Recommended restaurants in these cities?

Hello folks, I am gonna be travelling to Japan soon and I'll like to get some recommendations for restaurants. I would especially like to try eating Okonomiyaki, Raman and Takoyaki. I also like noodle and rice dishes in general.

I'm gonna be staying in Akihabara. But I'll also be travelling to Harajuko and Asukusa (maybe Osaka as well). Anyone know some good restaurants with those kinds of food in those cities?

Definitely go to Osaka for takoyaki - that's where it's from! Try Dotonbori in the evening.

Definitely go to Osaka for takoyaki - that's where it's from! Try Dotonbori in the evening.

Good points! Thank you very much for your input. I could probably go to Osaka on the way back from my Harajuku trip, to visit Dotonbori in the evening.

Akihabara, Harajuku and Asakusa are in Tokyo and they're areas of Tokyo, not cities in the proper term. Osaka is three hours away by shinkansen. You wouldn't stop by Osaka on your way back from Harajuku.

Akihabara, Harajuku and Asakusa are in Tokyo and they're areas of Tokyo, not cities in the proper term.

Rather unrelated to topic , but I thank you for your correction, I didn't realise. I know they're areas within Tokyo, but I still thought they were defined as "cities", the more you know, I'll keep that in mind.

Osaka is three hours away by shinkansen. You wouldn't stop by Osaka on your way back from Harajuku.

I just realised that I had mistaken Osaka for being way closer. I am grateful for you made me aware, thank you kindly.


Update:

- I won't be going to Osaka (I sadly don't got the time for the trip).

- I also forgot to add that I'll also be in the Odaiba- and Aomi Area.

- I am still looking for recommendations for restaurants that offer Okonomiyaki, Raman and Takoyaki in Akihabara, Harajuko, Asukusa, but also Odaiba and Aomi.

Sakuratei in Harajuku does nice okonomiyaki: http://www.sakuratei.co.jp/

When you're in Odaiba, there's a takoyaki theme park in the shopping complex Decks Tokyo Beach, with at least five different takoyaki shops from around Japan: http://odaiba-decks.com/floorguide/f4f.php

There are thousands of ramen shops in Tokyo, but here are a few to get you started: http://bento.com/r-ramen.html

While you're in Japan, be sure to check out other interesting cuisines like
tonkatsu (pork cutlets): http://bento.com/r-tonkatsu.html
yakitori (grilled chicken): http://bento.com/r-yakit.html
and tempura....
The shopping malls of Odaiba are all filled with affordable restaurants, and you'll also find good restaurant complexes in Akihabara and just about everywhere else too.

All the food you list is very common and doesn't really need much searching for.

You're very likely (VERY likely) to come across at least one of these types of food if you walk around any busy part of Tokyo for about 5 minutes. And to be fair (although Tampopo is one of my favourite films, and I know that there are e.g. ramen obsessives who travel great distances to slurp at a particular shop and tick it off their list), the types of cuisine you list are basically pretty everyday stuff which is done to a reasonable level all over the place, so I'd hardly fuss with searching particular places out if I'm on limited holiday time.

If you really get stuck (and I can't imagine you will), then head to a mall or a large station where you generally get more food types than you can shake a chopstick at. You'll sometimes even find concentrations of (in particular) ramen shops in one food court (so you can try e.g. Hokkaido ramen and then go next door and try Kyushu ramen).

If you're into these kinds of foods, I'd also advise you going to izakayas and trying the food there. Even the chain izakayas (again, there are many of these and you'll probably walk past several without having to search them out) offer a good range of perfectly decent Japanese food at reasonable prices.

You're very likely (VERY likely) to come across at least one of these types of food if you walk around any busy part of Tokyo for about 5 minutes.

Well yes, you're likely to come across ONE of these types of food - ramen.

Takoyaki and okonomiyaki shops really can't be found on every street corner in Tokyo; takoyaki in particular is kind of hard to run across by accident.

And I'm not sure where you're getting your suggestion to go to izakayas from - it's very rare to find an izakaya that serves okonomiyaki, takoyaki or ramen. I agree that OP should check out an izakaya or two if they're adventurous and want to explore, but izakaya aren't always as comfortable for the lone diner as the types of restaurants that were specified.

For takoyaki, I recommend gindaco ‹â‚¾‚±, this is a chain that sells takoyaki, so you can find their store at major/popular areas.
http://41.media.tumblr.com/ed03e0892842ec237b1cc36a0390be54/tumblr_niq...

For ramen, I recommend kamukura ramen �_�À, this is also a chain with stores everywhere.
http://40.media.tumblr.com/224d0a2f285b108e4ba39525f617396f/tumblr_nhi...

These may be common foods, but it pays off to do a little research to find the special places. For example, I'd recommend Sometaro in Asakusa for Okonomiya. Excellent food, english menus, and great atmosphere:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sometaro/@35.7118732,139.790868,17z/...

Pick a random izakaya, it'll probably have all those types of food, and you can order in one meal :)

I'm yet to have a bad meal in Japan, I just pick randomly. And remember, restaurants can be floors up via nondescript elevators, rather than being on the ground floor.

Odaiba's probably not the greatest area for food choice though, you might want to visit some of the other areas.

Pick a random izakaya, it'll probably have all those types of food, and you can order in one meal

Um, no, as I said above, it's unusual to find ramen, okonomiyaki or takoyaki on izakaya menus. All these foods tend to be available only in specialty restaurants.

Well chain izakaya might have a little of everything, but even if they do, the food is not going to be particularly great examples. Of course you don't need to fully plan out every meal, but you can really enhance your trip by finding a few special places to eat at.

Thanks to everyone that has given their suggestions, a great help.

I've printed out the suggestions, along with information on some of the links. I agree, I don't think it'll be tricky to find some of the food I'm looking for, but I rather be a little prepared.

I am happy to have been given so many suggestions as I'm inexperienced on this sort, as this is my first trip to Japan.

@yllwsmrf

Nice to see you again ^^ Exactly, it's easier to plan ahead if you know what your options are. Not that I am saying I'll lack restaurants, but I rather know the restaurants that serve what I am looking for in advance ^^

I won't be able to reply for a while as I am gonna take the plane today, thanks for understanding, thanks again to anyone who gave their input.

This may be too late for the OP, but using Tabelog is very helpful for this.

One can search for Okonomiyaki, for instance, using areas or using the embedded google map. One can sort by number of reviews, or ranking.

And it is in English as well.

It's true that the gems are often found by just wandering, as we have found, but sometimes, one needs a specific restaurant on hand.

For instance, here is a weird search. Takoyaki in Ginza:

http://bit.ly/1L64n6c

Only two restaurants show up, but that is likely two more than one would find by wandering!

Dale