French biologique wines and gorgeous seasonal vegetables are the highlights here, with prix-fixe dinners starting at Y3500. Both all-vegetable and meat and fish options are available. [See FULL REVIEW.][feedback]

Tomigaya 1-16-3. Open 11:30am-2, 6-11pm (LO). Closed Mondays.

This former coffee shop serves a menu of well-prepared Okinawan favorites including champuru stir-fries and Okinawan soba, all at reasonable prices. [feedback]

Uehara 1-1-20. Open 11am-10:30pm (LO) daily.

You'll find some of the best gourmet hamburgers in town at this pleasant little parkside cafe. [feedback]

Yoyogi 5-64-7. (across from the west entrance to Yoyogi Park, between Yoyogi-Koen and Sangubashi stations) Open 11am-11pm daily.

Another neighborhood budget French place (Y2500 for two courses, Y3000 with dessert), but with grander-than-usual ambitions. For example, there's a huge cheese selection, and a varied wine list that includes good choices from both Old World and New. [feedback]

Nishihara 3-5-3. Open noon-2, 6-10pm. Closed Mondays.

Once known for their amazing sake selection, excellent food, and good prices, Sasagin still offers an amazing sake selection. There's some decent food too, but the menu is hit-and-miss, as is the service. [feedback]

Uehara 1-32-15. Open 5-11pm (to 10:30pm Sat.) (LO). Closed Sundays.

Savory and sweet buckwheat pancakes are the specialty at this cheery bistrot-style spot, with toppings like shrimp and avocado, smoked salmon and sour cream, and gorgonzola and honey. The pancakes are thicker than Bretagne-style galettes - more like American breakfast pancakes. You'll also find various starters, pastas, and excellent Roman-style thin-crust pizzas, all at reasonable prices. [feedback]

Uehara 1-36-14. Open 11:45am-2, 5:30-9:30pm (LO) daily.

A tiny cafe with a limited menu of four Bhutanese stews with rice, including a fiery version of ema datshi, a cheese and chili stew that's Bhutan's national dish. The other stews (pork and daikon, chicken, potato-cheese) are milder, and you can opt for a two-stew combo plate for Y900. There are also a few salads, fried tofu, and a tasty "Indian snack mix" with chopped vegetables and Masala spice. The drinks menu offers Edelpils beer on tap, German and Chilean wines, and Bhutanese rum, whisky, and teas. Classical music plays in the background, and the cafe is entirely non-smoking, just like Bhutan itself. [feedback]

Uehara 1-22-5. (on Uehara-Ginza shopping street between Inokashira-dori and the post office) Open 6pm-midnight daily.

The grilled chicken here is just about perfect - the wings and the "kashiwa" (chunks of chicken thigh) are especially recommended, and most of the side dishes and non-chicken grilled items are excellent as well. The setting is spare and stylish, with slightly cramped seating but a friendly and low-key atmosphere. Budget around Y3000 with drinks (which include a few good sake brands). [See FULL REVIEW.][feedback]

Nishihara 3-23-4. Open 5:30-11:30pm. Closed Wednesdays.

This multi-purpose art space/cafe-bar is way off the beaten track but it draws a crowd of loyal regulars, including personalities from the Tokyo art scene and local hipsters. During the day you'll find standard cafe lunches (pastas, curries) served till 6pm, plus gourmet coffees - they roast their own beans once a week. [See FULL REVIEW.][feedback]

Kitazawa 1-45-36. Open 1pm-midnight daily.

A three-story Okinawan restaurant - the first floor has a noodle-shop atmosphere, with inexpensive Okinawan soba. The second floor is more of a nomiya, with some 50 different types of awamori; while the third floor is more of a Western-style bar. The same food menu is available throughout, with nicely prepared Okinawan standards. [feedback]

Daizawa 5-32-7. Open 6pm-1am. Closed Mondays.

