My Recent Saturday Cheat Meals in Tokyo: New York Bagels, Taiwanese Fan Tuan and Pecan Pie
- Alex
- Jul 26
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 4
Until recently, my Saturday morning routine was relatively straightforward. Unless I was working a tour, I would wake up, get a little work done, eat breakfast and then head to Akasaka Palace for hill sprints with my running club, Namban Rengo. The session normally runs from 10am until around 11 and includes repeated hard efforts up the hills on either side of the palace.
Once the workout finished, I would usually pull a protein shake, an apple (pictured above) and a baked sweet potato out of my bag and eat them as my post-training meal. It was healthy, practical and exactly what I needed after the session. But over the past couple of months, my Saturday mornings have become a little... more intense, shall we say lol.
I now leave home at around 6:30am and make my way to Club 360 in Azabu for a Hyrox training session from 8:00am until 9:00am. Before the HIIT workout, I also hope on the stationary bike for 30 minutes to warm-up. Straight afterwards, I eat my usual breakfast of oats, berries and banana etc, then travel across to Akasaka Palace to join Namban Rengo for the hills workout.
By the time the second session finishes, I’ve completed two soliddddd workouts back-to-back and properly kick-started the weekend. Because of that, I’ve decided to stop carrying my usual protein shake, apple and sweet potato around Tokyo and instead reward myself by visiting some of the food spots I’ve quietly been saving in my notes app on my phone! How fun?!
I’m not talking about completely losing my mind at an all-you-can-eat buffet, although I'm seriously tempted to. These are simply foods that have been on my mind for a while. I’ll often ask ChatGPT where I can find the best version of that food in Tokyo, save a few places in Google Maps and then wait for the right Saturday morning to visit.
My new training routine has given me the perfect excuse to start working through that list!
New York-Style Breakfast Bagels in Azabu-Juban
The first thing I was craving was a proper breakfast bagel. I didn’t just want a plain bagel with a little cream cheese spread across it. I wanted a full breakfast sandwich with bacon, egg and enough substance to feel like a genuine reward after two hard training sessions back-to-back.
That search took me to NEW NEW YORK CLUB BAGEL & SANDWICH SHOP in Azabu-Juban. Straight after the Hyrox session at Club 360 and then the hills workout with Namban Rengo, I hopped on the train and made my way there for a late 2nd breakfast, or early lunch.
I ordered an iced coffee, obviously, along with their bacon and egg breakfast bagel. I added a hash brown inside, which turned out to be an excellent decision because the combination of the bacon, egg, crispy potato and chewy bagel was exactly what I had been craving!
The bagel itself was very good, and the whole sandwich felt filling without being ridiculous. It was salty, warm and satisfying, and after a morning of Hyrox and hill sprints, it was an amazing way to start the weekend.
Because I had completed two workouts and apparently believed I needed even more protein, I also ordered the pastrami bagel. Unfortunately, the pastrami was a little tough and chewy, so it wasn’t something I would rush back to order again. Obviously, I still finished the entire thing, but next time I’ll probably stick with the breakfast bagel and add a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel on the side and/or in addition to the first bagel sandwich lol.
The bacon, egg and hash brown bagel alone is worth returning for, and I’m already looking forward to going back.
Finding Taiwanese Fan Tuan in Okubo
The following weekend, I completed the same Saturday morning routine. I trained at Club 360, ate my first breakfast and then headed across to Akasaka Palace for the hill sprints session. This time, however, I had Taiwanese breakfast food on my mind.
I’ve visited Taiwan twice over the past year, once for a Spartan race and once for a UTMB Series trail race. Both trips introduced me to an ungodly amount of excellent food, but one of the things I had been thinking about recently was fan tuan!
Fan tuan is a Taiwanese breakfast roll made with sticky rice wrapped around different fillings. Depending on where you order it, the inside might include Chinese sausage, pork floss, pickled vegetables, egg and youtiao, which is a long Chinese fried doughnut that adds a bit of texture.
After searching for some of the best fan tuan in Tokyo, I found Tokyo Xiang-kou Fan-tuan Dian near Okubo Station. Funnily enough, it was also quite close to where I live, so after training, I made my way back towards home and stopped there for lunch.
