Tokyo Day 3: étéco bread + Tsujihan Ark Hills + Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden + Jomon. Tokyo. Japan.

First start of day 3 in Tokyo I made my way to étéco bread where clearly Kiki's Delivery Service operates from. It's a tiny a little out of the way bakery in Tokyo. I loved it. You will have to get it to go and find a place to eat it afterwards, which was a chore due to Japanese etiquette. I got a savory vegetable tartine and a strawberry tart. Both were delicious, once I was able to devour both after hopping back over to Shibuya Crossing in front of the Hachiko statue with people staring covetously. The tart was perfectly flakey like a proper French pastry. Yes. Please. 















Then I started slowly making my way over to Ark Hills. First, I sat down at Doutor, my favorite every daychain in Japan for a matcha latte as it was right next to the train station. If you have been following me for a while, you may remember that Tsujihan was one of the best meals from my entire Japan trip in 2023. If you are on social media, you may have come across posts that let you know the lines are much shorter if no line at all in their other locations. I decided to go to Tsujihan Ark Hills this time around as I was excited to have this kaisendon that I have been dreaming about again sans line. Once again, I got their tokuyjo. The kaisendon itself was as great as I remembered to my delight due to in a short line here for lunch, unlike their original Nihonbashi location. However, the ochazuke portion was where this meal fell flat. It was the ochazuke portion of the meal from 2023 that made this one of the best meals of my lifetime. Sadly, the broth was not the same and I was extremely sad. Needless to say, I will have to return to the Nihonbashi location on a future trip for an ochazuke redemption.







To get over my ochazuke sadness, I went to admire the cherry blossoms at Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. Cherry blossoms started blooming in Tokyo upon my arrival. Only a few trees were in full bloom at that point in the garden and most people gathered around them. Which made for amazing people watching. Then I got a massage in Shinjuku before heading back to my hotel to rest for a bit before dinner. 

I decided to walked all the way to dinner in Shibuya through Harajuku to burn off all the calories before my small dinner. Also, Shibuya and Harajuku makes for amazing people watching due to the crowds after school and work in addition to all the tourists.



Jomon is Hakata-style yakitori and they have multiple locations in Tokyo. All I have to say is good luck finding the door to the one in Shibuya. Even I struggled and I had to wait for my friends to arrive to enter with them. I loved the vibe and the food here. The ebi with bacon was incredible and I would highly recommend you getting that. I also got most of the vegetables ones since I was not hungry.







After dinner, when we got in a cab to go back to our hotels in Shimbashi, I noticed that Club Asia was right by Jomon as James Curd was headlining there the Friday after I leave Tokyo. I was so excited that I texted him. Believe it or not, James and I been trying to coordinate our Tokyo dates for a year so I get to see him and his family. Sadly, the promoter had different dates available in the end. Oh well. We definitely tried.