Kichijoji has a lot of restaurants and cafes, that you can enjoy many kinds of foods. There are street food that you can bite quickly, famous food/restaurant in Kichijoji, Japanese sweets, Izakaya, German food, cute Totoro shaped cream puff, and more!
Yakitori at Iseya – Popular for Kichijoji Locals
Iseya was opened as butcher shop in 1928. Since 1954, they started Sukiyaki restaurant and Yakitori restaurant, according to their website.
Many people come to Iseya for Yakitori – skewer chicken grill. You can buy them for to-go, and also dine-in. You might find a line there, but they have 3 locations, Iseya sohonten, Iseya Kitaguchi (North side of Kichijoji station), and nearby the Inokashira Koen (park). So hopefully you can find one that has some availability for you.
It’s like a Izakaya, they have Yakitori, of course. And Sashimi, Edamame, Karaage (Japanese style fried chicken), Sake and other alcohol beverages. I liked the Yakitori, but I loved their handmade Shiumai!!
Iseya Sohonten
Pizza at Garage 50 – Casual Pizza Stand
Walking for 5 minutes from Kichijoji station, there is a small pizza shop run at the garage. There are a kitchen car literally, and some seats where you can dine-in.
One whole pie pizza costs only 600yen. We ordered margherita and Bismarck. The dough was thinner than Italian Pizza, thicker than NY style pizza, I’d say.
It’s not that huge (bigger than my hand, though), but it’s great quality for that inexpensive price.
Garage 50, Kichijoji
Menchi Katsu at Satou – Famous Street Food
Satou is a butcher shop in Kichijoji. They sell meat, of course, and some main/side dish mainly made from meat like Menchi katsu, chashu, beef katsu (deep fried beef with breadcrumbs), pork katsu (deep fried pork with breadcrumbs), etc.
As approaching to the store, you’d find a long line with the people who are waiting for their turn to buy those dishes.
Menchi Katsu is a deep fried food that’s made with minced beef and diced onion. Normally, it’s shaped flat round, but Thier Menchi katsu is shaped like a baseball at Satou. Both diced onion and minced beef taste very mild with sweetness coming out of the ingredients. *be careful not to burn yourself since it’s very hot inside especially grease from beef.
Just let you know that their shop curtain is cool, written by a famous calligrapher, Soun Hojo.
Also Satou has a steak house (restaurant), too.
Kichijoji Satou, Kichijoji
Kichijoji Age (Deep fried) at Tsukada Suisan
Tsukada Suisan has been running the business since 1945. They make processed marine products, Kamaboko (fish cake), Hanpen, Satsumaage (deep fried fish cake),etc. without using preservative.
They deep-fry homemade Satsuma-age (fried fish cake) that called Kijijoji-age. They have many kinds of Satsumaage like Ika (squid), Ebi (shrimp) , Hotate (scallop), etc. The panko = breadcrumbs (outside) is very crispy and light!
It’s been getting to be recognized as Kichijoji’s speciality!
Tsukada Suisan, Kichijoji
Pretzel at Linde German Bakery
On the Kichijoji Sun Road, you can find this German Bakery named Bekkarai Cafe Linde. It was opened in 1997 with a purpose of making authentic German bread here in Japan as much as possible.
You can find a lot of kinds of authentic German breads including pretzel here. I got myself a pretzel that reminded me of one that I had in Germany.
There is a cafe upstairs, too.
Bekkerai Cafe Linde, Kichijoji
German Hotdog at Konig
Nearby Inokashira Park, there is a German restaurant called Konig. You can buy food for to go and also eat-in here.
For hotdog, you can choose which kind of bread and sausage, with/without ketchup, mustard, and pickles. We chose Laugen pretzel + plane sausage + ketchup + mustard + pickles.
Also, my husband got himself a black beer which was very good.
It’d be a good idea to get some hotdog / jumbo frank / beer here and bring them to Inokashira Park.
Konig, Kichijoji
Flipper’s – Fluffy Souffle Pancake
If you are looking for Souffle pancake (= Japanese style pancake), Flipper’s is one of popular restaurants where you can find a line depending on the day/time. They have multiple locations besides Kichijoji, but not many branches. They have both savory and sweet pancakes. It’s jiggly and fluffy. It melts in your mouth as soon as you eat!
Flipper’s, Kichijoji
Taiyaki at Taigashi Honpo Amane
Taiyaki is one of famous Japanese street sweets. Taigashi honpo Amane is located on the very small alley. I found a long line when I went, however, it didn’t take long time to buy.
They have Taiyaki, Dango, Warabi mochi, etc. Their Anko (sweet red bean paste) is very good, so I recommend Taiyaki with Anko filling. It’s crispy outside, much Anko inside more than expected. It’s very satisfying!
Taigashi Honpo Amane, Kichijoji
Matcha Sweet and Drink at 108 Matcha Saro
108 Matcha saro opened their 1st shop in Hokkaido, Japan. They use organic tea leaves that are carefully raised and chosen.
On a warm day, Iced Matcha is very good if you like the real matcha taste = bitterness. You can also add the syrup if you want. They have matcha-mixed drinks too.
Imagawayaki (pancake sandwich-ish with filling) has nice matcha aroma. You have some choices for filling, red bean paste, custard cream, seasonal thing, etc. but all of them are made less-sweet.
Ichimaruhachi Matcha Saro, Marui Kichijoji
Totoro Cream Puff – Famous Sweets
If you are a Ghibli lover, you might have heard of this Totoro shaped cream puff. There are some options for filling, chocolate, custard, and seasonal flavors. It’s super cute, and tastes great!!
They also sell a set of cute cookies, which is perfect for a gift / souvenir. I once gave it to my friend, and she loved it.
Shirohige Kichijoji
Kichijoji Food Guide Map
Sharing a food guide map in Kichijoji that I made!
There are great street food, restaurant and cafe in Kichijoji, that you can enjoy. 🙂
