We (or more specifically, our editor-in-chief Lim Chee Wah) were invited to be one of the guest judges for Time Out Tokyo’s inaugural #LoveTokyoAwards. Along with editors from Time Out New York, London, Beijing, Bangkok and Hong Kong, we spent a long weekend in November, running across Tokyo, reviewing the shortlisted cafés, restaurants, bars and shops. And now, the results have been announced. Here’s an excerpt:
Best Restaurant: King crab specialist Kitafuku Ginza
Best Bar: Bar Oak at the Tokyo Station Hotel
Best Café: Tea and wagashi specialist Higashiya
Best Shop: Isetan Shinjuku
Best Product: Tokyo Bike
Tokyo is a modern, vibrant and energetic cosmopolitan city, but scratch off that veneer of bright lights and glitzy skyscrapers and you'll find a society still rooted in traditional culture. This contrast, coexisting so seamlessly within a city, is what makes Tokyo such a fascinating destination. You could be having seasonal tea and wagashi in a contemporary tea house, and a few hours later you could be walking into an alley, looking for an old-school coffee bar that hasn't changed since the '40s.
One thing we've always admired about the Japanese is their dedication to perfection, and the respect they have for the things they do, so much so that they elevate a craft or a skill into an art. The focus of a tea master when he's brewing your cup of matcha is mesmerising to watch. The level of precision that goes into slicing a prized fugu fish, or the length a bar goes to make and then hand cut its own ice – it makes the experience so much more special and memorable.
So if you’re heading to Tokyo for your year-end holidays, put these award-winning places on your itinerary.