7 Hearty Restaurants Only in Traditional Ueno!

1. Chinchinken [Ueno, Okachimachi]

Chinchinken is a Chinese restaurant located in the under the railway tracks on the walk from Ueno Station to Ameyoko Street. The tables outside the restaurant are always filled with people enjoying the delicious-looking food and drinking. You can enjoy food eaten by Japanese laborers since olden times, like ramen, tanmen (stir-fried vegetable noodle soup), liver and nira (chive) stir-fry, chahan (fried rice) and much more. 

Their ramen has a simple and well-known soy sauce flavor. The transparent soup goes well with the noodles and it’s really delicious! What’s more, you can add a thick slice of chashu (roasted pork fillet). 

2. Crown Ace Ueno [Ueno]

The considerably old-fashioned look of the curry restaurant “Crown Ace Ueno” is sure to pique your interest. It’s a restaurant where you can enjoy hearty local meals with a history stemming from Ueno itself. The main curry options are chicken, pork and beef so you can pick your favorite. 

In particular, what’s recommended is the "katsu curry"! The crisp, fried tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) is placed on top of curry rice. The thick curry roux is not too spicy and it’s nice that it doesn’t clash with the taste of the tonkatsu. The appeal of this dish is the compatibility of the ingredients, which results in a superb taste. 

3. Niku no Ohyama [Ueno]

Niku no Ohyama is a restaurant focusing on meat, with dishes like menchi katsu (mincemeat croquettes), hamburg (mincemeat patties), steaks and more. You can eat at the restaurant or you can buy the menchi katsu and enjoy it while you walk around the town. The coating gives it a crispy texture and you can taste the flavor of onions in the meat inside. It has a good flavor balance and it’s quite delicious.

The hearty hamburg is juicy. It has a soft texture that makes it incredibly easy to eat. There’s also the Sirloin Steak made with Wagyu (high-quality Japanese beef) which is tender and delicious. You'll be full to bursting before you know it. 

4. Ameyoko Yaki [Okachimachi]

Ameyoko is a shopping spot in Ueno that’s bustling with people all year round. The representative stall in this area is the famous Ameyoko Yaki. This is a food similar to Okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancake), which has ingredients like eggs, moyashi (bean sprouts), cabbage and more mixed in. It's topped with mayo and sauce before eating. It’s very cheap at around 200 yen and it’s recommended to buy one and eat it while you’re walking through the streets. 

As a matter of fact, Ameyoko Yaki operates via a food cart so there are times when the stall isn't around. If you’re lucky to find the cart don’t hesitate to buy one! It’s so delicious!

5. Moses’s Kebab [Ueno]

In Ameyoko, there probably isn’t a single person who doesn't know Moses’s Kebab. It’s that popular. It’s a kebab shop that often features on Japanese media. It’s a basic takeout style stall but there are also a couple benches available. 

The kebab options range from spicy to sweet/mild. You can enjoy the wonderful harmony of the roasted meat, fresh cabbage and tomato all wrapped up in pita bread. Also, take note of the shopkeeper’s energetic hawking. 

6. Minatoya Shokuhin Honten [Okachimachi]

Minatoya Shokuhin Honten is a kaisen-don (rice bowl dish with seafood) restaurant located in Ameyoko’s most crowded area. Their kaisen-don, like their “Maguro, Yaki Halas Don" (grilled tuna belly rice bowl) and “Chutoro Maguro Salmon Don" (medium-fatty tuna and salmon rice bowl), uses fresh seafood and you can eat them for reasonable prices. 

Apart from seafood, you can even eat takoyaki (octopus dumplings)! This is such a popular food spot in Ameyoko that there’s always a line at the takoyaki stand. When you bite into the takoyaki topped with mayonnaise and dried green seaweed, there is a large piece of octopus in the center. It’s piping hot so it’s great for warming up in the winter. 

7. Cha no Kiminoen [Ueno]

Cha no Kiminoen is a Japanese tea shop. The matcha (powdered green tea) soft-serve ice cream here is a must-have. As you’d expect from a long-standing shop, they refuse to compromise on quality and the taste of the matcha is exceptionally rich! The texture is smooth and creamy and you get plenty of it so it’s highly satisfying.

There are 3 flavors: matcha, vanilla, and matcha-vanilla. You can get it in a cone or in a cup. The cone is recommended because it’s crunchy and delicious. Also, they have a few chairs available so you can sit and eat. 

 

One of the pleasures of Ueno’s hearty stalls is that you can walk around and eat while enjoying the suburb. Ueno is overflowing with shops that sell items from a range of genres including clothing, foodstuffs, toys and miscellaneous goods. So it makes sense that there’s a huge range of things to eat. The prices are quite affordable, so why not eat a lot and compare them?