Au Temps Perdu has a grand location - Higashiyama to the east, Heian-jingu to the north and the Shirakawa River out front. They serve no coffee, but an extensive range of teas as well as sherry, cava, and wine by the glass. [See FULL REVIEW.]

El Fogon is a little slice of Spain in downtown Kyoto. Serrano ham, Moorish tiles, and a terracotta floor: it could be somewhere in Andalucia. [See FULL REVIEW.]

The Hyatt Regency's all-day restaurant puts on a sumptuous, and very popular, Sunday brunch buffet for Y3950. Prix-fixe dinners, featuring meat and seafood from the wood-burning oven, start at Y7500. Breakfast 6:30-11am; lunch 11:30am - 2:30pm; dinner 5:30 - 10pm. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Chicken sukiyaki is the specialty of the house here, and they use only the very best free-range birds - slightly chewy and very flavorful - in all their dishes. Sit in the zashiki room overlooking the beautiful traditional garden and choose from one of the three sukiyaki-centered full-course menus, priced at Y4200, Y5250 and Y7350. [See FULL REVIEW.]

The only item that polarizes diners at Kati is the Mekhong rum. Beyond this very potent brew, the menu of Thai classics has everyone in agreement - the food is good. Formerly housed in a converted warehouse, the new space is as long as the previous restaurant was broad. The pale green walls and plants have been maintained, as has the no-fuss service. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Black tea from Uji, the renowned tea-growing region south of Kyoto, is served in an array of pots and cups from throughout Japan. It's serious pleasure at a leisurely pace. A double pleasure is to have a cup of tea and cake while Hirofumi Nakanishi, master chef and creator of fresh Kyoto Nama Chocolat, packages your order to take away. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Sun streams through the windows and the reflection off the red awning tints the walls a rosy pink. Menus from renowned French restaurants adorn the walls, as do antique clocks that all display different times. The abandon is welcome, as lunch at Le Plat Plus is a leisurely affair.. [See FULL REVIEW.]

As behooves a dynamic metropolis, Osaka knows its drink. And long before the advent of the Irish pub there was The Leach Bar. A 1960s homage to Japanese folk craft, The Leach eschews wainscot for brick and bamboo. In collaboration with craftsmen Kawai Kanjiro and Serizawa Keisuke, the famed British potter Bernard Leach created this interpretation of an English "cottage bar" in 1965. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Serious gourmet coffee from around the world, in a stylishly modern coffeehouse that wouldn't look out of place anywhere in North America. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Exquisite seafood and grilled chicken, an impressive limited-edition sake list, and a highly dramatic dining space - this sister shop of Megu in New York is definitely one of Osaka's most exciting new restaurants. [See FULL REVIEW.]

A melange of South East Asian flavours, design and attitude with a Japanese twist. Dinner for two, with drinks, is around 6,000 yen. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Chef Yamashita is the head of the local Kansai slow-food organization, and he takes his cooking seriously. It's international-style fusion with a lot of creative recipes - dishes like grilled Australian scampi with spicy yuzu-garlic sauce; Tasmanian salmon confit with salmon roe; and grilled Kagoshima chicken with Calvados. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Park Caffe is nowhere near a park but it's a great place to watch the world go by. Sunlight streams in through the floor-to-ceiling window. A marvel of design economy, there are three seating areas; sleek LEM Piston Stools at the bar, couches along one wall, and a row of solid, brown '70s chairs and tables in the main dining area. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Bunny's paella is chock full of seafood - squid, shrimp, mussels and clams - along with a healthy dose of chorizo, lamb, chicken and, most importantly, saffron-infused rice. It is but one of the ways Bunny and his lovely wife Azusa transport their customers, via their taste buds, to the land of flamenco, olives and sherry. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Sarasa is all about reasonably priced food in a huge old tobacco shop. The menu is broadly Mediterranean with a Japanese fringe, and most dishes come on large white platters that lend an air of celebration to eating here. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Excellent, creative cooking, friendly service and some of the nicest modern decor in Kobe make this restaurant worth a stop. Be sure to try the local dishes like the cross-cultural dim sum assortment and the terrific eel sushi. [See FULL REVIEW.]

This small, nearly impossible-to-find izakaya in the back streets of Umeda has a warm and cozy atmosphere that instantly relaxes you when you walk in. It's the kind of place where you can drop in just for a quick drink, or while away the hours exploring the extensive drinks menu (and waiting for your food!). [See FULL REVIEW.]

Ceramics, sake bottles and patterned tiles embellish the minimalist modern Japanese design at Touzan. Private tatami rooms have been reinterpreted as dining alcoves created by suspended blinds, while the main dining area looks out onto a wide Japanese rock garden. On the Grand Menu, perennial favourites like tempura, nishin soba and Kobe beef sit alongside more exotic fare like seared sea cucumber entrails. [See FULL REVIEW.]

The dynamic menu at the Tranq Room is testimony to Yukihide Hirata's quest for the exotic. He hit that target recently with his all-organic Nama-yuba Donburi - shimeji mushrooms and fried tofu in a konbu-katsuo broth topped with raw tofu skin. The Indian curry set menus are the staple here - available all day for Y800, plus an extra Y200 for a drink. [See FULL REVIEW.]

trattoria sette has filled the void of casual restaurant-cafe cum bars in one of Kyoto's most historic districts. After being overawed by the 1001 statues of the goddess of mercy at Sanjusangendo temple this is a good place to gently bring yourself back down to earth. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Uma no Me is in a 1920s farmhouse just north of Ara-ike pond in Nara Park. The pottery-lined walls afford a glimpse of pre-tech Japan. Everything at Uma no Me is prepared in the time-honored way and from scratch. Recommended is the Y3500 prix-fixe lunch with seasonal vegetables, tofu, and fried fish. Even the ordinary bancha tea at Uma no Me is exotic and comes from Tsuwano in Western Honshu. The intimacy of a private room, with views of the Nara Hotel and stunning hand painted fusuma (padded sliding doors), is well worth the extra Y1000 per person at lunch. Dinner is full kaiseki - Y9000 per person. As there is no a la carte menu ordering is uncomplicated. [See FULL REVIEW.]

More than just good food, Wada delivers an entertaining dining experience. The food menu is full of pleasant surprises - innovative flavor combinations, unexpected but well-tuned ingredients, and dramatic presentation. [See FULL REVIEW.]

From the outside Yanagi-ja-ya looks unassuming, but the signs for warabi mochi lure tourists and entice the locals. Morsels made from warabi (bracken fern root) are tossed in soybean flour and sweetened with brown sugar syrup. In tandem with a bowl of matcha (green tea) it's a quintessential Japanese dessert. Yanagi-ja-ya is a few minutes walk north past the Five-Story Pagoda and as such is a popular morning and afternoon tea spot. Lunch sets, Y4000-6000; warabi mochi and matcha set Y750. [See FULL REVIEW.]

On the ground floor is a top-class produce shop with picture-perfect Kyoto vegetables, while upstairs they've set aside a tiny room for lunch. There's only one choice - a prix-fixe menu of small dishes highlighting the best of the vegetable world, priced at Y2100. [See FULL REVIEW.]

You'll find a fantastic trove of unusual, limited-edition sakes in this off-the-beaten-track sake pub. The food menu is just as eclectic, and well suited to the drinks. [See FULL REVIEW.]

Kyoto-style obanzai-ryori, including original dishes like lotus-root hamburgers, and grilled shrimp and scallops with wasabi mayonnaise. Budget around Y3000 at dinnertime. [See FULL REVIEW.]