17 best restaurants in Ginza: tonkatsu, ramen, tempura, burgers and more

From the folks behind the Michelin-starred crab speciality restaurant Kitafuku comes a unique restaurant that elevates tonkatsu (deep-fried breaded pork) from a casual meal to an omakase experience. And with prices that won’t break the bank: lunch costs as little as ¥3,800 while dinner starts from an affordable ¥7,700.

The restaurant uses two types of pork: Yonezawa-buta Ichiban Sodachi, which has a good balance of umami and sweetness, and local Tokyo X-buta, favoured for its sweet, juicy fat. The pork is served fresh off the fryer, piece by piece, like a set course meal, and the chef will recommend the best condiment for each one. It’s an eye-opening experience exploring the various flavours and textures of pork, and you can really taste the difference from cut to cut.

Ginza Hachigo’s ramen soup is like consommé: a clear liquid gold that’s light yet complex and full of flavour. It’s made by boiling down Nagoya Cochin chicken, duck, scallop, dried tomatoes and shiitake mushrooms, konbu (seaweed), an heirloom green onion from Kyoto and, surprisingly, cured ham. Where your standard bowl of ramen calls for tare, a sauce concentrate that acts like a seasoning, Matsumura eschews that for a sprinkling of French sea salt to round out the flavours. And it’s just phenomenal. 

The bowl of noodles is then topped with strands of bamboo shoots, slivers of green onion and slices of chashu pork, and finished with a fresh crack of black pepper. Those fatty pork pieces are cooked so perfectly that the fat just coats your palate with a sweet, creamy, savoury goodness. Better yet, this Bib Gourmand-rated ramen will only set you back ¥1,200; throw in an extra ¥200 and you’ll get a perfect boiled egg with a gooey yolk.

There are two ways to snag a seat at the highly popular Ginza Hachigo. The restaurant takes walk-ins (read: you still have to line up, so go early) from 11am to 12.30pm. Otherwise, make an online reservation for a 30-minute slot between 12.30pm and 2.30pm.

Hailing from the Hakata region of Japan, tonkotsu ramen is famed for its rich, cloudy broth made by boiling down pork bones for a significant amount of time. Fukuoka-born Buta Soba Tsukiya, however, is serving a peculiar twist on this classic ramen. Better yet, it has a Tokyo branch.

Dubbed buta soba (pork noodles), the usually creamy tonkotsu pork broth is replaced with a light and refreshing soup that doesn’t compromise on flavour. To achieve this, the ramen specialist slowly simmers the pork bones rather than boiling them, and continuously skims the broth. The painstakingly long process results in an unusually clear broth that’s clean-tasting but still packed with the natural sweetness of pork.

The thin noodles are made with Fukuoka-grown flour and topped with thin slices of chashu pork. Green onions, myoga (Japanese ginger) and a kabosu (Japanese citrus similar to a lime) wedge are served alongside each bowl, but you should try the broth as-is before adding in these toppings.

This restaurant specialises in the black-haired pork that the Kyushu prefecture is so well known for. Best enjoyed as shabu-shabu together with soba noodles, the meat also goes down nicely in tonkatsu form. Head over during lunchtime (11.30am-3.30pm) for the affordable set deals starting from just ¥1,080.

The other reason to visit Ichiniisan is the Shirokuma ('white bear') kakigori, which here means an impressive mountain of milky ice, topped with ample fruit and three kinds of sweet beans. If the regular size looks a little challenging, try going for the miniature version, known as Koguma ('small bear').

This unique udon restaurant specialises in extra-wide noodles, otherwise known as Himokawa udon. This style of noodles originated from the Kiryu area of Gunma prefecture, which is revered for its quality wheat production. The wide udon ribbons here are on the soft side but they still have a good bite. More importantly, they are so slippery smooth it's joy to eat. 

At this super popular Ginza eatery, you can sample the exceptionally wide udon noodles in a range of styles such as zaru dipping style, or bukkake style with a simple sauce poured over chilled noodles and served with toppings. Our favourite however, is the assorted tempura zaru set. The tempura, which consists of two prawns and several seasonal vegetables, are exceptionally good for a noodle restaurant. As for the dipping udon, you get to choose two out of five sauce: soy sauce, sesame, black sesame with pepper, roasted sake, and curry.

