A handmade way to start the day in downtown Tokyo’s most traditional neighborhood.

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and that’s especially true for travel breakfasts. Starting off with a solid, satisfying breakfast gives you some extra flexibility in picking when and where you’ll eat lunch, since you won’t have to slam the brakes on sightseeing and exploring because you’re starving by 11 o’clock.

And if you’re looking for an especially memorable breakfast in Asakusa, Tokyo’s most culturally traditional neighborhood, we’ve got just the place.

You’ll find it at Ichi no Ichi, which is a restaurant located on the third floor of the Asakusa Tobu Hotel. Don’t worry, though, the breakfast buffet is open to non-guests, so you can treat it like you would any other restaurant, and with the building located just one minute from Asakusa Station, it’s super easy to slot into whatever other plans you have for your time in the neighborhood.

The fare is a mix of Japanese and Western-style dishes, so you can get things like pancakes, bacon, and sausages…

…or Japanese staples like simmered kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), grilled fish, and tofu.

These are all pretty standard at Japanese breakfast buffets, but what makes this one special is the onigiri (rice balls). Instead of just putting out a plate of them, the buffet has an onigiri bar, where a chef makes yours to order!

Just tell the chef what kind of topping you’d like, and he’ll press the ingredients into the rice by hand. During our visit the options included Hokkaido salmon, Fukuoka mentaiko (spicy cod roe), and Seto Inland Sea chirimen (young sardines), but you can also request a simple no-topping onigiri sprinkled with salt. On the other end of the spectrum, the buffet’s onigiri bar also offers decadent cheese-covered grilled onigiri.

Once your onigiri are ready, a server will bring them to your table, along with nori (dried seaweed) for you to wrap them in. Fresh and delicious, and with a perfect, hand-crafted density, they were immensely satisfying. Each individual onigiri is a little on the small side, but since this is a buffet you can always go back for more, and the sensibly sized portions also leave you with enough space to try multiple toppings, and to enjoy the buffet’s other dishes too.

Speaking of other dishes, the Western-style offerings were no slouch either, with the eggs Benedict being an especially tasty standout.

The Asakusa Tobu Hotel/Ichi no Ichi breakfast buffet is open daily from 6:30 to 10 a.m., priced at 2,750 yen (US$19) for adults and 1,430 yen for kids aged 4 to 12.

Location information
Asakusa Tobu Hotel / 浅草東武ホテル
Ichi no Ichi / 壱之壱
Address: Tokyo-to, Taito-ku, Asakusa 1-1-15
東京都台東区浅草1-1-15
Website

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