Jikabaisenkohibon 自家焙煎珈琲 凡

Jikabaisenkohibon is a hole in the wall. We literally walked by this place many times and missed the entrance completely. But once you find the entrance and go downstairs you’ll find a hidden gem. The decor in this coffee shop is absolutely stunning! I highly recommend to sit by the bar so you can see the whole collection of tea cups behind the glass display.

There’s a list of English Tea, hot and iced coffee to choose from along with a few cake selection. And of course, their most popular cake is the Strawberry cake. My friend is a coffee addict and he loved this place. Great coffee, tasty cake and beautiful decor!

It could get a little tricky if you need to visit the bathroom. When you’re at the end of the restaurant, you’ll see a bookshelf, the bathroom is right behind it. How cool is that?! Overall, it’s a great experience to visit this coffee shop even if you’re not a coffee addict.

Address \\ B1 Floor 3-23-1 Shinjuku Shinjuku Tokyo
Phone Number \\ 03-3341-0179 (Cannot make reservations)
Hours \\   Monday – Sunday: 12:30pm – 10:40pm (Last order)
Average Price \\   Lunch: ￥1,000 – ￥1,999
Payment Method \\   Cash Only
Rating \\ 3.55/5
Website \\   Jikabaisenkohibon (Japanese only)

Hidden Gem In Tsukiji Market

This is one of my favorite hidden gem in Tsukiji Market! There are some places I want to keep it a secret so it doesn’t get raided by foreigners. So I’m sorry for not disclosing the name of this restaurant.

This hidden gem is known for Japanese uni, so if you’re an uni lover, this is heaven for you! Japanese uni is very different than the B.C uni I’m used to from Toronto. Japanese uni is smaller, a little less creamy but it’s a lot sweeter! You can order uni bowls with 5 different types of Japanese uni for ￥5,980. If you’re on a budget, you can just order a piece of uni sushi ￥580 – ￥1,000.

Most Japanese restaurants don’t allow people to share an order but this restaurant is okay with it. We went with our friends and we ordered 2 bowls to share so it ended up being around ￥2,500 per person which isn’t too bad. So if you’re lucky enough to stumble upon this restaurant then don’t miss out! There’s so much to eat in Tsukiji Market so at least we got a taste of this place and we headed out to eat more!

Address \\  Tsukiji Market
Hours \\   Generally Mon – Sun: 10am – 10pm
Average Price \\   Lunch: ￥2,000 – ￥2,999,  Dinner: ￥4,000 – ￥4,999
Rating \\ 3.50/5

1 Michelin Star Nodaiwa 野田岩 銀座店

Nodaiwa is a 1 Michelin Star restaurant so it already speaks for itself. The owner is now the 5th generation and definitely kept the tradition and quality. We made a reservation but we were late because we kept missing the entrance! If you reference to the first picture, their sign was actually on the top right hand corner (Japanese sign only) but we thought that was the Ginza Station entrance. So if you do go, make sure you find that entrance!

They had a few set lunches to choose from so we picked a set that was around  ￥5,000. It comes with tea, a soup, 2 side dishes and the unagi rice box. The unagi was light and delicate, the sauce was absolutely amazing. We were trying to savor every bite!

As we left, we then realize the restaurant was right beside Jiro and we saw him counting cash! This is probably the closest we’ll get to Jiro. =P

**Quick Tip** For most fine dining restaurants in Japan, I highly recommend to go for lunch because it’s normally half the price of dinner, if not more.

Address \\  B1 F 4-2-15 Ginza Chuo Tokyo
Phone Number \\   03-5524-3125 (Takes reservations)
Hours \\   Monday – Saturday: 11:30am – 2pm,  5pm – 8pm
Average Price \\   Lunch: ￥5,000 – ￥5,999,  Dinner: ￥10,000 – ￥14,999
Payment Method \\   Credit Card Accepted
Rating \\ 3.67/5
Website \\   Nodaiwa Menu (Mainly Japanese)

. Snap . Travel . Eat .

My Travel Buddy

I’ve decided to start brand new with my blog and just strictly blog about Japan because I love it so much! I’ve been to a few places in Japan so far:

. Tokyo . Yokohama . Fujikawaguchiko . Osaka . Kyoto . Kobe . Tsuruga . Fukui . Kanazawa . Shirakawa-go . Takayama . Shiga .  Hiroshima . Beppu . Fukuoka . Shimonoseki .  Kitakyushu . Kokura . Shizuoka . Nishiizu . Izu . Yugawara . Atami . Sapporo . Otaru . Niseko .

When I was planning for my first trip, I was overwhelmed because there’s so much to see, a ton of things I want to eat but limited time! I really wanted to maximize my time there so I planned everything in the most efficient way possible.

I made a whole PowerPoint presentation because there’s no better way to show my boyfriend what I want to do and why I wanted to go there. I save the screenshots on my phone so when I travel, I can reference back to the pictures and see my itinerary.

I use Google Maps and pin all the locations  I want to go so when I’m there, I click the icon and it’ll teach me how to get there. It’s super convenient and I highly recommend it! I’ve been doing some customized Japan trip planning and I’d love to share some of my adventures on my blog. =)