A good breakfast is the first step to get to know a city, to get in tune with its rituals, its rhythms, its scents.

However gigantic and sprawling, Tokyo is no exception and although by definition any attempt to reduce such a mastodon to a few, selected areas will always be inevitably reductive, here is a small selection made by and for those who live in the city.

Few but good, scattered in four different wards and not to be missed if you happen to be nearby.

1) One More
One More on Google Maps

A blue cream soda and a French toast may seem like a daunting combination in the early morning, but not at One More, where they're always very popular.

The retro atmosphere with green leather sofas is simply the icing on the cake of this bar, which has long been a classic for Tokyoites who live near the Edogawa ward, but not only.

2) Parklet
Parklet on Google Maps

A pastry-café that overlooks the Horidome Children's park and which, in its name, would like to be its ideal extension. In a very refined and relaxing environment, it serves all kinds of delicacies, making fresh naturally leavened bread one of its strong points.

The view of the playground makes it a small oasis, but be aware that it can also be quite crowded, as popular as it is in the neighbourhood!

3) Be A Good Neighbor Coffee Kiosk Roaster
Be A Good Neighbor on Google Maps

A delicious cafe with roasting and baked sweets in Sendagaya, just opened a stone's throw from the spectacular Snihjuku Gyoen Park. Famous in the neighborhood for the quality of its coffee, which can also be savored in its other location close to the nearby Sendagaya elementary school.

The large roaster close to the counter, active every day, spreads a coffee aroma into the ether that fills the whole day and the coffee, accompanied by a lightly toasted canelé is all you could wish for before starting to travel the streets of Tokyo again.

4) Lu-Gang
Lu-Gang on Google Maps

If a coffee wasn't enough, a trip to Setagaya at Lu-Gang offers the possibility of "strengthening" breakfast with the best Taiwanese buns in Tokyo, for almost unanimous recognition.

Rare thing, even smooth buns are available (the so-called mantō, house specialty), for those who want to taste only the soft dough, a bit like a brioche; otherwise they are filled, for further peaks of bliss, not to mention the manjū filled with fabulous azuki red bean paste.