This branch of the Yamawarau shabu shabu restaurant is easily one of the most accommodating restaurants in Ginza. For one, it specialises in solo hot pot, so that even those dining by themselves can partake in this classic Japanese cuisine that’s usually served communal-style. The restaurant is also spacious enough to accommodate groups – although this being Yamawarau, everyone will be getting an individual copper pot to cook their shabu shabu in regardless of party size. An O-shaped island with counter seats dominates the interior, while long tables are set towards the back. 

As usual with shabu shabu hot pot, meat is the draw here, and Yamawarau procures some top-shelf selection. There are several types of wagyu beef on the menu, all of them featuring A4 grade marbling and above. However, the Yamagata, Matsusaka and Kobe varieties are the three most premium types of beef here. As for pork, Yamawarau serves the Yonezawa breed which is known for its clean, delicate flavour.

Lunch is the most affordable time to be eating here, with beef shabu shabu sets starting from just ¥2,860 and pork from ¥1,760. The meal includes an assorted vegetable platter, rice or noodles, and dessert. Dinner options are more sumptuous, and not just because the portions are bigger. In the evening, the sets come with unlimited vegetables, rice or noodles, and your choice of appetiser and dessert (the matcha affogato is a crowd pleaser). Prices are slightly higher as well – beef shabu shabu will set you back at least ¥5,500 while the pork options start from ¥4,070.

Yamawarau Ginza has a calm and relaxed atmosphere that makes mealtime easy and enjoyable, not least because the restaurant offers an English menu as well as an English instruction sheet on how to enjoy shabu shabu. Bonus points for the online reservation system, which allows booking for lunch and dinner. 

Sister shop to its ever-popular Kyoto-based restaurant, Gyoza Hohei is the perfect place in Ginza to get your late-night gyoza fix, as on week nights it's open until 1am (last orders 12.30am). The tiny restaurant is best known for its signature dumplings with their crisp exterior, stuffed with a savoury garlic and leek filling, but the ginger gyoza with no garlic or onion are a popular alternative for those who are wary about serious garlic breath.

Other than the gyoza, the simple menu is rounded off with a few side dishes and drinks, making it a popular spot for a light snack in between meals.

Dom Dom Hamburger Plus offers premium burgers made with 100 percent Japanese black wagyu beef. And they come with various seasonings and add-ons from wasabi and soy sauce to bacon, egg, cheddar, gorgonzola, mushroom and avocado. There’s wine, too, which you can order by the glass or bottle.

However, what we really love about this Plus outlet are the creative burgers, especially the deep-fried soft shell crab burger (¥1,690). Here the satisfyingly crispy whole crab is stacked with crunchy lettuce, cheese and onion slices. On the side are fries and pickled ginger, like those you get at a sushi restaurant. It’s an odd condiment for a burger but it works surprisingly well to refresh your palate.

Other burgers worth checking out include the Sangen pork loin cutlet burger with curry sauce (¥1,590), the crispy Alaska pollack fish burger (where the fish is twice the size of the buns; ¥1,190), and the sweet and spicy chicken burger (¥1,190). Keep an eye out for the limited-time specials, too.

Hungry diners should seek out this chic noodle joint in Ginza, which specialises in spicy, mapo-style ramen noodles. Whipped up by a former Chinese restaurant chef, the mapo-men (¥1,300) is made with ample amounts of mouth-numbing Sichuan pepper, bound to get your tear ducts working. Thankfully, if you’d prefer to customise your bowl, the restaurant lets you choose from three levels of spiciness: light, medium and heavy.

This TsuruTonTan outlet on the tenth floor of Tokyu Plaza Ginza may look grand, but don’t let its fine dining interior discourage you. It’s still the affordable udon joint we know and love – the portions are just as big and the bowls even bigger.

TsuruTonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie is perfect for families and groups, as there are cocoon-like box seats that can accommodate six as well as communal tables fit for ten. Most of the comforting udon bowls cost around ¥1,500; the noodles are made in-house and everything is cooked to order. What’s even better is that you can request up to three times the amount of noodles for free.

If you’re looking to make an occasion of this, complement your meal with side dishes such as sashimi and tempura. Or go all out with a sukiyaki hot pot set meal with udon noodles and seasonal side dishes from just ¥4,500. 

An upscale anago specialist in equally upscale Ginza, Hakarime has built its entire menu around conger eels – yet the prices here are surprisingly affordable for the area. Don’t miss the assorted anago sashimi (¥3,520), anago shabu-shabu (¥1,650), stone-grilled anago rice (¥1,320), and anago nihonshu (hot sake served with a floating piece of grilled conger eel head), which you can only find at a few places in the city.

