Tokyo: Where to Eat: Big Night Out: New York Grill

New York Grill

If it seems an unlikely choice—surely Japanese food should be a priority?—rest assured that this is the hottest dining spot in town, sometimes booked months in advance. Long before Bill Murray made the bar internationally famous with his late night whiskey-drinking sessions in Lost in Translation, it had achieved local notoriety as Tokyo’s coolest place to hang out, sample cocktails, listen to a live jazz band and enjoy that view. The favored few snag reservations to eat at the Grill, where juicy steaks, including the famous cut-with-a-fork-tender Kobe beef, are the specialty. Prices at this special-occasion venue, where most diners are celebrating promotions, done deals, engagements, anniversaries and birthdays, are stratospherically high. Do at least try to sneak a peek, by having a drink at the bar.