363 Best Restaurants in Japan

After strolling through the flower gardens of Hibiya Park on a hot day, stop off for a cold pint of beer here. There's no indoor seating, but with its view of Hibiya Park, you wouldn't want to be inside.

On an unassuming corner in this major seafood city sits a restaurant serving some of the best of what is available from these cold waters. Dinner is not cheap, but lunches are more reasonably priced. The restaurant offers excellent service and bright surroundings. A seat at the counter is a great place to watch the chefs work.

At Hiraso you can try kakinoha-zushi, sushi wrapped in persimmon leaves. What's more, you can take it away in a nicely wrapped wooden box for a satisfying lunch in Nara Park. Another featured delicacy is kakisuga, dried persimmon dusted with kudzu (flour made from the East Asian kudzu vine) or arrowroot powder and cooked tempura style. Most set menus include green-tea porridge, which is usually made with mushrooms or seasonal vegetables. Hiraso has tables and chairs, but the tatami alcoves are more intimate.

Every so often, even on foreign shores, you've got to have a burger, and the Swiss-and-bacon special at Homework's is an incomparably better choice than anything you can get at one of the global chains. Hamburgers come in three sizes on white or wheat buns, with a variety of toppings. You also find hot teriyaki chicken sandwiches, pastrami sandwiches, and vegetarian options like a soybean veggie burger or a grilled eggplant sandwich. With its hardwood banquettes and French doors open to the street in good weather, Homework's is a pleasant place to linger over lunch. There is also a branch in Hiroo.

This no-frills eatery serves excellent sheng jian bao (Shanghai-style fried dumplings) and other casual Shanghai cuisine all day long. The kitchen is behind glass so you can admire the speed with which the chefs cook up this Shanghai staple. Get a selection of sheng jian bao at the first floor takeout window for an inexpensive snack or dine in at the second-floor restaurant for a more relaxed meal.

In business since 1909, this fabulous old wooden restaurant specializes in grilled eel (unagi), which fills the restaurant with a mouthwatering, charcoal-grill aroma. Some of the seating is at low tables on raised tatami-mat flooring, though there are also tables and chairs overlooking a small Japanese garden.

The novel idea behind this restaurant is to serve pork shabu-shabu in soba broth. The broth imparts a delicate flavor to the thinly sliced pork, which is served with seasonal vegetables.

Folks in Fukuoka wait in long lines for these rectangular black boxes of extra-thin noodles swimming in pork-bone broth and topped with tasty char-shu (slices of roasted pork), negi (green onions), and sprinkles of togarashi (red pepper). Fill out an order form (available in English) to indicate exactly how you like it, then buy a ticket from the machine outside the door and place your ticket and order form on the counter; it's strictly cash-only.

At Ueno Station is a branch of a raman restaurant chain that has an amusing way of servings its noodles. First, you select your seat and choose and pay for your meal, and then, after you sit down, like magic, a window opens and the food appears. All the seats are individual, in theory so that you can concentrate on the flavors, making this a place you come to for the food rather than for conversation.

Soba noodles, which are made from buckwheat, are a signature of the restaurants along the bucolic monzen-machi approach to Jindai-ji temple, perhaps because buckwheat was traditionally easier to grow in this area than rice. Here, toppings for the handmade soba, which is served in a variety of ways—including in warm broths or cold with a dipping sauce—change according to the season.

Seasonal seafood and regional specialties dominate the menu here, with dishes like wappa-meshi (rice steamed in a wooden box with toppings of salmon, chicken, or crab) making for an inexpensive and excellent lunch and, depending on the season, more elaborate dinner courses including yanagi karei hitohoshi-yaki (grilled flounder), nodo-guro shioyaki (grilled blackthroat seaperch), and buri teriyaki (yellowtail). Inaka-ya is found in the heart of Furumachi, the local eating and drinking district.

Like Champagne, inaniwa udon must be produced in Inaniwa. Established in 1860 and currently in the hands of the eighth generation, this noodle empire has many branches across the region, but this one is less about how the noodles are made and more about enjoying them along with other regional foods and locally brewed sake. Cold udon in a dipping sauce is the way to go, along with the delicious sesame sauce. If you're feeling adventurous, though, try their take on noodles with Thai curries.

A great backpacker hangout, this café is especially popular midday, when a devoted clientele of students and artists comes for the cheap, bountiful plate lunches (including curries, salads, and soups), friendly service, live music, and convivial atmosphere. The setting is the former Mainichi Newspaper Building, with its brick-and-plaster basement, colorful mosaic tiles, and exposed masonry. If the scene here is too frenetic for you, head up to the pleasant Cafe Chocolat, on the second floor.

What was once an early-20th-century warehouse is now a modern sushi restaurant. The fish here is fresh, and the price is right (and a clear price list is hung on the wall). The casual atmosphere makes it popular among business travelers. The fish served varies according to the season and availability.

