Best breakfast in Akihabara? Might be the breakfast buffet at this 'family restaurant'
Nutritionists say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and you could make a compelling argument that the Akihabara breakfast is the most important breakfast of all. There's a lot to see and do in Tokyo's anime and video game district, with building after building packed with stores and events for fans of both the latest hits and greatest classics of Japanese pop culture entertainment. A lot of it isn't open very late, though. Trying to fit everything in might mean skipping, or at least delaying, lunch, so before you dive into the Akihabara experience you're going to want to make sure you've had a solid, fortifying breakfast.
Thankfully, it turns out there's an awesome breakfast buffet option right next to Akihabara Station.
Jonathan's is what's called a 'family restaurant' in Japanese, the category of casual eateries that includes chains like Denny's. At most Jonathan's you order from a menu with a wide range of Western-style and Japanese dishes, but at the Akihabaraeki-mae branch, they also offer a breakfast buffet!
Available daily from 6:30 to 10 a.m., the buffet is priced at 1,500 yen (US$10.35). That doesn't make it the cheapest breakfast in town, but as we found out on our visit, the price is well worth it for what you get in terms of quality, quantity and variety.
Starting with the quantity, the breakfast buffet is all-you-can eat, and it includes unlimited refills of soft drinks too. As for the variety, on the morning we went the Japanese food section was stocked with things like tamagoyaki omelets and renkon kinpira (lotus root and shredded carrot with red pepper)…
…cuts of grilled salmon and mackerel, and karaage (Japanese-style fried chicken).
Multiple rice cookers were waiting with warm fluffy rice, and next to them were fixings such as nori (dried seaweed), negi (sliced green onions), and shirasu (baby sardines).
Alternatively, you could cover your rice with curry!
▼ Always a welcome sight at breakfast buffets!
At first glance we thought there might be two batches of curry in the buffet line, but after closer inspection we discovered that the other pot actually was filled with Western-style beef stew, adding a touch of luxuriousness to the fare.
For those looking to start your way the Western-breakfast way, or simply wanting to mix culinary cultures, there were also scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, hashed browns, croissants, rolls, and sliced bread.
For the health-conscious there's a salad section…
…while those of the 'vacation calories don't count' mindset are accommodated with a dessert zone with dorayaki pancakes, sweet red beans, and warabi mochi. This is also the part of the buffet where you'll find the cereal and fruits.
▼ The included drink bar with coffee, tea, and juice
Obviously, we felt compelled to try as many different items as we could. Everything tasted great, but we were especially impressed with the beef stew, which was hearty and flavorful.
Another standout was the okra and tororo (grated yam), which we added to a bowl of rice…
…and we'd be lying if we said we weren't a little giddy about the sweets. Ordinarily, we'd be a little too self-conscious and/or responsibly mature to add a dessert order to our breakfast, but since the items were included in the breakfast buffet we were paying for, eating a whole bunch of sweets at breakfast was perfectly sensible, right?
As we mentioned above, the vast majority of Jonathan's branches don't have a breakfast buffet, so why does the Akihabaraeki-mae location have one? Because it's part of the sane building as the Hotel Mets Akihabara, part of Japan Railways budget-oriented hotel group. Rather than have its own breakfast plan, Hotel Mets refers guests to the Jonathan's, which runs the buffet to accommodate hungry travelers. That doesn't mean you have to stay at the hotel in order to eat at the buffet, though, as it's open to one and all, and we have a hunch we might be stopping by again the next time our Tokyo adventures take us to Akihabara or the nearby Kanda Myojin Shinto shrine.
Restaurant information Jonathan's (Akihabaraeki-mae branch) / ジョナサン（秋葉原駅前店） Address: Tokyo-to, Chiyoda-ku, Soto Kanda 1-17-4, Hotel Mets Akihabara 2nd floor 東京都千代田区外神田1-17-4 ホテルメッツ秋葉原 2F Open 6:30 a.m.-3 a.m. Breakfast buffet 6:30 a.m.-10 a.m.
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