For anago beginners, you can't go wrong with the conger eel hitsumabushi (¥1,760), which is classic broiled anago served on rice with a side of pickled vegetables and dashi soup.

Originated in Hong Kong, this Chinese seafood restaurant serves classic Cantonese cuisine including dim sum, fried rice, shrimp wanton noodles and more. While Heigei specialises in seafood, the menu also offers plenty of veggie, tofu and meat dishes, too. Try a Sichuan mapo tofu, peking duck or one of the seafood dishes packed with flavourful peppers and garlic.

We recommend the chilli and garlic fried mud crab in particular, which is a deep fried dish using one of the most luxurious crabs in the world. Or go all-out and treat yourself to the multicourse meal (from ¥6,600), which comes with dishes like crab and salmon roe cooked in a Hong Kong clay pot, teppan grilled shrimp chilli with crispy black rice and Cantonese roast duck.

Come here for lunch and you can choose from nine different set meals ranging from ¥1,300 to ¥5,000. If you get here early enough, you can snag the steamed fish set (¥2,200), which is only offered to five customers per day.

This classy wood-panelled barbecue joint is on a narrow street off Ginza’s main drag. A row of tabletops line one wall, with the rest partitioned behind glass walls, and at the centre of each, depressed into the table surface, is a dome-shaped grill, meant to represent Mongolian warriors’ helmets.

Although their all-you-can-eat/drink dinner deals are reasonably priced, for those on a budget we recommend the warrior-sized lunch sets. You can choose from nine types of lamb and veggie grills (mostly under ¥2,000 on weekdays), which include salad, rice and miso soup as well as bottomless soft drink (self service).

The shopping enclave of Ginza is the last place you’d expect to find a Bib Gourmand meal for just ¥1,000. But on weekday lunchtimes, this anomaly of a restaurant, tucked away in a narrow basement in a back alley, serves excellent tendon (tempura on rice) for just that. It’s a steal, considering dinner here will set you back at least ¥3,850.

This place has serious pedigree: the proprietor Chef Abe had previously worked at Nadaman, one of the city’s top Japanese restaurants, for 30 years. Prawn tempura is a speciality: you’ll get two of these perfectly executed fritters plus three kinds of seasonal vegetables with the Oebi tendon lunch, or a large shrimp-and-vegetable fritter plus a tempura egg with the kakiage don. Whichever you choose, you can count on fresh ingredients and non-greasy batter, and a filling meal with miso soup and pickles that starts from a mere ¥1,000.

On the fourth floor of the chrome-plated shopping mall Ginza Six is this understated little shop. At the front, you’ll find a great variety of matcha tea for sale, but beyond a mysterious partition curtain is the real gem: its café.

Everything on the menu is made with matcha, including the soba and udon. The waiter will prepare complimentary tea when you sit down, while describing the day’s selection. The matcha notes in everything from the noodles to the cheesecake are mild and never overpowering. We recommend the matcha soba set, which comes with ginger-topped rice, Kyoto pickles, matcha jelly, and three different ways of seasoning the soup.

From the moment you remove your shoes to walk on the tatami mats to your final morsel of fresh, briny-sweet crabmeat, Kitafuku is an exhilarating experience. A meal at this crab specialist, where the offerings vary from season to season, lasts at least two hours, which is the minimum time necessary for a live king crab (typically around 4-5kg) to be deshelled, systematically dismantled – leg by leg, claw by claw – and enjoyed in various ways: blanched, boiled, charcoal-grilled and sashimi.

It doesn’t come cheap though: be prepared to spend at least ¥30,000. So if you’re not a big fan of crab, don’t even think about it. However, it’s worth every yen for a unique and spectacular evening out.

Headquartered in the Hozenji area of Osaka, Kushinobo specialises in kushikatsu – various deep-fried delicacies served on skewers. In addition to set meals, the menu lists a wide variety of à la carte treats, all made with quality ingredients. Although the skewered bites are all deep fried, you’ll be surprised by the diversity of flavours.

We recommend ordering at least one skewer of everything, especially the prawn, wagyu and asparagus. After savouring a couple of sticks unadorned, try experimenting with the various condiments: these range from classic kushikatsu sauce to sesame salt and a spicy sesame-mustard sauce.