The decor here is all earth tones, raw concrete and slabs of wood, with a big tree sitting right in the middle of the floor. Music ranges from reggae to laid-back rock, and the atmosphere is totally chilled-out - people talk in hushed voices, which may be exactly what you need when you stumble in here at 3am. It's "cafe time" from 2-7pm, with coffee and cake. No table charge; no English. [feedback]

Kitazawa 2-14-1, OT Bldg 3F. Open 2pm-5am daily.

They've pulled out all the stops to recreate the feel of an open-air Italian caffe-bar here - barrel tables, chalkboard menus, old advertising posters, grafitti on the walls, hams hanging from the ceiling, with Italian radio providing the soundtrack. [See FULL REVIEW.][feedback]

Kitazawa 2-14-14. Open 3pm-2am (LO) daily.

Tokyo's only hemp restaurant, serving Indian, Mexican, Thai and other Asian dishes flavored with hemp oil or seeds - the fried chicken is especially flavorful. With a library of hemp-legalization literature and non-stop hemp videos playing in the background, this makes a good first stop on a retro/counterculture tour of Shimo-Kitazawa. [feedback]

Kitazawa 2-18-5, Kitazawa Bldg. 3F. Open 5-midnight. Closed Wednesdays.

An upscale Italian venture from the diverse Jackpot chain, with excellent food and more spacious seating arrangements than average. [feedback]

Kitazawa 2-19-13. Open noon-2, 5:30-10:30pm daily.

A popular, cozy little hideaway serving Vietnamese standards; around Y4000 for dinner with a few drinks. [feedback]

Kitazawa 2-19-17, Sawadaya Bldg. B1F. Open 5-11:30pm (from noon on weekends). Open every day.

The setting here is fun and extremely casual - a cavernous, two-story basement fashioned after an outdoor food market, with loud punk rock as the soundtrack. Drinks are very cheap - Y380 for just about everything. The food is a mix of Asian-inspired dishes from Thailand, China, Okinawa and India - not especially authentic but generally tasty. [feedback]

Kitazawa 2-11-3, Isamiya Bldg B1F. Open 11:30am-11pm (LO) daily.

This tiny, ramshackle hole-in-the-wall is a late-night Shimo-Kitazawa legend, going strong since 1974. The space behind the bar is filled with mountains of CDs and shelves of vinyl (many of them 70s UK glam rock and local Japanese bands), and the seating area is so small that you have to step outside to let other customers in and out. When you order a drink the bartender telephones the similarly dilapidated sister bar just upstairs (Trouble Peach) and they deliver. (Y400 cover charge.) [feedback]

Kitazawa 2-9-18. Open 8pm-8am daily.

The small Spain Bar/ Spain Club chain has hit on a winning formula - good-quality wines by the glass, tasty tapas dishes and a down-to-earth vibe. The daily specials board covers some two dozen choices, and from it we recently enjoyed a big sizzling pot of garlicky sauteed mushrooms and some surprisingly spicy and juicy grilled pork on skewers - a nice match for our Y900 glasses of Rioja Reserva. Spanish travel videos play on the TV in the background. [feedback]

Kitazawa 2-9-22. Open 4-11:30pm daily.

Ushi-tora is a specialty beer bar that attracts Japanese connoisseurs from all over town with its collection of twenty beers on tap, most of them local microbrews. We recommend the Yona Yona Real Ale, one of three traditional cask-conditioned "real ales" that are hand-pumped. [See FULL REVIEW.][feedback]

Kitazawa 2-9-3. Closed 1st and 4th Tuesdays.

One of Tokyo's many ethnic-style cafes, with Indian-style curries, tea and desserts, imported handicrafts and a charmingly laid-back atmosphere. Around Y1000 at lunch (weekends only); Y2500 at night. [feedback]

Kitazawa 2-26-13. Open 5-11pm (from noon weekends). Closed Tuesdays.

A casual cafe/bakery. [feedback]

Kitazawa 2-29-2. Open 11am-8pm daily.

A very friendly bistrot/wine bar/cafe with 1940s French antiques and a nice neighborhood vibe. There are three floors in all, with occasional live music on the top level. The menu is simple but well-prepared cafe fare. [feedback]

Kitazawa 3-30-3. Open 6pm-2am. Closed Tuesdays.