Ohitsuzen Tanbo Omotesando

Japan’s staple carb is king at Ohitsuzen Tanbo, a basement restaurant located on a side street off Aoyama-dori. The set meal, dubbed ohitsuzen, is the one to go for here – combining a freshly milled, specially cultivated variety of rice with a special brand of soy sauce, miso, salt and nori, served up with akadashi soup and brown-rice chazuke (brown-rice tea), and a choice of grilled salmon, simmered mackerel, mentaiko (salted cod’s roe), sablefish or stewed pork. There's a decent takeaway menu that includes made-to-order onigiri (rice balls), tamagoyaki (egg rolls) and nukazuke pickles, for those who are in a hurry.