​The Food City Anthony Bourdain Once Said He Could Eat In For The Rest Of His Life

Anthony Bourdain has three favorite food cities, and one of them is Tokyo, the sprawling capital of Japan. In the field notes for a Tokyo episode of his television series "Parts Unknown," Bourdain declared, "If I had to eat only in one city for the rest of my life, Tokyo would be it." Furthermore, he said that almost every chef he knows would say the same thing (via YouTube). 

What made Tokyo so perfect for him was the overwhelming variety of food stemming from different traditions. In interviews, he often pointed to soba (buckwheat) noodles, uni (sea urchin), yakitori skewers, and duck dipping sauce as some of the staples he craved in the city. Bourdain admired the precision of Japanese cuisine — executed to perfection. In an episode of "No Reservations," he visited Sarashina Horii, a 230-year-old soba restaurant. The soba are cut to exactly 1.6 millimeters in width, served in a bonito broth seasoned with soy sauce and various toppings from yams to chicken.

In fairness to Bourdain, he didn't view any city with rose-colored glasses. He described Tokyo as a sort of sensory overload that can be as intimidating as it is beautiful for the uninitiated, referring to the unpretentious dives and sultry "host bars" where customers pay for staff to flirt with them. The bustling nightlife was one of many parts that made Tokyo a unique experience for Bourdain.

If you want to eat like Anthony Bourdain in Tokyo, you can take inspiration from "Parts Unknown" and "No Reservations." He enjoyed yakitori and partially raw chicken dishes at the Toriki restaurant in Shinagawa, including toriashi. It's easy to make mistakes with raw chicken, which is why Bourdain only trusted a professional chef to prepare this poultry-based sashimi. Another Bourdain favorite was Atelier Morimoto XEX, a teppanyaki and sushi restaurant that leans fancier, with luxury ingredients like wagyu and monkfish featured on the menu. Every part of the fish is used, including the liver for a unique foie gras, and you'll enjoy it in an opulent space.

Bourdain likes street food as much as an uber-formal, multi-course tasting menu, so for a cheap bite, his hot tip is the Lawson convenience store chain. While Bourdain was skeptical of pre-packaged egg sandwiches, Japanese konbini are famed for their quality food, and the pillowy egg salad sando at Lawson won him over. Even the coffee seemed to promise adventure, and he once risked missing his train to try this vending machine drink.

Perhaps his number one destination, though, would be a sushi spot named Sukiyabashi Jiro, which is famed for its owner's appearance in the food documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi." The 15 pieces of sushi are dished out in about 20 minutes, with astonishingly fatty tuna and tender eel. With all the incredible food and significant history behind it, it's easy to see why Tokyo was one of Bourdain's favorite food cities.