Tokyo - Day 3 (Shinjuku - Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observation Gallery)

It's our 3rd day in Tokyo and we decided to hang around Shinjuku area. We left our hotel before noon and walked to Tatsunoya for lunch. This restaurant is just 8 minutes (650m) walking distance from APA Hotel Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower. Our friend who just came back from Japan few months ago recommended us to try their Tsukemen (cold ramen dipped into a bowl of flavourful soup). Just like other ramen shop, this restaurant is very small and can only fit not more than 20 people. We have to queue outside the restaurant and waited for almost 15 minutes for a table.

We ordered a bowl of Tsukemen Motsu Special (small) and a bowl of Tonkotsu Koku using a food ticket vending machine. There's complimentary side dishes and free flow of cold drinking water. Tonkotsu Koku comes with bean sprouts, black fungus and pork slices. The broth is nice and rich. The waitress asked for my preferable ramen texture when she took our food ticket and I told her soft. She told me their signature ramen texture is medium. I decided to follow my own preference and glad that I did. Otherwise my ramen texture will be too hard for my liking. Tsukemen Motsu Special on the other hand serves cold ramen but the texture is a bit too hard for my liking. However, their dipping soup is flavourful but we got so thirsty after we had our meal.

Tatsunoya

Complimentary side dishes and cold drinking water

Complimentary side dishes

Complimentary side dishes

Tsukemen Motsu Special small (noodles 200g) - ¥1,110

Tsukemen Motsu Special small (noodles 200g)

Tonkotsu Koku - ¥850

Address:

Tatsunoya

7-4-5 Nishishinjuku,

Shinjuku City,

Tokyo 160-0023,

Japan

Shinjuku

After lunch we walked to Odakyu and had our tea break at Takano Fruit Bar. There's a long queue outside the shop but there's chairs available for you to sit and wait. We waited for almost 25 minutes for a table. Majority diners are senior citizen and basically we're the youngest customer in the restaurant! We ordered strawberry dessert and their No.1 cake which is the roll cake. Strawberry dessert is nice. Not too sweet but the strawberry tasted a bit sour. I love the roll cake. It's soft and moist. Most importantly it's not too sweet. Our bill came to a total of ¥2,790, the most expensive dessert that we ever had in our lives!

Takano Fruit Bar

Ice water

Roll cake - ¥550 & Strawberry dessert - ¥1,600 (excluding tax)

Hot tea - ¥550 (excluding tax)

Address:

Takano Fruit Bar

3-26-11 Shinjuku,

Shinjuku City,

Tokyo 160-0022,

Japan

We walked to Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building which took us almost 17 minutes (1.3km) from Takano Fruit Bar. There's souvenirs shop and cafe inside the observation deck. We had a glass of Coke at Towngate Core Tokyo Cafe. Our timing was perfect because we managed to see the day and night time view of Tokyo from the observation deck.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building

Day time view from Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observation Deck

Night time view from Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observation Deck

Towngate Core Tokyo Cafe

Coke - ¥400

Address:

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observation Gallery

2-8-1 Nishishinjuku,

Shinjuku City,

Tokyo 163-8001,

Japan

Opening hours: 9.30am to 11pm daily (free admission)

We had our dinner at Kobe Steak House, 21 minutes (1.6km) walking distance from Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building Observation Gallery. We were supposed to have our dinner at this restaurant on our first day in Tokyo but it was fully booked. We managed to make a dinner reservation for 2 person an hour before we reached the restaurant.

There's no English menu available but the waitress recommended us to try their Kobe beef set for 2 person. The Kobe beef set comes with an appetizer, egg salad, grilled prawn & scallop, Kobe beef, garlic rice, Japanese pickles, Miso soup and fruits. The Kobe beef is soft but it doesn't melts in your mouth. Miso soup is nice. However, garlic rice on the other hand wasn't flavourful enough. Overall taste was just okay.

(Total bill - ¥9.900)

Kobe Steak House

Restaurant ambience

Cold drinking water

Appetizer

Sauce

Egg salad

Grilled prawn and scallop

Kobe steak

Garlic rice

Japanese pickles

Miso soup

Fruits

Address:

Kobe Steak House

1-2-13 Kabukichio,

Shinjuku City,

Tokyo 160-0021,

Japan

Tel: +813-3205-2941

Our dinner place is just 5 minutes (350m) walking distance to APA Hotel Shinjuku Kabukicho Tower. We were craving for strawberry ice cream mochi and decided to get one from Family Mart again. We tried vanilla flavour too but strawberry flavour is still the best. Apart from that, we bought other junk food as well.

Note: ¥1 = RM 0.039

Junk food from Family Mart - ¥623

Vanilla ice cream mochi - ¥151