The 10 Best Places to Eat in Harajuku, Tokyo, Japan

Harajuku is a district in Shibuya, Tokyo. It’s a center of youth culture, and walk and eat is a popular thing to do. On the street of Harajuku, there are more shops featuring fast and easy to eat food, such as crepes, ice cream, pancakes, and popcorns, rather than shops serving food in traditional style. The competition among shops is high, and it’s a hotspot for trendy food. This article introduces you the best places you should eat in Harajuku.

1. Harajuku Café Crepe

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“Harajuku Café Crepe” opened the first specialty crepe shop in Harajuku in 1977, and they are the pioneer of the Harajuku-style crepe.

The wide variety of crepe includes from crepes for dessert or snacks, such as banana chocolate crepe and strawberry crepe, to crepes for lunch, such as crepe with Salisbury steak and crepe with sausages.

“Harajuku Café Crepe” currently operates two shops. One in Harajuku is “Strawberry House”, and the shop is located on the first floor of Harajuku Laforet. Another one is “Angeles Heart” located on Takeshita Street.

The menus are same at both locations, so you can go either one.

2. Mizuho

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Opened in 1981, “Mizuho” is a well-known Japanese confectionery shop located on a small street connecting from Harajuku to Omotesando.

Mizuho is famous for “mame daifuku” (soft mochi with beans filled with sweet bean paste), and it’s one of the best three “mame daifuku” shops in Tokyo, along with “Gunrindo” at Gokoku temple and “Matsushimaya” at Sengaku temple.

Mizuho’s “mame daifuku” has less beans and plenty of sweet bean paste inside. Besides “daifuku”, Mizuno’s another specialty is “monaka”, wafers filled with bean paste.

In Harajuku, other types of confectionery, such as crepes and pancakes, are often talked about in Harajuku, but it’s nice to have Japanese confectionery sometimes. You may be surprised how delicious they are!

3. The Original Pancake House Harajuku-ten

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Crepes and pancakes are Harajuku’s local specialties. Especially for pancakes, there are so many shops since Harajuku is the hotspot for pancakes.

“The Original Pancake House Harajuku-ten” offers unique yet delicious pancakes in this competitive neighborhood.
The picture above is a menu called “Dutch Baby”. This pancake is made of German style dough, and the center is dented.

It can be served with vegetables, meat, seafood, etc. for lunch, or you can have it for a dessert with butter and whipped cream on top. It’s a very popular pancake especially among ladies!

4. Pompompurin Café Harajuku-ten

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In Harajuku, there are many shops like “LINEFRIENDS” and “KITTYLAND” that sells cute character merchandises, like Hello Kitty and such. You can also find restaurants that serve food with cute decorations of a character.

“Pompompurin Café Harajuku-ten” is one of them. The Pompompurin character is found in every menu at this restaurant including omelet and rice, pasta, pudding, pancake, etc.

The character is found even in a drink. These dishes with pompompurin decoration are adorable. How about trying some of cute dishes that are only available in Harajuku?

5. café Hohokam

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Hamburgers are also one of popular fast and easy to eat food in Harajuku. There are many café style hamburger restaurants as well as fast food chains.

“café Hohokam” is a hamburger shop features thick hamburger in a western style atmosphere. Their homemade buns and patties are delicious.

Besides hamburgers, sandwiches and hotdogs are on the menu. They are perfect when you are little hungry. Why don’t you try some for a walk in Harajuku?

 
You May Also Like:

→The Best 10 Dessert Shops You Must Eat in Tokyo, Japan

→The 11 Best Places to Eat in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

6. Garrett Popcorn Shops Harajuku-ten

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Harajuku’s popcorns are unique because of the wide variety of flavors. “Garrett Popcorn Shops Harajuku-ten” is a specialty popcorn shop, and you can try popcorns with many different flavors, such as CaramelCrisp, CheeseCrisp, Almond, etc.

You can choose a bag of flavored popcorns for walk and eat, or popcorns in a can is available to take it home with you. One of popular menus is “Chicago Mix”, which is a mix of CaramelCrisp flavored popcorns and Cheese Crisp flavored popcorns.

This shop is so popular that there is a long line of people on the weekend and holidays, but it’s worth a wait. You will love it.

7. TOTTI CANDY FACTORY Harajuku-ten

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Have you ever dreamed about eating colorful cotton candy as much as you want? “TOTTI CANDY FACTORY Harajuku-ten” is the place where your dream comes true. Big cotton candy is available here, and its size is as big as 40cm (approx. 15in).

Colorful cotton candy in pink, blue, yellow, and pastel colors, looks like clouds in the fairy tales.

One of unique cotton candy, “Harajuku Special Cotton Candy”, is square shaped cotton candy and is 45cm (approx. 17in). This cute cotton candy is something you must try when you walk and eat in Harajuku.

8. bills Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku

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“bills Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku” is a stylish café located very close to Meiji-Jingu station. This restaurant in Harajuku is actually the fourth one in Japan and the first to open in the center of Tokyo.

The restaurant is on the 7th floor of the Tokyu Plaza Omotesando Harajuku, so you can enjoy the view of Omotesando and Harajuku area.

One of popular dishes here is fluffy and soft pancakes. Scrambled egg is also recommended. The restaurant makes you feel like as if you were at home. Enjoy your meal in a relaxed atmosphere.

9. Cookie Time Harajuku-ten

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Harajuku is where the latest trend is, and new shops open here all the time. “Cookie Time Harajuku-ten” is one of the latest trends among young people in Harajuku.

This shop features a variety of cookies, and some of cookie flavors are available in drinks and ice cream.

The shop delivers cookies anywhere in the world for 1,000yen, so you can send them to your friends and family back home. Check out this trendy shop that everyone is talking about when you are in Harajuku.

10. green bar

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There is a variety of shops in Harajuku, and shops come and go very often as the trend changes. Smoothie is in the new trend especially among health-conscious people, and “green bar”, a smoothie shop, opened in 2015.

You can enjoy natural flavored smoothie here. This shop is famous for its delicious taste, cute packaging, and a good selection of side menus. Enjoy healthy and flavorful smoothie.

Let’s Enjoy Great Good in Harajuku!

There are many interesting shops in Harajuku. The shops introduced in this article are all unique, and there are more shops that are not included here and may interest you. When you visit Harajuku, please explore many different shops and find your favorite. It’ll be fun just to walk around the area, too!