Share *Creative* Ideas for Tokyo Dates

[Frenchy]

A slightly different type of idea: Introduce your date to one of your favorite hidden/private gem places.

There are a handful of really special/unique places around town that are quite obscure and known by very few where I am (or have been) a regular. They are "just" restaurants or bars but are amazing in one way or another, at least in my opinion, and it is fun to introduce someone new to them. They are not the sort of places many people will ever stumble on by themselves...very low profile. A few of you reading this have been to one or more of them with me.

Now I'm not about to post anything specific about any of these places, so you might ask why bother even mentioning the whole thing. The reason is that I think many/most of us (TAG regulars) have our own collection of "secret treasure" places, so this is just to suggest that if they charm you, they may well charm a date too, especially if she/he has tastes similar to yours.

If the places you know are anything like the ones on my list, posting them here is probably a bad idea.

-Ww

True. Once I brought a date to one of those holes in the walls (quite litterally) in Kabukicho, in a back alley. They specialize in very basic izakaya fare and grilled pork meat. Go there only 2 or 3 times a year or so , but as Im probably one of the very few gaijins who even know about it , they always recognize me and we end up chatting until late with the staff there and other clients.
The lady was a bit reluctant at first (its really not the type of place she would go on her own ! ) but was eventually impressed that besides fancy bars and restaurants I also go to those little cheap traditional places.

 

[just4fun]

True. Once I brought a date to one of those holes in the walls (quite litterally) in Kabukicho, in a back alley. They specialize in very basic izakaya fare and grilled pork meat. Go there only 2 or 3 times a year or so , but as Im probably one of the very few gaijins who even know about it , they always recognize me and we end up chatting until late with the staff there and other clients.
The lady was a bit reluctant at first (its really not the type of place she would go on her own ! ) but was eventually impressed that besides fancy bars and restaurants I also go to those little cheap traditional places.

EEEeeHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Frenchy]

EEEeeHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhh

Errr, no she was not Japanese...
but we spent the whole afternoon and evening dressed in matsuri yukatas , so made quite an impression there

 

[MongerInAStrLnd]

I am fond of the yakiniku place on Tobu department store 14F in Ikebukuro. Excellent quality and they have private rooms available for a really intimate atmosphere.

NeWoman mall in Shinjuku is also full of good dining spots.

 

[just4fun]

I am fond of the yakiniku place on Tobu department store 14F in Ikebukuro. Excellent quality and they have private rooms available for a really intimate atmosphere.

NeWoman mall in Shinjuku is also full of good dining spots.

No offence but I've seldom found good quality (at a good price) close to the station or in Dept stores/malls

 

[MongerInAStrLnd]

No offence but I've seldom found good quality (at a good price) close to the station or in Dept stores/malls

In general, no, but the top few ones at each are quite good. The highlight of NeWoman is probably the Janice Wong dessert bar (shares some of the menu that won her top pastry chef in asia 2 years straight), but the sushi place there is good as well. The good price is an issue too, lunch sets at the places I mentioned are over 5000 a head.

 

[Ken1988]

There are a few supposedly members-only facilities actually open to the public. One is the International House of Japan in Roppongi. Non-members can access to its restaurant and cafe. IHJ's garden is just awesome. I also like the Gakushikaikan (the alumni hall for the graduates of former "imperial universities") in Jinbocho. Non-members can enter the building freely. It hosts 3 restaurants and a bar. The building's pre-war interiors are stunningly well maintained.

 

[just4fun]

I also like the Gakushikaikan (the alumni hall for the graduates of former "imperial universities") in Jinbocho. Non-members can enter the building freely. It hosts 3 restaurants and a bar. The building's pre-war interiors are stunningly well maintained.

This is literally minutes away from me but had no idea what it was, Thank you Sir.

 

[Frenchy]

There are a few supposedly members-only facilities actually open to the public. One is the International House of Japan in Roppongi. Non-members can access to its restaurant and cafe. IHJ's garden is just awesome. I also like the Gakushikaikan (the alumni hall for the graduates of former "imperial universities") in Jinbocho. Non-members can enter the building freely. It hosts 3 restaurants and a bar. The building's pre-war interiors are stunningly well maintained.

Good tips! Thanks!
I think American Club also welcomes non-members at its bar/restaurant. Not that they’re anything special though (imo)

 

[DocMcStuffins]

The TeamLab digital exhibitions in Daiba and Toyosu are great places to visit right now, its like getting into a different world)

This place was crawling with kids when I went, so evenings are probably better.

 

[Ken1988]

Good tips! Thanks!
I think American Club also welcomes non-members at its bar/restaurant. Not that they’re anything special though (imo)

Actually, I thought you might be a member of IHJ.

 

[Frenchy]

Actually, I thought you might be a member of IHJ.

Tbh, never heard of it, but will check out the place. Love gardens!
Speaking of restaurants/bar facility with gardens Happo-En in Meguro and Chin-ZanSo are worth a stroll

 

[Wwanderer]

https://2018.tiff-jp.net/en/

-Ww

 

[usualblue]

Not all that creative in general, but the Tokyo museum scene is superb. There are big and well known ones of many sort (art of nearly all styles, history, science and technology etc) as well as many small and quirky/specialized ones (drums, swords, parasites, kimonos...).