I ordered two different fan tuan: the original with added Chinese sausage and another filled with tuna. I also bought a peanut drink, which was excellent and worked really well alongside the sticky rice rolls.
Overall, the fan tuan was also very good and definitely satisfied the craving I had carried back from Taiwan. To be completely honest, though, I thought the youtiao inside was a little too brittle, and I would have preferred it slightly softer.
There was also quite a lot of pork floss compared with some of the other fillings. For my personal taste, a little more Chinese sausage, slightly less pork floss and more pickles, scallions and egg would have made it even better.
That said, I finished both rolls and enjoyed the peanut drink, so I certainly wasn’t disappointed. Tokyo doesn’t have Taiwanese breakfast shops on every corner, and it was great to find somewhere close to home serving a proper fan tuan.
Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Pie in Nishiazabu
A couple of busy Saturdays passed before I had another opportunity to continue working through my Tokyo cheat-meal list. This time, I couldn’t stop thinking about pecan pie.
I love a good Australian-style pecan pie, but it isn’t something I come across particularly often in Tokyo. After another Saturday morning of Hyrox training followed by hill sprints, I made my way to The Pie Hole in Nishiazabu.
The shop serves both sweet dessert pies and savoury meal pies, so naturally I decided to try both. I ordered a shepherd’s pie, a salmon and broccoli pie, a slice of spiced pumpkin pie and, most importantly, the pecan pie.
The savoury pies were smaller than the traditional Australian or New Zealand meat pies I’m used to, but they were still very good. The shepherd’s pie was warm and comforting, while the salmon and broccoli pie was a slightly lighter option, although calling anything in a four-pie lunch “light” is probably a bit generous lol.
The spiced pumpkin pie was also enjoyable, but it was a little less sweet than I would normally prefer. I like pumpkin pie with a strong hit of pumpkin-y spice and enough sweetness to make it feel like a proper dessert.
The pecan pie, however, was excellent. It was rich, sweet and exactly what I had been craving, and I even filmed a little video of myself eating it, which is generally a good sign that I’m particularly excited about something.
Four pies might sound like an aggressive lunch, but after two Saturday morning workouts, I had absolutely no trouble finishing everything. Out of the four, the pecan pie was easily the highlight and is definitely something I would return for.
Turning My Saturday Workouts Into Tokyo Food Adventures
I’m not sure I would technically call any of these meals breakfast. By the time the hill workout finishes and I travel to whichever place I’ve saved for that week, it is usually around 11:30am, so the meal sits somewhere between breakfast, brunch and an early lunch.
Whatever we choose to call it, I’ve really enjoyed turning my Saturday training routine into an excuse to explore more of Tokyo’s food scene. I still follow my normal meal plan throughout the week, train hard and pay attention to what I eat, but after beginning the weekend with two back-to-back workouts, it has been fun to visit somewhere new and enjoy one of the foods I’ve been craving through the week!
So far, that has meant a bacon, egg and hash brown bagel in Azabu-Juban, Taiwanese fan tuan in Okubo and four different pies in Nishiazabu. Not a bad start.
Out of the three places, the breakfast bagel from NEW NEW YORK CLUB and the pecan pie from The Pie Hole are probably the two things I’m most excited to eat again. The fan tuan was also well worth trying, particularly for anyone missing the Taiwanese breakfast flavours they experienced while travelling.
People have been messaging me more frequently recently to ask where they should eat in Tokyo, so I wanted to start sharing some of these smaller food adventures alongside the tours, travel guides and race blogs. Hopefully, this gives you a few new places to save for your own Tokyo trip or a little inspiration for your next post-workout meal.
I’ve still got plenty of restaurants, bakeries, cookies, breakfast sandwiches and ridiculous desserts saved in my phone, so this definitely won’t be the final edition.
The Saturday cheat-meal tour of Tokyo has only just begun.
Thanks so much for reading!
For more Tokyo food, travel and local recommendations, follow me on IG @alex_in_japan_ or explore the rest of the guides and experiences on our website :)
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