Review excerpt: The cooking at The Blind Donkey is light, colorful and uncomplicated, relying not on the artifice of tweezers or an arsenal of fermented taste enhancers, but the quality of the ingredients.

Review excerpt: Kyoto's Walden Woods — with no signs or tables — typifies the third wave coffee boom cafe.

Review excerpt: What sets Koe Lobby apart is its all-day dining. Early birds will like the baked goods and eggs at breakfast.

Review excerpt: At Craft Beer Market Osaka, the lineup runs to 30 beers, and is usually, but not exclusively, drawn from domestic brewers.

Review excerpt: If you’re in Umeda and in need of an escape from the crowds, head for Taneya’s shop at the back of the cavernous confectionery hall in the Hankyu department store.

Review excerpt: The coffee shop Saiin Roasting Factory is about a 10-minute walk from Saiin Station, plonked right in the middle of suburbia. It’s definitely a highlight in this nondescript neighborhood.

Review excerpt: 365 Nichi is an excellent little bakery that has been operating day in, day out, even at new year, ever since it opened in 2013.

Review excerpt: Mikkeller Tokyo boasts 20 taps, about half of them dispensing Japanese microbrews and the rest Mikkeller’s own distinctive custom-made range.

Review excerpt: With both of the daily lunch sets on offer you can eat as much you want, and customers do, loading up twee baskets with curry-flavored bread and more at Kyoto's Tentation d'Ange.

Review excerpt: The bar snacks at Another8 are classy, ranging from soy-sauce pickles to the addictively munchy home-cooked burdock chips.

Review excerpt: The pork at The Good Vibes oozes rich, spicy sauce and is loaded up with chili pickles and lettuce. The chicken has a crunchy genmai (brown rice) coating and comes with grated cabbage and a slather of teriyaki sauce.

Review excerpt: There are Japanese classics at Sandwich Factory, such as cream and fruit sandwiches, but also burdock root and tuna, with the crusts removed.