Tokyo's best eats: from a poor student's POV

Finding places to eat in Japan actually turns out to be much harder than you'd imagine. I can't count the amount of times I've spent gormlessly wondering around a place seemingly packed with restaurants with my stomach rumbling and no clue in hell of where I'm going to eat. The thing is - and I'm just gonna lay this one down here - restaurants here look crap. They actually do. There's no lavish glass fronting and swanky window displays like in Britain, because quite frankly, 1) there's not enough space and 2) Japanese people would probably run a mile if they saw an artistic pasta installation in the shape of a mermaid in a restaurant window. Instead, restaurants are generally all squashed together in a somewhat unappetising manner, with little or no information outside as to what they actually sell. In my first week here I made the embarrassing mistake of just taking pot luck as to which restaurant I chose. As I sat down, started sipping on the free tea and began explaining to the waiter "I don't eat meat...", he gestured to the restaurant name written in tiny letters above the door: Tonkatsu restaurant. Oops. Awkward.

So anyway, like the caring and sharing citizen of Tokyo that I am (/in a very obvious and desparate procrastination attempt), I've complied a list of my favourite eating places in different areas of Tokyo to prevent further gaijin embarrassment or accidental eating of unknown meats. Go forth and munch!

Harajuku - Tendon tempura
I love this place! It's so basic and cheap but soooo tasty and satisfying! Basically it's around 600 yen for a tempura set of your choice (I always get the vegetable one, but there's different varieties of fish ones too). You get a massive bowl of tempura with a generous helping of rice underneath, and a bowl of miso soup. Tea is free and the little side dishes of spinach or fried octopus are only 60 yen! Amazing. To find it, exit Harajuku station, walk down Takeshita street then straight away take the crossing to the other side of the street. Start walking right, and once get about 10 metres down and see that the 'ABC mart' shoe store is directly on the opposite side of the road from you, you should see a little brown shop with the kanji '天どん' above the door. That's your man.

Shibuya - Thai Garden
This place is kind of hidden in one of Shibuya's many side streets - just opposite Zara. The entrance is small and you go down a flight of stairs which opens up to a super plush Thai themed restaurant. Me and my ichiban tomodachi here, Omolola, went to this place a week ago and loved it. Lunch sets are 850 yen - a little more on the pricey side but definitely worth it. You get a main of your choice - I chose green thai curry - and then alongside that you get a salad, soup, desert and super oishii fruit tea. There are loads of pictures of the food on this Japanese website, and maps are easily available by just typing 'Thai Garden Shibuya' into Google. It's a gorgeous, quite high class restaurant with authentic Thai decor, and the waitresses wear traditional Thai dress. My only warning is, make sure you go during lunchtime to get the specials, otherwise I can imagine it'll be veeery expensive!

Shimokitazawa - La Befana
If you're ever craving a pizza when in Tokyo, this is definitely the place to go! Lunch sets are only 1200 yen - for which you get a huge salad, pizza of your choice and free drink (when we went, we had white wine which actually was surprisingly really nice!). The menu is simple but unpretentious, and although a plain margarita pizza may not cut it whilst back home in England, it's definitely enough to satisfy here! The restaurant is really small and adorable, and very homely. To find it, you need to take the west exit at Shimokitazawa station, turn left, then take the first right.

Shinjuku - Himawari sushi
This is by far my favourite restaurant in Tokyo! I go here almost every week - the staff know my favourite orders and everything. Basically expect cheap, delicious sushi. It's authentic Japanese, but not intimidatingly so - there's often a foreigner or two in there chowing down and using the cute little English 'point at the picture you want' menus they give out. The staff are absolutely adorable and it's family run, so there's a really homely feel to the place - in that sense it'd be good for bringing kids to if they want to sample real Japanese cuisine. I always get Aji (horse mackrel), Unagi (eel), and grilled salmon, but there's plenty more stuff on the menu and if you can't see what you want, they make it for you. They do the best desert too called Annin Tofu - I bloody love the stuff! The prices are amazingly cheap - I usually never spend any more than 1000 yen in there, yet compared with all the other more expensive or hyped up sushi restaurants I have been to, these guys are by far the best. To find it, you just take the south exit at Shinjuku station, turn right, cross over the road towards Family Mart, then walk into the alleyway just to the right of the big KFC. Take the first right and it's there on the left, a little piece of sushi heaven.