1
April 2023 Honeymoon – Two weeks in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hakone - Long post with lots of pictures!
(lemmit.online)
This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/KitchenCabinetIsOpen on 2024-03-07 05:20:32.
We are currently planning a six-person trip to Japan for this April/May, and it inspired me to write up a report using some notes that I jotted down from our trip earlier last year.
Background: My wife and I are in our early 30s and we flew into Haneda airport on a nonstop flight from Dallas, Texas. This was our first time in Japan, but we designed our itinerary knowing that we’d be back, so it wasn’t a huge deal if we missed out on some key landmarks. Our priorities were eating good food, drinking good drinks, and taking in as much as we could at a reasonable pace.
This report skips over most of our activities as the activities will mostly align with other itineraries you’ve read. The focus here will be mainly on rating/reviewing the food, drinks, and accommodations. And also a few stories along the way.
Sunday, April 2 – Tokyo:
- Hotel: Citadines Central Shinjuku Tokyo (3/5) – This budget-friendly hotel is situated in Shinjuku, offering a lively experience as it backs up into Golden Gai and is within walking distance of Shinjuku Station, numerous restaurants and bars, as well as shopping destinations. The hotel, resembling a converted apartment building, exhibits dated finishes that could benefit from an upgrade. The rooms, unfortunately, have a musty atmosphere reminiscent of the apartment I lived in my senior year of college.
- Food: Random Gyoza Spot (4/5) – owners were quick to tell us “No English.” We managed to order gyozas and a couple of cocktails using a combination of google lens, pointing, and saying “Kore Kudasai”.
- Miscellaneous: We scheduled a private transfer via Klook to pick us up from Haneda and drive us to our hotel. This was SUPER convenient especially after being on the plane for 12+ hours. It was $60 to get us to our hotel from the airport.
Monday, April 3 - Tokyo (22,500 steps, 9.5 miles):
- Experience: Nane Tokyo (4/5) - Cute spot in Omotesando where we made rings for each other. You get to choose the metal, shape, design, and engraving for your ring and then you hammer it out until it gets to the right shape/design. Super fun experience, a little on the expensive side for what you get.
- Food: Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera (4/5) – We discovered this sushi restaurant while exploring Omotesando and were fortunate to find immediate seating. Orders were conveniently placed through an iPad, and the chefs skillfully prepared each dish fresh to order. The menu offered an impressive variety, featuring fresh fish prepared in traditional Edomae style. Although slightly on the pricey side, the experience was undoubtedly worth it!
- Coffee: Rag & Bone Coffee (5/5) - Cozy coffeeshop in the back streets of Omotesando. Really hit the spot as we were battling jetlag.
- Food: Flippers Pancakes (3/5) - After an afternoon of shopping in Shibuya, we were looking to kill time before a drink reservation. Jetlag was starting to hit us a bit and we happened upon a Flippers so we decided to get some sweets and chug coffee to keep awake. After a 15-min wait, we were seated. The pancakes lived up to their reputation, impressively fluffy but with a slightly eggy taste. The food isn’t anything to write home about.
- Drink: The SG Club (5/5) - Great bar with amazing service and innovative, tasty cocktails. Seating gets a bit cramped downstairs but they make it work. We made friends with a Singaporean couple next to us who were also honeymooning. My wife’s first drink was a tomato-basil drink that tasted like the best parts of a caprese salad, super refreshing. My second drink was a yuzu, chrysanthemum concoction; the fragrance of the drink as you lifted the glass to sip was intoxicating. The scent was as much a part of the experience as the taste.
- Food: Nico Chica (4/5) - This place slaps. Located in Shinjuku, near our hotel, and it costs ¥500 yen for pizza. Upon entering, you take a set of stairs down to the basement level where there’s seating for about 40 people. The staff treated us well and were SO appreciative that we at least tried to order in Japanese (mostly pointing at the menu). We drank a ton of wine, ate pizza, pasta, and french fries. Not what we expected to be eating on our second night in Tokyo but it was the perfect late night snack after a night of drinking… At some point, they turned the lights off and brought a birthday cake out for someone and the whole restaurant sang happy birthday to the patron. How fun!