Open from 11 am to 11 pm, this ever-busy ramen joint, now an international chain with almost 30 locations in Tokyo alone, is an ideal quick stop on or after a night out. The classic ramen is the Shiromaru, which features a creamy pork-based stock, thin yet slightly firm noodles, and a topping of chashu (braised) pork slices. Other options include the Akamaru, which has a little red miso mixed in the soup, and side dishes such as gyoza dumplings.

Down a little side street and behind a tiny door—situated just as all good tonkatsu shops should be—Isen has been serving tender, fried pork cutlets since the late 1920s. To avoid the crowds, plan to come right before or after the midday rush, and try to sit at the bar so you can watch the staff place each piece of your set lunch plate with precision.

Kobe has many excellent bakeries, but this one, a Kobe institution since 1946 with its main branch a 10-minute walk north of San-no-miya Station, is notable for its fine selection of Japanese-style pastries and breads. Among its most popular items are the kare-pan (curry bread), crispy doughnut-like snacks filled with a mild curry sauce. Or try the kureemu-pan (cream bread), a much sweeter cream-stuffed alternative.

In business for more than half a century, this small restaurant in Aikawa specializes in seafood, with excellent sashimi and simmered dishes, but also a local favorite called ikagoro—squid (innards and all) mixed with sliced onions, mushrooms, and miso paste before being sauteed. If you are staying without a meal plan at the Hotel Oosado, just down the coast from central Aikawa, this is a good value option for a local dinner.

This traditional restaurant in a replica warehouse in the Kawasaki area does not open unless there is a delivery of fresh fish, which indicates how seriously the cooks take their food. As well as a wide variety of fresh fish dishes, there are also plenty of meat and izakaya staples on the menu, all served in haphazardly shaped pottery dishes.

Vegetarian cuisine plays a part in all major Kyoto temples, and one of the most scenic restaurants in which to sample it is in the southwestern section of Daitoku-ji. The monastic shojin ryori cuisine here is served in luminous red-lacquer bowls at low tables in the temple garden (beware the mosquitoes in summer) or inside if the weather is inclement. Another branch of Izusen outside the east (main) gate serves the same excellent cuisine but has table seating.

Four Seasons Osaka’s flagship restaurant serves high-end Cantonese cuisine in stylish surroundings, with stunning views from the 37^th floor. The lunchtime dim sum discovery course wows with its delicate artfulness and variety, plus big flavors.

In its lively neighborhood, a curtain next to a big red paper lantern leads to this inviting eatery where kinki (deepwater white fish) are carefully grilled on a charcoal fire and other delectables are served. The interior is quaint and inviting, and the walls are plastered with signed posters and artifacts from celebrities.

This spacious, laid-back restaurant—all soaring beams and wide windows overlooking Mt. Yotei—on the second floor of Niseko Adventure Center is busy all day with guides and their nervous or elated customers. The platters here overflow with nourishing meals for adventurers, including an all-Hokkaido burger with only local ingredients.

Offerings at this small café just to west of the Imperial Palace's Chidorigafuchi feature coffee beans from as far afield as Brazil, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. There's also usually a decaf option available.

Billing itself as "one of the most important historical restaurants of Japan," this quiet hilltop retreat is Nagasaki's most prestigious dining room with fine cuisine that matches its reputation. The interior wooden beams date to 1618. Meiji Restoration leader Ryoma Sakamoto once took a chunk out of a wooden pillar with his sword during a brawl; you can still see the gashes in the main dining room. With notice ahead of your visit, Kagetsu can provide special meals including vegetarian, nut-free, and halal.

This Okinawan restaurant is best known for its fish menu, but it also serves all the Okinawan classics such as goya champuru (tofu, pork belly, and egg stir-fried with bitter melon), umi budo (sea grapes), mozoku seaweed, and various types of tempura. It is located just across the road from Ocean Expo Park in the Hanasaki Marche group of shops and restaurants.

This ornate Chinese restaurant is a local favorite, and it's easy to see, smell, and taste why. Kairakuen serves the best chanpon—Nagasaki's signature dish of Chinese-style noodles, vegetables, and pork-based broth—in town.

This establishment, in an elegant old Japanese house, serves the best Chinese food in the city. The dining-room windows look out on a small, restful garden. Make sure you plan for a stop here on your way to or from the Great Buddha at Kotoku-in.

This kaiten-zushi (sushi served on a conveyor belt that lets you pick the dishes you want) restaurant serves eye-poppingly large fish portions that hang over the edge of their plates. All the standard sushi creations, including tuna, shrimp, and egg, are prepared here. As in any kaiten-zushi joint, simply stack up your empty dishes to the side. When you are ready to leave, the dishes will be counted and you will be charged accordingly.