Tokyo / Kagurazaka / District

Dining in Kagurazaka

神楽坂で食べる かぐらざかでたべる

Kaiseki behind black fences, French bistros from the institute's shadow, a hundred-year-old sweet shop, and pétanque on Sundays.

Worth itFood · High-end · Late night · History

Kagurazaka is the one district where Tokyo's two great restaurant traditions sit in the same lane: the ryotei and kaiseki houses inherited from the geisha quarter, and the French bistros, boulangeries and crêperies that grew up around the Institut français from 1952. Between them are a Meiji-era sweet shop whose ohagi rice cakes sell out by noon, an oden counter that has been open since the Taisho era, soba houses, and the small counters — six seats, one chef — that make this the district Tokyoites choose for a birthday. Book the kaiseki; walk in to the bistro; queue for the sweets.

Don't miss

Map of central Tokyo Tokyo Ueno Akihabara Shinjuku Shibuya Shinagawa Ikebukuro Shimbashi Kabukiza Theatre Chuo-dori and the Sunday promenade Ginza Six Ginza Itoya Hama-rikyu Gardens The Ginza gallery walk Tsukiji Hongwanji The Ginza bar streets Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building Imperial Palace East Gardens Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum Marunouchi Naka-dori KITTE and the rooftop garden Idemitsu Museum of Arts Nihonbashi Bridge Mitsukoshi Nihombashi Main Store The old shops of Nihonbashi Artizon Museum Fukutoku Shrine and the Coredo lanes Nihonbashi river cruise Sensoji Temple Kappabashi kitchen street Sumida river water bus The craft and coffee streets west of the temple A kimono day in Asakusa Tokyo Skytree Asakusa Shrine and Sanja Matsuri Tokyo National Museum National Museum of Western Art Ueno Park and Shinobazu Pond Yanaka Ginza and the Yanesen lanes Nezu Shrine Ameyoko market street Asakura Museum of Sculpture Akihabara Electric Town Jimbocho book town Kanda Myojin Shrine Holy Resurrection Cathedral (Nikolai-do) Kanda's old noodle houses Yushima Seido and the Confucian hall Mori Art Museum and Tokyo City View The National Art Center, Tokyo Tokyo Midtown and the Suntory Museum of Art Azabu-Juban shopping street Tokyo Tower and Zojoji Temple Roppongi after dark Nezu Museum The Omotesando architecture walk Aoyama Cemetery Meiji Jingu Gaien ginkgo avenue The Aoyama and Minami-Aoyama back streets Meiji Jingu Yoyogi Park Takeshita Street and Cat Street Ota Memorial Museum of Art Togo Shrine Shibuya scramble crossing and Hachiko Shibuya Sky Nonbei Yokocho and the Shibuya alleys Udagawacho record shops and Shibuya vintage Tomigaya and Kamiyamacho Live music in Shibuya Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observatories Golden Gai Omoide Yokocho The Isetan food hall Hanazono Shrine Tsukiji Outer Market Toyosu Market and the tuna auction teamLab Planets The Tsukiji-to-Ginza walk The Meguro River cherry trees Daikanyama T-Site Daikanyama's low-rise streets Ebisu Garden Place and the Ebisu restaurant streets Nakameguro's back streets Kagurazaka's stone lanes Akagi Shrine Dining in Kagurazaka Zenkokuji Bishamonten Ryogoku Kokugikan and sumo Edo-Tokyo Museum Kiyosumi Garden Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) The Kiyosumi-Shirakawa roasters Dining in Kagurazaka
A hand-drawn sketch for orientation — each place links to an exact map.
Tip
Ryotei often take bookings only by phone in Japanese; ask your hotel concierge, which is what the concierge is for.
Best time
Dinner, any night but Sunday, when many close.
Allow
150 min
Station
Iidabashi or Kagurazaka, the whole slope between them
Official site — hours, prices, closures
www.kagurazaka.in · Map

Appears in

In this area: Kagurazaka

Street Essential

Kagurazaka's stone lanes神楽坂の石畳の路地

Hyogo Yokocho and Kakurenbo Yokocho — black fences, lanterns, cobbles, and the geisha quarter that still works.

60 min · Iidabashi (JR / Tozai / Yurakucho / Namboku / Oedo lines), exit B3, 3 minutes uphill
Shrine Worth it

Akagi Shrine赤城神社

A 700-year-old shrine rebuilt by Kengo Kuma in glass and cypress, with a café and a Sunday market at the top of the hill.

30 min · Kagurazaka (Tozai line), exit 1, 1 minute
Temple For a second visit

Zenkokuji Bishamonten善國寺 毘沙門天

The red temple halfway up the slope, guardian of the district since 1595, with tigers for lions and a night market of lanterns.

15 min · Iidabashi, exit B3, 5 minutes up the slope

All places — Kagurazaka →