Tuesday, April 4 - Tokyo (17,000 steps, 7.1 miles):
- Food: Sushiya Ginza Honten (4.5/5) - This was our one sushi omakase experience of the trip. Located in a nondescript building on the third or fourth floor, the restaurant can be a bit challenging to locate. Show up early! We witnessed a group arriving 15 minutes late, only to be denied entry as the omakase had already commenced. Fortunately for us, this translated to an exclusive experience for my wife and me. The food here was amazing. There weren’t any frills in terms of super exotic flavors; the restaurant focused on high quality fish, wasabi, and rice. The combination of premiere ingredients with a high level of technique that is honed through many years of experience resulted in every bite being a banger.
- Food / Experience: Kirby Cafe (2/5) - My wife LOVES Kirby so she was happy with taking in the ambiance, listening to the iconic Kirby music, and she got hype over the adorable presentation of the food. However, when it came to the actual dishes, we were both disappointed, neither of us managed to finish our entrees. We wouldn’t go there again but we’re glad that we gave it a shot.
Wednesday, April 5 - Hakone (10,600 steps, 4.6 miles):
- Food: 治兵衛 (2/5) - After landing in Hakone, we were looking for lunch close to the station and found a soba restaurant without a line. The prices were a bit steep, fitting for the resort town setting and its proximity to the train station. The soba was fine but didn’t taste as great as other soba experiences we’ve had. Additionally, the tempura was inconsistent; some pieces were overly battered so that the taste would lean more towards dough than protein.
- Hotel: Yama No Chaya (3.5/5) - This ryokan in Hakone was super quaint and relaxing. The amenities included multiple public onsens, a fun hotel bar, and plenty of snack/drink options. Our two floor room had modern comforts mixed with a traditional feel; it comprised of a second floor bedroom where we slept on a soft bed on top of tatami flooring as well as a formal dining room on the first floor along with a private in-room hot spring bath. The main reason for the 3.5 rating rather than a 4 is that the traditional kaiseki food was a bit of a miss flavor-wise and while pretty, it was underwhelming. The included traditional dinner/breakfast kaiseki meals took two to three hours given the pacing of the courses as well as the quantity of courses. This ended up cutting a lot into our limited time at the ryokan.
Thursday, April 6 - Hakone --> Kyoto (16,600 steps, 6.5 miles):
- Hotel: Gion Misen (5/5) - Located in the Gion district. The exterior to this hotel was lovely and gave you that old-school Kyoto feel. The hotel rooms were modern and were large compared to other Japanese hotels. For the price, we were very happy with the location, service, and amenities in the room.
- Food: Yama No Chaya Breakfast - No rating given I provided a rating in previous day. Here are two pictures from the breakfast.
- Food: Ekiben (3/5) - Rice, shumai, and minced pork and pickled veggies for the train ride. Hit the spot!
- Food: Kyo Kurozakura (3/5) - Kyoto was a different beast than Tokyo in that, it was SUPER hard to find a restaurant that we could walk into for dinner without a reservation. Maybe it was the number of tourists or maybe we weren’t looking in the right spots this night (we were mostly in the central area near/around Pontocho alley). We eventually found this Yakiniku restaurant which served decent quality beef along with a ton of great dipping sauces. Main reason for the lower rating here is related to service. The staff here interacted differently with the locals than the tourists, they were a bit more stand offish and didn’t use the typical polite mannerisms that you saw them using with other, local patrons. Maybe it was a bad day for the staff, maybe it's because there were so many more tourists in Kyoto versus Tokyo.
- [[Kyo Kurozakura]](https://imgur.com/3R...
Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/1b8l91p/april_2023_honeymoon_two_weeks_in_tokyo_kyoto/