The food in Tokyo is superb, surpassing expectations in all areas. The way that many restaurants specialise in just one dish (tonkatsu, tempura, sushi, gyoza, ramen, etc.) is genius. Keep it simple, keep it quick and quality is assured. The ramen place we found down a little staircase (the huge queue gave it away) was the best example of this - ticket vending machine at the door, then a short wait in line to be led beyond the red curtain to a tiny room with a U-shaped bar dissected into little one-man booths, there to be found a water fountain and another red curtain. Vending machine tickets are pushed under the curtain and exchanged for a steaming bowl of ramen noodles by an anonymous pair of hands. No chit chat, just the sound of the slurping and sucking of noodles.

The converse of this specialist approach were the two meals we had in restaurants that involved at least ten courses, each and every one extraordinarily delicious. Plates of sashimi (urchin not my favourite, chicken just wierd), dumplings, skewers, broths, carpaccios, sizzling meats, a deep fried baguette with ice cream filling (think arctic roll taken to the next level) and so much more that I can’t recall due to drinking between each course. This photo is of us rolling out of By The Sea in Shibuya- the chef takes a poloroid of his happy customers. The second place is called Tayandei in Roppongi on 2-20-1 Nishi Azabu, on a corner of a street, no sign (call 03-3407-8127).