights, adventures and (mostly) food. I’ve actually started writing this post while standing in line of one of the most delicious burgers in Tokyo. So here we go..

We discovered Luke’s Lobsters Rolls on our second day in Harajuku, passing some time before our lunch at Ukai-tei. What caught my attention was the long line trailing from this small booth. Later I learned that Luke’s Lobsters is a New York institution opened back in 2009. Now it already has more than 15 locations and is considered an east coast staple. Read More