How to Eat
Tabelog and Google Maps both rate Tokyo restaurants on a 5-point scale. The Tabelog 3.5 is the equivalent of a Google 4.5, and a Google 4.7 in Tokyo…
How to Eat
Eating alone is treated as a third-rate option in most cities. In Tokyo it is structurally normal — even preferred. The reasons are physical, social, and economic, and…
How to Eat
You don't need to learn Japanese to eat well in Tokyo. You need thirty characters. Here's the shortlist that decodes most menus, why menu apps still fail you,…
How to Eat
The mid-tier and high-end sushi counters of Tokyo run on rules nobody writes down — because everyone who eats at them already knows. Here are the rules, and…
How to Eat
You may have read that tipping in Japan is "not expected." That phrasing softens what is actually true. Tipping in Japan is, in most settings, a small social…
How to Eat
Most English-language menus translate omakase as "chef's choice." That translation is technically true and substantively wrong. What you are actually doing when you say omakase is something specific,…
How to Eat
Most of what tourists hear about ramen etiquette is either wrong or out of date. Here are the rules Tokyo regulars actually follow — and the ones nobody…