If you’re a foodie and are traveling through JR East Tokyo Station Gransta, you’re in for a treat! With two shopping areas under Gransta Tokyo and Gransta Marunouchi offering over 11,000 sqm (or 1.5 soccer fields) of food and retail, you can spend an entire day just exploring the 260 shops in this station.
One interesting fact about Tokyo Station is that these shops are specially curated by JR East to let you experience iconic Japanese foods conveniently in one location. Let’s explore some amazing food brands you can find in Gransta for your next Tokyo shopping trip!
COCORIS
If you’re looking to buy an unforgettable Japanese snack as a gift, COCORIS is renowned for its famous hazelnut and raspberry sandwich cookies. This brand is so popular that it has been awarded the top-selling shop in Gransta Tokyo for three years! I had to buy a box just for myself to enjoy with a cup of sake.
The Standard Bakers Tokyo
The Standard Bakers Tokyo is a bakery that offers a range of artisanal bread using wheat and butter mainly from Hokkaido. Out of their range of over 60 types of bread, more than half were newly developed for this brand. A must-try is its Tochiotomi Strawberry Premium Bread. This bread consists of swirls of Tochiotomi Strawberry nestled inside bread baked using major wheat varieties from Hokkaido such as Yumechikara, Kitahonami, Harukirari, and Kitanokaori.
Hitachino Bluing Marunouchi
If you like craft beers and history, visit Hitachino Bluing Marunouchi, a craft beer bar that offers a range of delicious beers including its award-winning beer Hitachino Nest White Ale. The establishment has a long history starting with Kiuchi Brewery, which began brewing sake in 1823 in Ibaraki. In 1996, it brewed its first brew, the Hitachino Nest Beer, which subsequently won several international competitions and is now available in over 40 countries worldwide. The shop is run by a 10th-generation descendent and features an owl as its brand mascot.
Toubei
Toubei offers healthy mini cups, sandwiches, and lunch boxes with salmon without the use of preservatives. The food in the mini cups are aesthetically arranged and can be purchased in sets or twos or threes for hungry customers wishing to try different flavours. The sandwiches are also really popular with Shinkansen travellers looking for a quick bite.
Kiwamiya
Nothing is more persuasive than a friend highly recommending her favourite restaurant, Kiwamiya, where you can savour Kyushu steak hamburgers grilled on an iron plate with rice cooked in a hagama (traditional Japanese rice cooker). Some of its stores also offer Halal menus.
Zopf Curry Bread
Fancy Japanese curry in deep fried bread? If you’re in Tokyo station, you must give Zopf Curry Bread a try. The bread was crispy and warm, and the taste of curry blended well with the savoury bread. Perfect for cold weather.
Tsubame Grill
Tsubame Grill was founded in 1930s and developed its famous Tsubame hamburger steak in the 1960s. Wrapped in aluminum foil, this dish was inspired by the French en papillot cuisine, whereby meat is wrapped and steamed in a pouch. The steak was superbly tender and juicy with the rich flavour of the stock.
T’s Tan Tan
T’s Tan Tan is a vegan ramen restaurant that offers a range of delicious ramen dishes made without meat, egg, fish and milk. The restaurant’s specialty is the Tan Tan Men, which is a spicy ramen dish made using soy milk, and it was so tasty that even non-vegetarians in my group enjoyed it thoroughly.
Maisen
Founded in 1965, Maisen is a popular brand that specializes in Tonkatsu (pork cutlet). The brand is known for its crispy and juicy Tonkatsu served with homemade sauce. The tonkatsu is fried using fresh bread crumbs made daily from bread baked according to a specified recipe. In addition, the bread crumbs are unique to Maisen as the crumbs are different in content, size and shape from commercially available bread crumbs.
Burdigala Tokyo Bakery
Burdigala Tokyo Bakery is a French-style bakery that offers a range of bread, pastries, and cakes. The bakery’s specialty is the croissant. I simply could not have enough of it as the croissant had a heavenly buttery tasty and a beautiful flaky texture. Back home in Singapore, I also enjoyed the cranberry and cheese ganache that was one of the curated items in my Japan Rail Club February 2023 omiyage box. It was packaged in a round box featuring an original illustration of a woman walking with her dog along the streets of Hiroo, Tokyo.
Audrey
When I first saw the strawberry confections by Audrey available in milk and chocolate flavours, I immediately thought that they were the perfect gifts for girlfriends. A strawberry nestled in a mini cone is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen, and reminded me of a bouquet filled with happy wishes from one friend to another.
Plan a shopping trip to Tokyo Gransta
There are so many other famous brands located in Gransta that it is impossible to list them all. Some brands in Gransta are accessible without having to exit the station, so that you can conveniently purchase these gifts while transferring trains to your next destination.
Take some time to walk among the shops and appreciate the creativity, care, and consideration put into every brand’s products and the opportunity that JR East has provided for commuters to easily access these brands for our enjoyment.
Have the best of Japan foods delivered to your doorstep
1. Sign up for Japan Rail Premium Membership
And if you are unable to travel to Tokyo soon, you can also treat yourself to a monthly omiyage box by signing up for a premium Japan Rail Club membership. Every month, you will receive a box full of handpicked treats according to a monthly theme which is shipped to your doorstep all the way from Tokyo.
In the box, you will also receive a brochure with the latest information on places to visit based on the monthly theme, and a description of each of the treats including its flavour, company, and common allergens.
The Japan Rail Club premium membership includes access to unlimited Travel Communicator services for your next Japan trip by rail, tour and hotel packages organised by JR East (both in and out of Japan), and invites to exclusive events.
2. Experience Japanese food with Angliss Market Place
During the Covid pandemic, one platform which kept me alive and connected to Japan was Angliss Market Place’s live Facebook videos where I could purchase Japanese products and arrange for delivery as quickly as a couple of days to my home. Having that access to Japanese food and background information enabled me to enjoy a simple slice of Japan in my daily life while feeling less isolated due to travel curbs.
Angliss chefs would present a range of Japanese products and elaborate on which part of Japan they were from, how to prepare or consume the products, and the health benefits (if any). This platform is great for grocery shoppers who like to know more about quality food products with quick explanations while ordering in the comfort of their homes.
Special thanks to the JR East team for the amazing tour of Gransta at Tokyo Station, company briefing, and the insightful food-tasting session. I would also like to share my heartfelt appreciation to Angliss Singapore for organising the meeting and introductions with JR East.
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