A tranquil oasis in bustling Tokyo, Daigo serves vegetarian kaiseki meals from a beautiful teahouse-style building that is surrounded by a Japanese garden.

Gourmets agree that this is one of the very best places in Tokyo to sample sushi, which means it’s among the finest on Earth. This family-run restaurant has a decades-long history; the owner, Yosuke Imada, learned to make sushi from his father, who started the restaurant in 1936. Sushi connoisseurs speak the word “Kyubey” almost reverentially; reservations are essential.

Chef Yoshihiro Narisawa took the top honors when San Pellegrino launched an all-Asia 50 Best List in 2013 (having already racked up two Michelin stars). His minimalist-sleek dining room is unusually easy to find, among the car dealerships near Aoyama Itchome Station. Chef Narisawa earns raves as much for the aesthetics as the flavors of his dishes, each one intended to reflect a harmony with nature. In fact, he is known for serving surprisingly delectable (and distilled) soil, charcoal and bark, though his mains are creative takes on more conventional fare, such as a seas bass with cabbage and asari clams cooked in a paper bag. Narisawa also earns praise for the relative value of his nature-to-plate set menus.

Widely featured in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation, the New York Bar & Grill is the renowned bar on top of the Park Hyatt Tokyo. It actually lives up to the hype, thanks to spectacular views and a cool vibe. It's a top choice for cocktails.

Tokyo’s current three-Michelin star darling, chef Seiji Yamamoto, has been cited for his “defiant perfectionism” and called “a brilliant experimentalist” by the world’s toughest critics. Diners often sit silently in the glam, gold-on-black dining room, their attention and senses consumed by Yamamoto’s intense modern Japanese cuisine, made with Japanese-only ingredients, a self imposed edict he religiously observes.

Japanese attention to detail and the nuances of haute French cuisine blend seamlessly under Chef Shuzo Kishida, who trained in some top French restaurants in Japan for seven years before joining Pascal Barbot’s L’Astrance in Paris in 2003. When he returned home to open Quintessence in 2006, the restaurant immediately earned a whopping three Michelin stars. Kishida’s modern French kitchen incorporates Japan’s extraordinary produce to turn out dishes like sea urchins with leek, croutons and organic vegetables. Diners should come with an open mind and palate since lunch and dinner are menu carte blanche based on fresh seasonal products and change daily, but always involve Kishida’s signature cuisson (low-temperature long-time roasting). In typically meticulous Japanese fashion, the restaurant makes note of what you ate, thus you will never be served the same meal twice.

The stunning, Art Deco–inspired dining room is located on the 37th floor of the Mandarin Oriental. The Michelin-starred restaurant is overseen by a much-lauded French chef whose morning forays into Tokyo’s fish and vegetable markets manifest exquisitely on his authentic yet innovative French menu, which includes a full list of vegetarian dishes as sublime as his classic fare. Save room for the scrumptious desserts. The most coveted tables are the window-facing ones for two.