Another hungry walk around Shinjyuku, I came across a restaurant that gave off strong Queens Chinese restaurant vibes so I had to go in. The inside was what I imagined, messy but everything had it’s own perfect spot for maximum operation efficiency. 

It was already half past 3, late for Tokyo lunch time, but the place was stacked with people from all walks of life, or it seemed. While we were eating, what looked like the owner of the restaurant came in and started to greet the entire staff. Then came one of his old workers who recently started a restaurant of his own but was struggling due to the pandemic. While side-earing the food industry wisdom that the old timer was giving to his now “peer”, I slurped on a satisfying bowl of spicy vegetable noodle with a side of fried rice. I can see that this is one of those old timer restaurantslocal businessman and the 

With the food and the people inside it, I understand why this kind of place is around for so long; even coming out of the pandemic with little to no wounds it seems.

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Daruma

First meal in Tokyo, I was first lining up for a popular ramen place only to realize the “ticket machine” to order only takes cash… I was super hungry so I decided to walk into the next ramen spot I saw. Rich tonkotsu based soup with thick noodles. Don’t know if it was my jet lag but I was already pretty full halfway through the bowl. the gyoza was passable.


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Ikkakuya

Vegetarian restaurant in Kaunas with very high google reviews, I wonder if smaller cities are easier to get higher ratings in? But this hole-in-a-wall restaurant is run by a small team of people who seem to really care about healthy and good tasting food. The aesthetics is on point with the music, the interior, and even their bathroom. The spice usage is very well thought out and their vegetarian curry is just as good as any meat using curries. That's the thing about curries though, you can basically put anything in it, or not, and it will still be delicious as long as the spices are correct. The only thing was that the food took sooo long, but I guess I'll overlook that since I was introduced to some fire electronic song/artist (Chakurana by Porangui - drumspydr remix).

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Moksha

Ikebukuro is the rougher and less polished counterpart to Shinjyuku IMO. And this Japnese style diner is the perfect representation of that. While there were many other dishes that drew my eyes, I've personally never seen such a thing as "black curry", which I presume is colored with squid ink. While the looks of it is wild, the flavor was that of a traditional family style, Japanese curry. I can see that this is a local favorite since it was packed and lively even past regular lunch hours.

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Kitchen ABC

It's super easy to miss this little burger shack tucked in a little street right off of Meiji Street. I wonder why they don't have any signage facing one of the busiest streets around though? I started making assumptions of the legality of their business and little picnic seats in the middle of a publiuc street as I was waiting for my burger. Simple, to the point burger is never a miss. The fries are one of those fries that feel like you're just eating a crispy sin and there's no potato inside?

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Marger Burger

Chinese restaurants with old and worn out yellow signage usually means good food; at least in my books. And this place here is the epitome of this trend that I've been noticing. 

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Chōraku

Surprisingly, there aren’t too many Mexican restaurants in Tokyo, and as a lover of all-foods Mexican, I think there is a golden opportunity for anyone looking to get into the hectic restaurant business in Tokyo. But in the scarcity, I came across this Mexican restaurant with an authentic feel and workers speaking Spanish to everyone that walks in. Although the burrito I ordered was a bit on the smaller side (maybe because it was a lunch set?), the taste is authentic; with real pico de gallo instead of generic tex-mex salsa and nice assortment of Mexican hot sauces.

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Chiles

I was scrolling through Youtube one day and came across a mini-doc about this gyoza place that has been making the same gyoza for over a 100 years. I just happened to be in Tokyo so I went over there the next night for dinner.

Simple but crafted gyoza with chewy (mochi-mochi) skin. I also got a very simple noodle dish that, I'm guessing, used the same dough as the dumpling skin for the noodles.

Helsinki, Finland