PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

Upon exiting the elevator, you'll be forgiven for confusedly thinking you've landed in a nightclub rather than a restaurant -- daidaiya's dark, theatrical entrance is the first clue that this is not your ordinary Japanese restaurant. The dining room, a juxtaposition of modern and traditional with a slate stone floor, shoji screens, warm woods, and black furniture, is rather like the cuisine -- a curious mix of traditional Japanese food and original nouvelle creations, all mouthwateringly good. Pop music or jazz plays in the background, and for dinner, gauzy sheets of fabric are hung from the ceiling to create tiny, tête-à-tête dining cubicles for couples. Tatami seating is also available, with views over Akasaka. An English-language seasonal menu lists such intriguing entrees as deep-fried soft tuna, grilled Hokkaido white fish, and fried shrimp dumpling with lotus root. Lunch sets, including obento, are equally satisfying. I love this place. There's a branch located on the third floor of the Nowa Building, 3-37-12 Shinjuku (tel. 03/5362-7173).

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Tokyo, 10th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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