Ginza

A basement tonkatsu restaurant three minutes from Ginza Station that describes itself as the first tonkatsu specialist to open in Ginza. Set meals come with rice, miso soup and pickles, and the rice is refillable; single items can be combined into a set and portions adjusted on request.

Set meals run from ¥1,950 to ¥4,600 and a katsudon is ¥1,400, as listed by the restaurant in April 2024. The founder had trained as a pharmacist and used that knowledge to develop the house tonkatsu sauce, which is also sold to take home.

Good to know

• Reservations are not taken, and a group is seated only once everyone has arrived.
• Last orders are at 20:00, so this is an early dinner rather than a late one.
• Open every day except 1 January.
• Prices are those listed by the restaurant as of April 2024.

A basement yakitori and kamameshi shop in Ginza 5-chome, founded here not long after the war. By its own account no shop in Ginza was serving kamameshi as a regular menu item at the time, and this was the first to do so, which is why rice pots and grilled chicken still come together here.

The chicken is grilled over binchotan charcoal from Wakayama, as it has been since the shop opened, and each kamameshi is started only once it is ordered, so it takes about fifteen minutes. The dashi is drawn fresh each day from kombu and dried fish.

Good to know

• The main shop in Ginza does not take reservations at present.
• Kamameshi takes about fifteen minutes because it is cooked from the start after you order.
• Last orders are at 21:00.
• No prices are published on the official site.

The deep-fried skewer chain's Higashi-Ginza branch, a minute from Exit A7, with 54 seats across counter, table, tatami and booth seating. It is one of the few places in this part of Ginza still serving at 1:00, from Tuesday to Saturday, and it opens at noon at weekends.

Skewers are dipped in a shared pot of sauce, and the house rule is that you may not dip a second time. Guests aged 20 or over pay a ¥319 cover charge, which brings a refillable plate of cabbage and sauce, and must order at least one drink.

Good to know

• Guests aged 20 or over pay a ¥319 (tax included) cover charge each, even without alcohol, and must order at least one drink.
• Dipping a skewer in the sauce a second time is not allowed.
• Under-20s may come in on their own, but no alcohol is served to them and ID may be checked.
• This branch has no indoor smoking booth.

A wagyu grill on the seventh floor of ONE GINZA, open until 23:30 every day of the year, which makes it one of the latest kitchens in this part of Ginza. There are 90 seats including five fully private rooms for up to nine guests, and the food menu is printed with English alongside the Japanese.

Two courses are offered, at ¥9,300 and ¥12,400, both tax included with a service charge on top. À la carte, cuts run from ¥1,800 for thin-sliced tongue to ¥7,000 for chateaubriand.

Good to know

• A service charge is added on top of the listed prices.
• Last orders are at 22:30.
• Opens at 17:00 on weekdays and 11:30 at weekends and on public holidays.

A Chinese restaurant that opened in Ginza 1-chome in 1926 and reached its hundredth year in 2026, a minute's walk from Ginza-itchome Station. The dining rooms are hung with Chinese art, and the house has been named an international Chinese restaurant by the World Association of Chinese Cuisine in Beijing.

Dinner is served in courses named after orchids, from ¥13,200 to ¥35,200 with tax included and a 10 percent service charge on top. A vegan menu is published separately, drawing on Chinese temple cooking, and there are six western-style private rooms plus four half-private ones.

Good to know

• Closed every Wednesday except when it falls on a public holiday.
• A 10 percent service charge is added, and private rooms carry a room charge.
• Last orders are at 20:00 on weekdays and 19:30 on Sundays and public holidays.
• Some days are taken over by private events, so check the restaurant's notices before going.

The western restaurant on the fourth and fifth floors of the Tokyo Ginza Shiseido Building, serving in one stretch from 11:30 until last orders at 20:30. Dish names are printed in English as well as Japanese, and there is one private room on the fifth floor, set with stained glass handed down through the house, seating up to eight.

Courses run from ¥8,500 to ¥15,000, and the long-standing à la carte dishes stay on the menu: the meat croquette at ¥3,100, the beef stew at ¥4,500 and the consommé at ¥1,600. Prices include tax, with a 10 percent service charge added.

Good to know

• Closed on Mondays, except when the Monday is a public holiday.
• Listed prices include tax and a 10 percent service charge is added.
• Last orders are at 20:30 although the restaurant is open until 21:30.
• Several of the courses are offered only for a set period, so check before you go.