Best Dining Bets

Best Spot for a Romantic Dinner: Great Pacific Rim fusion cuisine, attentive yet unobtrusive service, dim lighting in a comfortable setting, a year-round open deck for after-dinner drinks, and a row of massage chairs make Casita, 5-51-8 Jingumae (tel. 03/5485-7353), a perfect rendezvous for a romantic evening.

Best Spot for a Business Lunch: The convenient Akasaka location and varied, international menu of Trader Vic's, 4-1 Kioi-cho (tel. 03/3265-4707), make playing host or hostess here a cinch.

Best Spot for a Celebration: New York Grill, 3-7-1-2 Nishi-Shinjuku (tel. 03/5322-1234), has all the makings of a joyous occasion: great food, excellent service, breathtaking views, and superb live jazz.

Best Wine List: New York Grill wins here, too, with 1,600 bottles in its cellar, featuring mostly California wines. La Tour d'Argent, New Otani Hotel, 4-1 Kioi-cho (tel. 03/3239-3111), has an excellent choice of French wines.

Best Late-Night Dining: La Boheme, with several convenient locations around Tokyo, has made a name for itself by offering inexpensive Italian food daily until 5am; ditto for Zest Cantina, which serves Mexican food, and Gonpachi, which specializes in Japanese fare, all under the same ownership and open daily until 5am.

Best Weekend Brunch: The weekend brunch at New York Grill is so popular there's practically a waiting list.

Best Theatrics: There's never a dull moment at Inakaya, 4-10-11 Roppongi (tel. 03/5775-1012), with waiters shouting out orders, U-shaped counter seating, mountains of food, and kneeling cooks laboring over charcoal grills. Great fun.

Best Buffets: Sal Imperial Viking, on the 17th floor of the Imperial Hotel, 1-1-1 Uchisaiwai-cho (tel. 03/3504-1111), with views of the Ginza and Hibiya, was a pioneer of all-you-can-eat buffets in Japan. After 40-some years, it still offers great lunch and dinner buffets with international selections.

Best Place to Chill Out: When the crowds get you down, escape to Selan, 2-1-19 Kita-Aoyama (tel. 03/3478-2200), with its glorious setting on a gingko-lined street, complete with sidewalk seating and an airy dining room with lots of windows. Another good choice: Sunset Beach Brewing Company on the man-made island of Odaiba (tel. 03/3599-6655) has mediocre buffet meals but great views of the Tokyo skyline from its outdoor deck.

Feasting on a Kaiseki Meal: Although expensive, a kaiseki feast, consisting of dish after dish of artfully displayed delectables, may well be the most beautiful and memorable meal you'll ever have. Splurge at least once on the most expensive kaiseki meal you can afford, and you'll feel like royalty.

Dining with a View: There's no way you can forget you're in Tokyo when you're dining with views of the city as far as you can see. There are many options in this category, not all of them expensive. However, the very top splurge has long been the New York Grill, located on the 52nd floor of the Park Hyatt Tokyo hotel (tel. 03/5322-1234). Surrounded by glass, it offers great American cuisine, live jazz, and breathtaking views of the endless city. On clear days, you can see Mount Fuji, making this the closest you can get to dining on a cloud.

Rubbing Elbows in a Yakitori-ya: There's no better place to observe Tokyo's army of office workers at play than at a yakitori-ya, a drinking man's pub that also sells skewered grilled chicken and bar snacks. It's fun, noisy, and boisterous.