French Kaiseki in Kyoto: Misoguigawa
https://www.misogui.jp/english.html

Tokyo - another vote for the chain Sushizanmai
Kanazawa - Iwashigumi a very atmospheric sardine restaurant. There are photos on TA to give you an idea of the place.
Takayama - there is a croissant booth at the morning market serving croissants filled with bean paste among other choices. When we were there it was the booth next to one serving beer.
Kyoto - Kappo Saraku This was such a lovely meal that we ate there twice, including on our last evening in Japan

I love Ichiran for ramen, Genki Sushi for quick sushi, and Gyukatsu Motomura for delicious beef cutlets. For street food, Dotonbori in Osaka is a must!

Tokyo: We had lunch is a fantastic restaurant that I found on Chowhound. It is upstairs in a plain, small office building and features tonkatsu (pork cutlets). KATSUKAMI GINZA.
I see now that, since we were there about four years ago, it gained a Michelin nod. Not surprising!!

https://katsukami.com/en.html




One our best meals in Japan..very tiny place must book ahead. I am standing with the wonderful Japanese-American guide we hired for the morning, and she left us at the restaurant. Yukari Sakamoto.

At neither this place, nor the one, below, did we see any other obvious foreigners.

We also had some great meals inside the subway stations; we spent about a week in Tokyo before heading to a secluded onsen ryokan (KAYOTEI) that we reached by a couple of train rides I got a lot of help about that on this forum. A night at KAYOTEI was quite an experience, with dinner and breakfast included.





https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f548983dc4.jpg
I'm cracking up at something Yukari (our wonderful guide) must have said..standing in front of entrance to the FANTASTIC tonkatsu restaurant, on fifth floor here.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d63cab20a5.jpg
Inside..only a counter with about 6 seats....
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...be5394d6b3.jpg
Might be the very best pork I've ever eaten.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7b210b9cca.jpg
Chef behind the counter of KATSUKAMI GINZA......for tonkatsu. Divine!






The other place we LOVED was the very special SHIMA STEAK. We had lunch there and bought a take-out order of their famous steak sandwich to take to the Giants game at the "Dome."
This is a family-run restaurant and we were catered to by the female half of the couple who owns it. OOOh..very difficult to find but when we did, we were so very happy!!
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...25fbc23a1b.jpg
Tokyo!!!
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...074411ad3e.jpg
STEAK SHIMA...owner/chef with his steaks
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f322186bee.jpg
Counter seating at STEAK SHIMA
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...396fae23da.jpg
MEAT IS WEIGHED
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b3f6b665bd.jpg
PREPARATION
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8578b58977.jpg
FINISHED STEAK
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6b97bb753b.jpg
OWNER....SO VERY FRIENDLY EVEN THOUGH WE HAD NO COMMON LANGUAGE..she shows us our steak sandwiches to carry out after our lunch
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...873f9ae662.jpg
STEAK SHIMA..dining room...very plain...very homey...very comfortable
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d6ed331fba.jpg
The owner walked us out, and down he block, to make sure we did not get lost.....we took a steak sandwich to eat at that night's baseball game!
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e0339195b4.jpg
Sayonara!! I hope we can return to STEAK SHIMA, and to Tokyo!!


Here is a thread about food shopping that I began before your trip; it includes t he names of some of the other places we tried, and enjoyed. Such great food at all price levels!!!


https://www.fodors.com/community/asia/japan-food-shopping-for-cooks-1665589/page2/