Tokyo is so different to anywhere else I’ve been. It’s both futuristic and historical. Everything that is made is done with passion, precision and craft. I love the contrast between the shiny high-rise buildings and traditional alleys – home to little yakitori grills where you interact with the chef – or between crowded places like Shibuya Crossing and the tranquil Meiji Shrine or Imperial Gardens. Every time I return, there’s always something new to uncover. As a foodie, Tokyo is such an exciting place – I’ve never had a bad meal there.

I’ve had the chance to visit a number of times, including for my show Around the World in 80 Dishes, and to visit my brother-in-law, who works there. I’ve had once-in-a-lifetime experiences such as training and eating with sumo wrestlers in their dohyo, training with a sushi master, learning to make noodles and working with a tuna master at Tsukiji fish market, where the seafood was out of this world. Sushi is an art form and it didn’t get any fresher than there.

Tokyo offers the best seafood; I’ve had scallops and sea urchins in the shell cooked over fire on the street, live calamari fresh out of the tank served as sashimi, melt-in-the- mouth tuna and the list goes on.

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Tokyo train stations offer lots of eateries and are where you’ll often fifind the best ramen. I’ve had great meals at Kyushu Jangara Ramen Harajuku, and Ichiran Roppongi. There are four main types of ramen: three based on seasonings – miso, shio (salt) and shoyu (soy sauce) – while the fourth is tonkotsu, or pork bone stock. Loudly slurping is, thankfully, the standard way to eat ramen – so I really fifit in. There is also a ramen museum in Shin-Yokohama!

I love pork tonkatsu, too, which is 100 times better than any schnitzel I’ve had. I always head to Kappabashi Kitchen Town, near Tawaramachi Station, where there are stores full of ceramics, crockery and hand-forged Japanese knives. This is where Tokyo’s restaurateurs and home chefs come for kitchenware and décor. My favourite shop, and probably the most famous, is Kamata, where they will inscribe your name on the blades.

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