Review excerpt: At Aozora Blue, chef Hirofumi Matsui draws on his soba-making experiences to offer an exquisite, handmade udon noodle in an elevated setting.

Review excerpt: Shibuya's Hiyori serves nihonshu and Italian wines alongside its signature oden.

Review excerpt: All the classic unagi dishes at Kurocyodo are offered, from simple unagi donburi rice bowls to unajū (served on rice in lacquerware boxes), and even cooked in donabe claypots or as shabu-shabu.

Review excerpt: Rakushin — the austere Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant that opened in 2018 — chef Katayama’s saba-zushi is a perfect balance of salt, vinegar and rice.

Review excerpt: Kurasuno is a small izakaya bar-restaurant near Taisho Station on the Osaka Loop Line and beloved neighborhood treasure in the hearts and minds of residents since it opened in 1949.

Review excerpt: Shizuoka's Le Dessin is a ramen specialist. But the bowls served here by chef Toshiaki Masuda are unlike any you’ll find on other stretches of the old highway.

Review excerpt: Mai Nagamatsu has made it her mission to celebrate and spread the word about katsuobushi at Katsuo Shokudo and the artisans who still harness the age-old methods to produce it.

Review excerpt: Calayer has become a popular destination for heavy metal fans and musicians in Kansai. Where else can you enjoy a meal and a cold beer while listening to Slayer in the background?

Review excerpt: Unlike other fashionable restaurants that focus on the usual Italian-inflected fare, the menu at Lakan-ka is based on light, wholesome Japanese cooking.

Review excerpt: This is Ginza Kagari Honten as it should have been from the outset: Classy, polished and much better equipped for fame and the inevitable influx.

Review excerpt: Men Chirashi stylish new udonya lies on a narrow alley among the boutiques and hip streetwear emporiums of Harajuku.

Review excerpt: Not only is the location more central — in the heart of Roppongi Hills, no less — Torioka is also more stylish and, for the time being at any rate, much easier to book.