eat like Bourdain
🇯🇵 Where Bourdain Ate in Tokyo
20 places across Parts Unknown & No Reservations
“I love Tokyo. If I had to eat only in one city for the rest of my life, Tokyo would be it.”
Tokyo was Bourdain's favorite food city in the world — he said so repeatedly across multiple shows. He was fascinated by the obsessive craftsmanship, the depth of the food culture, and the sheer variety. He visited across multiple seasons of No Reservations, Parts Unknown, and The Layover.
What Bourdain Loved About Tokyo
The obsessive dedication to craft — from sushi masters to ramen shops
Tsukiji fish market at dawn, eating the freshest sushi of your life
Izakaya culture — drinking and eating small plates late into the night
The ramen scene — each shop a single-minded pursuit of the perfect bowl
Depachika (department store food halls) — a universe of food under one roof
The yakuza-run restaurants that only locals know about
Episodes Featuring Tokyo
Parts Unknown — S2 E7: Tokyo
Explores the duality of Tokyo — tradition and underground
No Reservations — S6 E17: Japan: Tokyo
The famous episode with the fugu preparation
No Reservations — S3 E4: Japan
First trip to Japan — falls in love with the food culture
The Layover — S1 E4: Tokyo
48 hours in Tokyo — the essential hits
Travel Tips for Eating in Tokyo
Tony's Advice
Go to Golden Gai after midnight. Order whiskey. See what happens.
What to Skip
- ✕Tourist-trap sushi in Roppongi
- ✕Any restaurant that looks like it was designed for Instagram
- ✕Conveyor belt sushi — it exists, but that's not what Tony came for
Every Place Bourdain Visited in Tokyo
20 placesRobot Restaurant
さくら通り
Tony said this was the greatest show he's ever seen, better than Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and David Bowie live. He saw the show called Robot Wars.
Bar Albatros
Omoide-yokocho
"Definition of a hole in the wall," says Tony.
Toshima City
南池袋二丁目
There used to be a boxing gym in Toshima called Yurakura Gym, but I could not find it on the map.
Yasuda
Tony loves Yasuda in NYC, and wanted to find out why the chef, whom the restaurant is named for, would suddenly move back to Tokyo. Yasuda said that Japan is the origin of sushi, so he wanted to return to where it was created. Yasuda is also a karate master.
Daitoryo
Tony meets with Tamika (a professional dominatrix; Kinoko Hajime, a shibari (Japanese form of rope bondage) artist and Tamika’s partner; and Naga, a translator also joined) at this Izakaya restaurant. They have Kusaia, which is grilled fermented fish, yakitori, and motsunabe (intestine stew with miso).
Mienoumi
富岡一丁目
Tony had a meal with Toshio Maeda, the manga illustrator credited with inventing tentacle porn. They ate katsuo no tataki (seared bonito with daikon, fresh greens, sprouts, and ponzu) and tomato nabe (a hot pot of meat and vegetables favored by sumo wrestlers).
Mahakala
青葉台一丁目
Tony had a meal with Chef Yasuda, they had kushiage (fried skewers of shrimp and basil, lotus fruit, octopus, and quail eggs) and okonomiyaki (egg-batter pancake stuffed with squid). Yasuda lives near here and loves this place.
Ginza Sushi Ko Honten
One of the BEST sushi places in the world. Masa learned here. They had seared horse mackerel over green onion and ginger, maguro (bluefin tuna), Japanese tiger prawn, octopus, fluke sashimi, striped jack, anago (sea eel) rolled in seaweed, and tamagoyaki (breaded shrimp eggs and fish paste)
Sarashina Horii Azabujūban Honten
Tony and Chef Morimoto ate soba noodles here. They have been making soba noodles by hand here since 1789
Bar 石の華 Ishinohana
渋谷入口
Fancy cocktails at one of the best bars in Tokyo, in Shibuya
XEX
This is Chef Morimoto's flagship restaurant. He prepared monkfish many different ways for Tony.
Toriki
旗の台三丁目
Yakitori, or Japanese BBQ, mostly chicken.
BAR PIANO
渋谷一丁目
A nomiya, which is a tiny bar where late shift workers go out after work
Ivan Ramen (Closed)
経堂二丁目
Former site of Ivan Ramen, a restaurant that has since closed. The owner opened a spot in New York by the same name.
Unagi Hosakaya
自由が丘一丁目
Tony and Chef Ivan ate this restaurant that serves grilled eel.
HACHI
Chef Rene Redzepi met with Tony to eat here. Spinach with codfish sperm.
Lawson Ningyocho Station Shop
日本橋人形町一丁目
I am not sure if this is the exact location where David Chang introduced Tony to this convenience store, which he later wrote about several times in his future visits to Japan. It is a chain of stores, and both David and Tony loved the egg salad sandwich and the chicken nuggets here.
Yakitori Ton Ton
Tony met up with David Chang again after the Cook it Raw competition and had yakitori.
TSUKIJI FISH MARKET
Tsukiji higashi-dori St.
Fresh fish market
Nippon Budokan
Kendo master Tadao Todo did a kendo demonstration for Tony
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