Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2010

Photo by Kohji Shiiki

Charles Spreckley is the perfect guy to ask for advice about eating and drinking in Tokyo. During his two stints as the editor of Metropolis (1998-1999 and 2005-2007), the 33-year-old West Sussex native was responsible for expanding and enriching our coverage of the local dining scene.These days, as co-founder of personal concierge company Bespoke Tokyo, Spreckley guides his elite guests on “Urban Safaris” of Tokyo’s top bars and restaurants. We asked him to share some of his insider’s tips…

Bespoke Tokyo clients always want to have top-notch sushi, and one place that I can recommend without hesitation is Taku in Nishi-Azabu. There’s none of that snooty sushi master nonsense here. The chefs are polite and professional and aren’t afraid to try something new. When our clients demand something more casual, we sometimes go to Unosato, an understated and alluringly hard-to-find izakaya in Shibuya with a great sake selection and simple food to go with it. Katsuyoshi on Meiji Dori in Shibuya is my favorite for tonkatsu, especially in autumn when they serve kaki-furai (deep-fried oysters) the size of my fist. I never used to like Chinese food much, but have recently discovered that I do at five-star hotels. Sense at the Mandarin Oriental in Nihombashi is out of this world. At the other end of the spectrum, I’m never happier than scoffing gyoza and cold beer at Gyoza Lou in Harajuku.

Sense - Courtesy of the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo

Night Safaris exploring the Tokyo nightlife are among our most popular services. Q is a very cool, very discreet standing bar in Ebisu that customers always love. A little further down the alphabet, S in Shibuya is currently one of my favorite hangouts. For wine, the selection of bottles from New Zealand at Aotea Rangi is superb, especially with a serving of mussels. And some friends’ regular Bloody Mary & Burger nights at Beacon in Aoyama are always suitably debauched. I’m a sucker for a martini with a view, and for that Two Rooms down the street is hard to beat, especially sitting outside on the terrace in spring, preferably with an order of scallops.

Unosato

The supermarket in the basement of Meguro station is excellent value for produce, fish and meat; and the Plates Italian bakery next door practically gives away bags of unsold ciabatta and focaccia rolls after 8pm—perfect for making sandwiches for lunch the next day. I cook a lot of Thai food, and the Asian Road supermarket in Takadanobaba is the most convenient place to buy good ingredients for that.

This probably wouldn’t rate on most critics’ radars, but for me it’s a truly special place. It’s the Duke of Cumberland pub located in a tiny hamlet on a hill in West Sussex in the south of England. As a child, I used to walk there with my family for Stilton and ham toasted sandwiches. In the last year or so they also got themselves (at last!) a chef who really knows how to cook. In summer, you can select your trout from one of the ponds in the garden and enjoy a perfect warm summer evening with a pint of local ale in hand.