After years of careful first hand observation (and exchange rates ranging from 49 to 100 yen to the dollar), I have concluded there are two Tokyos - expense account Tokyo which is the domain of business travellers hosting $200 dinners in high end hotel restaurants, and clubs, and my tourist Tokyo where I can eat and drink myself silly - western or local style for less than $A30 a day.

That Japan in general, and Tokyo in particular, are expensive is the mother of all myths.

On this trip we take our breakfast outside the hotel in one of the myriad bakery cafes nearby.  Approx cost $A6 per person for pastries and tea/coffee.   Impossible to describe the perfection of the pastries.   But if sweet treats at breakfast are not your thing, then next door or across the road will be yet another café serving "morning set" which might be egg, toast, coffee or tea (and salad!), or perhaps toast & jam, or fruit and yoghurt.  Whichever "setto" you choose, the cost is rarely more than $A5.   This is not a city to take hotel breakfasts - but even those in 5-star hotels are priced slightly lower than at home.    But that said, pricing here can be a little strange.  One breakfast was pancakes and syrup for me - $A4.50.  Barry had scrambled eggs, bacon, and salad (always salad!), and toast for $A2.00.   He had a coffee and I had a tea and those each cost $A5!!!

Casual eating  - sandwiches, a bowl of pasta, a salad, or the like, is always extremely cheap and - way cheaper than in Melbourne.   Bottled drinks  - water etc. ditto (e.g. a bottle of water is approx $A1.20).   BUT, you can easily pay $A7.50 for a cup of tea if you are not careful.  Bar drinks in restaurants are also typically "RSL"/golf club prices.   Happy (three) hours are common, and for example at The (very ritzy) Peninsula Hotel, a perfect (large) gin and tonic and similar drinks are a little over $A8.  

Dinners have been varied and interesting.  One - a very funny meal of yakitori etc. in a Ginza laneway, where the tables were two upturned milk crates, with some recycled timber planks across.  Even after we paid a surcharge to sit at said tables, and another for using chopsticks, the whole thing was $20 pp (including several beers).   Another was an absolute feast at an izikaya (Japanese pub) where we ate and drank an awful lot for about $A25 a head (including a couple of bottles of Penfolds).   Yet another was a fabulous meal of tonkatsu - a very special meal featuring pork and cabbage (really!) - but always a highlight.  Another a fantastic meal of okonomiyake- again, lots of drinks and a bill of approx $12 per person.   Lunches have ranged from curry and rice, to pasta/soup and salad.    On one particularly hot day, and after lunch, we came across a French deli and wine bar which looked very inviting, and it was - especially when we discovered we could have a glass of Mumm for $A11!!!

Bottle shops are plentiful with wonderful wines, and always cheap

I could go on and on with the price comparisons but suffice to say, that we have dined beautifully, for several days, on less than $A40 a day per person.  Just one exception:  yesterday we treated ourselves to lunch in the New York Bar & Grill at the Park Hyatt -featured in the movie Lost in Translation.   We had three lavish courses and coffee for approx $A65 pp.   An amazing meal - 52 floors up with superb views all over Tokyo.   We selected a main course from a choice of Australian beef or lamb, snapper, pork, duck, and a risotto.  Entrees and desserts are taken buffet style from the famous bar.  The choice is extensive and the desserts in particular, were to die for!.  The overall value for money is astounding, and this is definitely a "must do" Tokyo experience.

I continue to be bewildered as to where Tokyo's reputation for being expensive to eat and drink comes from.  Perhaps there is another Tokyo somewhere which I haven't visited yet, because "my" Tokyo is either dirt cheap if I am behaving myself, or extraordinarily good value for money, if I am splurging.