Tokyo Restaurants Info. Tokyo has several restaurant chains worth checking out. For Indian food, Moti , with outlets in Roppongi and Akasaka, and Samarat , in Roppongi, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ueno, are longtime local favourites. For good Italian dishes, head for Capricciosa , with branches all over the city - its sign is in elongated katakana on a green, red and white background. La Verde is another Italian operation that gets good reviews. The Seiryumon Taiwanese/Chinese restaurants are notable for their outlandish decor rather than the authenticity of their food. Among the Japanese chains to look out for are: Tapa , a lively izakaya specializing in ozara (big plate) cuisine; Sushisei , a classy sushi restaurant with branches in Tsukiji, Akasaka and Roppongi; Kushinobo , the folk craft-decorated kushikatsu (deep-fried morsels on skewers) restaurants; and Tsunahachi , which is the place for tempura. The La Bohème , Zest and Monsoon chains (you'll find branches in Harajuku, Shibuya, Nishi-Azabu and Daikanyama) are all run by the same company and can be relied on for value and late-night dining in chic settings.
If you can't decide what to go for, make your way to the restaurant floors of the major department stores and shopping malls , such as Ebisu's Yebisu Garden City, where you'll generally find a wide choice of cuisines and dining atmospheres under one roof, often with plastic food displays in the windows and daily specials. Also, don't overlook the good-value family restaurants , such as Royal Host (in Shinagawa and Takodanobaba, among other locations) and Jonathan's , which serve both Western and Japanese dishes and have easy-to-choose-from picture menus; Jonathan's Harajuku branch, on the corner of Omotesando and Meiji-dori, is open 24 hours.
To keep abreast of the latest restaurants, browse through the weekly freesheet Tokyo Classified , the monthly Tokyo Journal 's cityscope listings and the bi-monthly magazine Eat . The best Web site is the Tokyo Food Page at www.bento.com/tokyofood.html , while Tokyo Q ( www.nokia.co.jp/tokyoq/ ) also has a useful database of restaurants, plus weekly reviews and izakaya recommendations. The Zagat Survey of Tokyo Restaurants (¥1500) is the most up-to-date guidebook; you can also check out their listings on www.zagat.com/index.asp?localeID=5 . Where we give telephone numbers for the restaurants listed, it's advisable to book ahead . The listings give the closest subway or train station to the restaurant.