Where to brunch in Tokyo: morning rooms worth the queue.
Where to brunch in Tokyo. The morning rooms worth the queue, and the kitchens still doing it right at noon.
Fuglen Tokyo in Tomigaya pours Norwegian filter coffee from 07:00, with croissants and brown-cheese toasts in a brunch room behind a vintage Oslo cafe front.
Order: Light-roast filter coffee with Norwegian brown cheese on toast
Tip: Weekday mornings calm; weekends queue from 09:00. The brown-cheese toast is the local order.
Blue Bottle Kiyosumi-Shirakawa in Tokyo opens at 08:00 daily for pour-over coffee, waffles and breakfast pastries inside its converted-factory flagship.
Order: Pour-over coffee with the New Orleans-style iced and a Belgian waffle
Tip: Weekend queues from 09:00. The drip flight reads three single-origins side by side; the Belgian waffle is the food order.
Ain Soph Journey in Tokyo's Shinjuku-Sanchome serves the souffle-style vegan pancake brunch that built its reputation. All-plant menu, English staff.
Order: Heavenly Vegan Pancakes with maple syrup
Tip: Saturday brunch queues from 11:00; arrive by opening or reserve. The pancakes serve two comfortably.
Centre The Bakery in Tokyo's Ginza runs the shokupan toast flight that put the city's milk bread on the map. Three loaves, three preparations, side-by-side.
Order: Three-style shokupan toast flight with butter, jam, sweet bean paste
Tip: Cafe side seats a 50-minute toast brunch; takeaway counter sells loaves whole. Queue from 10:30 most days.
Viron Shibuya in Tokyo is the French boulangerie-brasserie open from 09:00 for breakfasts of Retrodor baguette, croissants, and croque-monsieur with wine.
Order: Croque-monsieur with Baguette Retrodor and a glass
Tip: Bakery counter downstairs, brasserie upstairs. The morning queue is for the takeaway window.
Bills Omotesando in Tokyo is Bill Granger's Tokyo flagship. Ricotta hotcakes since 1993 and scrambled eggs that started a global brunch trend in Sydney.
Order: Ricotta hotcakes with honeycomb butter and banana
Tip: Reserve weekend brunches; queues from 09:00 otherwise. The ricotta hotcakes plate stays the menu's anchor.
Eggs 'n Things Harajuku in Tokyo is the Honolulu pancake chain's Japanese flagship. Mountain of whipped cream, strawberries and macadamia syrup over pancakes.
Order: Pancakes with whipped cream and macadamia nut sauce
Tip: Weekend queues from 08:30. Walk-in only; arrive by 09:00 weekdays for the canonical breakfast.
Deus Ex Machina Cafe Harajuku in Tokyo serves Australian-style cafe brunch all day. Flat whites, smashed-avocado plates with surf and bike retail around.
Order: Smashed avocado on toast with poached egg
Tip: Open from 10:00. The smashed-avocado plate is the consistent order; weekday afternoons calmest.
Sarabeth's Shinagawa in Tokyo is the New York all-day-breakfast institution's Japanese flagship. Lemon ricotta pancakes and Goldie Lox eggs, with house jams.
Order: Lemon ricotta pancakes and the Goldie Lox eggs
Tip: Reserve weekend brunches. Easy from JR Shinagawa via the Konan exit and Atre Mall.
Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Tokyo opens at 07:00 for Italian Princi bakery breakfasts and reserve-level espresso. Four-floor flagship by the Meguro River.
Order: Princi panini and a reserve cortado
Tip: Sakura season brings queues. Order Princi pastries on the second floor; cortado is the canonical reserve pull.