-Ww

I’ve taken a couple of Tokyo born and bred chicks to the Edo Museum. Neither had been before and it was a hit. And there is (or was) a cool sake vending machine near the station that I took both to after, before moving on to dinner and more interesting activities.

 

[Saitama]

Good tips! Thanks!
I think American Club also welcomes non-members at its bar/restaurant. Not that they’re anything special though (imo)

If we’re talking about the Tokyo American Club (TAC), this restaurant has closed, and if IIRC the bar was never cash-friendly. The new restaurant requires membership like all the other parts of the facility. It is KINDA cool do enter and all-English environment like a big shot, but my company provides no membership, nor am I blowing 170万 on a pool membership.

Some Tokyo-area stuff I haven’t seen listed:

I didn’t see this listed, but the museum Intermediatheque is a science museum that is stylish as all hell, and has English and Japanese support throughout. It’s curated from the University of Tokyo’s best stuff, and contains an animal exhibit that is displayed with style first, and the effect is stunning. It’s located inside the shopping venue Kitte, which is appropriately next door to the Japan Post’s Tokyo branch center.

Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum features an art museum as well as Cafe 1894, but more than anything it’s some beautiful and inviting brick and mortar views that help provide a bit of a time-slip feeling.

This whole south Marunouchi area is nice, and I typically keep walking until I reach the Tokyo Imperial Hotel, which offers some incredible people watching (think wedding kimonos and flower arrangements the size of a small car), a pretty massive and unpressured lobby, and access to a vintage Frank Lloyd Wright bar, which aside from stone work on the second floor is the only thing which remains from the old Mayan-Revivalist construction. If you’ve got the bucks, there’s Takarazuka across the street, too.

From there, you can walk over to Ginza Park, which usually has something going on, or you can loop back past the castle and wave at the swans residing in the moat. I dunno way but I love those swans; they’re so big and fairly personable in an area otherwise known for too-large roads and just being windy as all hell.

 

[TheScientist]

This being Japan, I cant really suggest grave robbing.

 

[TheScientist]

Asakusa has been mentioned a few times but no one mentioned the rickshaw rides there. In cooler weather its fun to cuddle under a blanket while doing that.

 

[eman]

When in season, you could go to the flower festival at Hitachi Seaside Park.
There are a bunch of other similar flower festivals but they vary in season and location.

In the winter you can also check out the illuminations at the "Tokyo German Village"

 

[Simonka]

A trip to Miraikan in Odaiba followed by a walk in the promenade

Within Miraikan, there are numerous opportunities for visitors to have tech encounters through hands-on exhibits and activities. The museum building itself has a modern and sleek architecture that’s a must see in Odaiba. I love art galleries and museums as well but I’m into the tech geek type, so Miraikan is a good common ground

 

[fareastmovement]

Continuing:

- Go to a neighborhood matsuri (street festival)

- See a hanabi (fireworks) show, tons of them in August around Obon

- Sin big time at the 100% Chocolate Cafe

- Go shopping for sex toys

- Attend a wine tasting event*

- Participate in a tea ceremony ceremony*

- Go somewhere scenic and both take (serious/good) cameras, compare photos

- Take a helicopter tour* (not sure if any are available in Tokyo)

- Go to a strip club and perhaps share lap/private dances

- Take a day trip well out of Tokyo to some famous or, often better, not famous place

- Go to the gift food shops in the basement of some major depato and splurge on a 5000 yen apple or whatever to see how good they are

- Visit the grounds of a temple or shrine or graveyard very late at night when no one is around, be very quiet while there...perhaps including quiet sex

Still more later...

-Ww

I have done the expensive fruit splurging date thing once on a 25000 yen melon. Few days later I bought another one in the supa near my house for 3000 yen which tasted almost the same

 

[User#8628]

nor am I blowing 170万 on a pool membership.

This is a yearly fee or a one time thing?

 

[LeonGRAY]

Roof Top Bar Privado [Asakusa]
Address: 7F MIRROR Building 2-15-5 Kuramae, Taito-ku, Tokyo
https://www.google.co.jp/maphp?hl=en&tab=wl&q=7F MIRROR Building 2-15-5 Kuramae, Taito-ku, Tokyo

The BAR [Daikanyama]
Address: 3F, La Fuente Daikanyama 11-1 Sarugaku-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
https://www.google.co.jp/maphp?hl=en&tab=wl&q=3F, La Fuente Daikanyama 11-1 Sarugaku-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

 

[split]

- High tea at the Ritz Carlton in Midtown (maybe available in other places too, but I don't know them)

That should be written, "High Priced Tea...." (and as the name of it) being IIRC $14+ when I stayed there recently. The Japanese restaurant there I think would be a more worthy overall experience simply because of the night view (if you reserve a well-located seat).

 

[Frenchy]

Zoorasia , the only zoo I know of in the Kanto area where animals have space (by japanese zoo standards at least). Will drive there this sunday with a SB. I hope some animals will do it while we watch!
Yay, thats how bad a perv I became...

 

[Saitama]

This is a yearly fee or a one time thing?

Yeah. I used to have social events and other functions there through work. I don’t recall the actual numbers but it was at the time like asking if I prefer traveling by zeppelin or private train.