Tokyo Spots, Highlighted by a Local Food Creator

yuuuuto38's pick from a long-running wagashi shop in Akasaka is a chilled mitarashi dango (grilled rice-flour dumplings in a sweet-soy glaze) that sells out daily on reservation. His tip is to chill it first, so the cold, soft dango plays off the sweet and salty golden sauce. A careful, traditional take on a Japanese sweet.

yuuuuto38 highlights the garlic-butter aroma that fills the room the moment the giant beef fillet hits the screaming-hot plate, grilled right in front of you, and says you can tell it'll be good before the first bite. He found the meat soft and juicy, and points to the room, a reported 100 million yen build, as a date night spot in Shinjuku.

yuuuuto38 highlights the daily line at Baba FLAT in Takadanobaba for its mentaiko French bread. It is a chewy, firm baguette loaded with rich mentaiko cream that oozes out as you bite. The detail he loves is the in-store toaster, so you crisp it up and eat it hot, straight from the oven.

yuuuuto38 spotlights the whole-peach kakigori at what he calls Tokyo's most popular shaved-ice shop. The detail he singles out: hidden beneath the fluffy ice, fresh peach syrup and rare-cheese milk, is a piece of rare cheesecake, a creative twist on the summer staple in Shibuya.

yuuuuto38's current top pick for a Tokyo lunch is the triple yukke don (seasoned raw beef over rice): three 100-gram portions of yukke, each crowned with an egg yolk, piled on the bowl. He suggests eating it two ways, wrapped in Korean seaweed or toro-taku style with pickled daikon and shiso.

What stood out to yuuuuto38 here is the interactive part of the experience. He was given a mentaiko onigiri which is then meant to dip into mentaiko cream. He also tries the mentaiko cream-cheese ramen, and notes the shio-butter ramen, topped with a whole chunk of butter, as the shop's signature.

yuuuuto38's splurge pick is a snow crab (matsuba) course where a live crab is filleted at your table, one per person. He walks through the progression, sashimi, then charcoal grilled, then boiled, and singles out the finale dish, a crab meat in rich crab miso, topped with abalone, over rice.