[Yoyogi-Uehara Lunch] 9 Stylish and Great Value Restaurants

Yoyogi-Uehara is a very stylish area in Tokyo.

It is also a high-class residential neighborhood lined with mansions, so there is a general image of the area being home to many restaurants catering to affluent clientele. However, in reality, there are numerous affordable and stylish restaurants with great cost performance.

Recently, many students and creators with a high sense of style have been gathering in the area, so it seems that the neighborhood will continue to thrive.

At TOKYO LOCAL, we’ve carefully selected some of the best value-for-money spots in Yoyogi-Uehara. Here are a variety of restaurants for you to choose from based on your mood for lunch that day.

Swanlake Pub Edo Café de Tête Shibuya Yoyogi-Uehara Store (Swanlake Pub Edo)

Swanlake Pub Edo Café de Tête Shibuya Yoyogi-Uehara Store is a beer café located a short walk from Yoyogi-Uehara Station.

The warm, woody interior of this cozy establishment makes you want to stay for hours in this stylish space.

As the direct retail location for Swanlake Beer, brewed in Niigata, you can enjoy draft beer straight from the taps on the wall, which is a treat for beer lovers.

Lunch is only served on weekends and holidays, from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM.

・Niigata Miso Jerk Chicken Plate (1,100 yen)
・Margherita Pizza (1,100 yen) These are some great beer pairings, each served with a delicious salad.

Takeout is also available, so if the restaurant is crowded, feel free to grab your meal to go!

Katane Café 

Katane Café is a café attached to the popular Katane Bakery in Yoyogi-Uehara.

Katane Bakery, located a little walk away from Yoyogi-Uehara Station in a residential area, is a beloved bakery that offers high-quality, delicious pastries at affordable prices, often under 300 yen each.

The café opens at 7:30 to serve breakfast to customers, offering a cozy dine-in space.

For a great breakfast or lunch option, try their “Omelette with Salad and Soup Set,” which is an excellent deal at just 1,100 yen.

This café, located in a residential area and attached to a stylish bakery, will surely soothe both your body and soul.

Dubois

Dubois is a recommended western-style restaurant in the Nishihara area of Yoyogi-Uehara, perfect for lunchtime.

At this restaurant, you can enjoy lunch menus that are packed with vegetables and are very filling.
*Note: For those with smaller appetites, we recommend ordering without the side rice or bread as the portion sizes can be large.

Dubois is beloved by local residents, and many regular customers visit frequently. The secret to its popularity lies in its delicious food and comfortable atmosphere.

The restaurant offers a relaxed and warm ambiance where you can enjoy your meal in peace.

Recommended menu items include the “Omelette Rice with Demiglace Sauce” and the “Pan-Seared Swordfish and Sea Bream.”

The Omelette Rice with Demiglace Sauce features a fluffy omelette that blends perfectly with the rich sauce, creating a mouthwatering, melt-in-your-mouth experience.

The Pan-Seared Swordfish and Sea Bream are beautifully plated, with fresh fish grilled to perfection and enhanced by a delicate sauce. The natural flavors of the fish are fully brought out in this dish.

Both dishes are served in generous portions for a reasonable price, starting from just over 1,000 yen.

When you visit Yoyogi-Uehara, be sure to stop by Dubois to enjoy a delicious meal in this local favorite spot.

Tonkatsu Takeshin Yoyogi-Uehara Store

Tonkatsu Takeshin Yoyogi-Uehara Store is a restaurant that offers delicious pork cutlet meals, such as Tonkatsu set meals, Katsudon, and ginger pork sets, for around 1,500 yen.

The founder, Etsuo Takeda, moved to Tokyo from Nagano and worked in the meat processing industry. He was recognized for his skills by the founder of Aoyama Iseien (now Mai Sen), which led him to pursue the path of becoming a tonkatsu chef.

Takeshin carefully selects ingredients and processes, from the pork’s rearing environment, cooking oil, rice, to even the pickled vegetables on the side.

The “Takeshin Set Bamboo” at 1,500 yen is an excellent value for the quality.

