Ueno Park is a Kids’ Meal Paradise

Throughout the year, Ueno Park hosts a wide variety of events the whole family can enjoy. After working up an appetite, the perennial question is: What’s for lunch? Fortunately, Ueno Park is a kids’ meal paradise. Plenty of kid-friendly fare can be found on the menus at the many museums and other public institutions located around the park.

In this installment, join us on a culinary tour of the National Museum of Nature and Science, the National Diet Library’s International Library of Children’s Literature, and the Ueno Zoo, as we explore the park’s best kids’ meals — so scrumptious, even adults will be tempted to steal a bite.

Mesozoic hamburger patties and parfaits

Restaurant Mouseion at the National Museum of Nature and Science (located on the museum’s second floor mezzanine) is the perfect lunch destination for prospective paleontologists fascinated by the planet’s history and fossils. Replete with décor evoking the earth’s geological strata, the spacious restaurant even features window seats, allowing diners a tableside view of the museum’s exhibitions. Named after the etymological root of the word “museum,” the restaurant serves up a uniquely inspired menu befitting its sobriquet, originally meaning “temple of the Muses.” In addition to hamburger patties shaped like dinosaur footprints and long-necked plesiosaurs, the restaurant also serves a delightfully creative commemorative menu dreamt up by chefs at Ueno Seiyoken to coincide with each special exhibition. A venerated pioneer of fine dining, Seikyoken was one of the very first restaurants in Japan to serve Western-style cuisine. Living up to the restaurant’s reputation, each dish is a true treat for the taste buds as well as the senses. Parents and kids alike are sure to give this lunch menu a five-star review.

A picture-perfect cafeteria worth bookmarking

When accompanied by young children (from preschoolers through newly-minted elementary schoolers), you can’t miss the International Library of Children’s Literature. Come lunchtime, pop into Café Bell, located on the first 1^st floor of the library’s “Brick Building” wing. The spacious café features a modern open floorplan with wall-to-ceiling glass windows, and additional outdoor terrace seating that makes for a wonderful option on sunny days. The café even offers a special weekend kids’ lunch set on Saturdays and Sundays. Both kid- and wallet-friendly, the set is perfect for even the pickiest young diners.

The library itself is a dream come true for budding bibliophiles. The main Children’s Library stacks are packed with nearly 10,000 volumes, spanning everything from picture books to narrative fiction for children of all ages. Moreover, the Story Hour Room regularly hosts read-aloud story time events, while the Meet the World room holds a collection of nearly 2,000 books in multiple languages, relating to the history and culture of countries throughout the world. Visitors are also welcome to bring their own food and drink into the Common Room, which has a designated space for nursing.

Originally constructed in 1906 (Meiji 39) as the Imperial Library of Japan, the building’s impressive architecture makes it a historical landmark in its own right. All bookworms who step through its hallowed doors are sure to feel transported back a century to bask in the gravitas and refinement of the Meiji period.

Move over, animal crackers
Munch on these artistic bento boxes at the Ueno Zoo

Last but certainly not least, we visited the Ueno Zoo, an iconic destination beloved by generations of kids and parents alike since opening in 1882 as Japan’s first zoo. The zoo contains two concession stands serving up light refreshments, located one apiece in the West Garden and East Garden. The West Garden Rest Area offers a kids’ curry lunch set, with rice in the shape of a panda. Heading over to the East Garden, visitors to the Bird Song concession stand will find the zoo’s other famous panda bento, which has created quite a sensation since its introduction in 2006. Peering out from behind snap peas representing stalks of bamboo, the little panda face made with a mix of seasoned rice is almost too adorable to eat. The stand also sells an elephant bento, popularized by the Tama Zoo. Evidently, many visitors feel a day at the zoo isn’t complete without having tried both.

What’s more, a brand-new restaurant is slated to open in the East Garden at the end of February 2020. Named Saruyama Kitchen, this new addition is all the more reason to plan your next visit to the Ueno Zoo.

For a unique dining experience even the littlest members of your family can enjoy, look no further than Ueno Park. After all, Ueno is said to be the birthplace of the kids’ meal in Japan. As the story goes, back in 1931, the Ueno Matsuzakaya department store developed a menu of Westernized set meals, a rarity for the era. This campaign’s success subsequently popularized the Western “one plate” meal as well as the kids’ meal (“okosama lunch”), both of which quickly spread throughout Japan.

If you’re searching for a fun way to brighten up your family’s lunchtime, there’s no better place than Ueno, birthplace of the Japanese kids’ meal.

Text: Takahiro Okuda
Photos: Kuniko Hirano (Ueno Zoo), Fumitaka Miyoshi (International Library of Children’s Literature/National Museum of Nature and Science)

List of restaurants

◼︎Restaurant Mouseion
National Museum of Nature and Science
Address: Global Gallery 2F, 7-20 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Hours of Operation: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Fridays, Saturdays 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM)
(Lunchtime begins at 11:00 AM Monday through Saturday, and at 10:30 on Sundays and national holidays. Last orders are 30 minutes before the restaurant closes.)
Closed: The restaurant follows the museum schedule.
Website:https://www.kahaku.go.jp/userguide/access/restaurant/restaurant.html

◼Café Bell
International Library of Children’s Literature, National Diet Library
Address: 12-49 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Lunch orders begin at 11:30 a.m.)
Note: Kids’ meals are available exclusively on Saturdays and Sundays.
Closed: Mondays, National Holidays (with the exception of Children’s Day on May 5th), and the third Wednesday of each month.
For all other irregular closures, the café follows the library schedule.
Website: https://www.kodomo.go.jp/index.html

◼︎Ueno Zoological Gardens
Address: 9-83, Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo
・Bird Song (East Garden)
Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
・West Garden Rest Area
Hours: 9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Concessions are served 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.)
Closed: Mondays (Closed when the zoo is closed.)
Website: https://www.tokyo-zoo.net/zoo/ueno/restaurant.html

Note: Information in this article current as of February 2020.