This chic, stylish, and modern Japanese space is also popular among international customers.

Note: Payment is by cash only

Andagiouza Yoyogi-Uehara Store

“Andagiouza Yoyogi-Uehara Store” is a dumpling shop that opened in April 2012 in Yoyogi-Uehara.

The shop’s water dumplings, which are wrapped in chewy dough made by crushing Job’s tears with the husk intact, are incredibly popular. The filling is made with a combination of domestic chicken and pork, as well as seasonal ingredients.

The popular water dumpling set comes with eight water dumplings, pork soboro rice, and a seaweed soup. Other dishes like mapo rice set and ragae rice set are also available for around 1,000 yen, offering excellent cost performance.

The nostalgic interior, which blends Showa-era retro with a Taiwanese feel, creates a charming and stylish space.

Fukusushi

“Fukusushi” is a long-established sushi restaurant that has been beloved by locals in the Yoyogi-Uehara area for over 80 years.

The nostalgic, Showa-era atmosphere and the space’s homely vibe exude a sense of history. Yoyogi-Uehara tends to have many Western-style restaurants, so the elegant Edo-style sushi in a traditional Japanese space creates a refreshing contrast.

The restaurant’s lunch cost performance is outstanding! The popular chirashi-don, carefully prepared by the artisans, comes with warm miso soup and costs only around 1,000 yen—quite affordable.

※ Cash only

Gatemo Tabum

“Gatemo Tabum” is a Bhutanese restaurant located about a 3-minute walk from Yoyogi-Uehara Station.

It opened in 2006 as Japan’s first Bhutanese restaurant and has since been renovated, becoming a well-known place for those in the know.

The restaurant’s name “Gatemo” means “Where is this?”, while “Tabum” derives from the Japanese word “tabun,” meaning “probably.”

Many may have learned about the place after it appeared in Season 5 of the popular show “Kodoku no Gurume.”

The lunch set starts from ¥1,200.

The menu features unfamiliar dishes like “Emadatsi” and “Pakshapa.” It’s a must-try for those curious about new flavors!

Spazaurus

“Spazaurus” is an independent shop that spun off from the well-known Japanese pasta restaurant Hashiya.

It gained attention when celebrities Sato Emi and Kazunobu Mineta visited in the popular TV program “Kayou Surprise.”

Here, you can enjoy over 100 different authentic and delicious spaghetti dishes. The place is always crowded, and it’s beloved by locals.

The spaghetti dishes are generally priced around ¥1,000, and if you order drinks, it may go up to the ¥1,500–¥2,000 range, making it a slightly indulgent lunch, but the quality is more than worth it.

The recommended dish is the “Chicken and Mushroom Peperoncino,” where al dente spaghetti is mixed with juicy chicken and fragrant mushrooms.

For spaghetti lovers, this is a must-try.

Furaibou

“Furaibou” is a Western-style restaurant with unbeatable cost performance located about a 2-minute walk from Yoyogi-Uehara Station.

The hamburger set is only ¥700, and the hamburger and fried fish set is ¥900—an incredible deal!

Such prices in Yoyogi-Uehara are unheard of, making it a true bargain.

Other set menu options include “Crab Cream Croquettes,” “Menchi Katsu,” and classic Showa-era dishes like “Ebi Fry,” “Beef Stew,” and “Spaghetti Napolitan,” offering a nostalgic and delicious variety.

The shop’s interior evokes a retro Showa feeling that’s rare these days. The space looks like it could have come straight out of an 80s anime, and its nostalgic, stylish vibe will make you want to snap photos and share them on Instagram.

Summary

Above, we’ve introduced nine stylish, wallet-friendly, and cost-effective lunch spots near Yoyogi-Uehara Station.

From tonkatsu, sushi, dumplings, pizza, bread and omelets, Bhutanese cuisine, to hamburgers, you can enjoy a variety of dishes in this area.

In addition to the shops highlighted in this article, there are many more stylish lunch spots and cafes in the Yoyogi-Uehara area. We hope this article serves as an inspiration for you to thoroughly explore the charm of Yoyogi-Uehara.