Japan’s national drink, sencha (green tea), is making its long-awaited comeback. Tokyo Saryo has the look of a minimal, miniature third-wave coffee shop and a similar approach to preparing your beverage. Choose a couple of types to taste and compare, and then watch as each brew is prepared — pour-over style, of course — with the same intensity and precision as any mocha or java.

Fish burgers, crab croquettes, and anago (conger) hot dogs are the name of the game at this laid-back, popular diner. Main man Shinya Kudo was initially a sushi chef, so he has the training and connections to ensure everything is excellent quality. His attitude permeates the restaurant (note the “F U” in the name), but in a mellow way that fits easily in the ever-hip Naka-Meguro neighborhood.

After a false start and a forced change of address, Mikkeller Tokyo is back. The location is perfect: a refurbished, deco-looking, two-story spot among the pink shops on Dogenzaka, Shibuya’s infamous Love Hotel Hill. The taps are split between local craft beers and Mikkeller’s own idiosyncratic, high-octane gypsy brews. There are good Scandinavian-inspired bar bites ranging from frikadeller meatballs to smorrebrod open-faced sandwiches — and most evenings, the party continues till the wee hours.

Fermentation is the name of the game at Kabi — it’s the Japanese word for “mold” — the eagerly awaited first restaurant from Shohei Yasuda (ex-La Cime, Kadeau in Copenhagen, and Tirpse) and his patissier wife, Kiriko Nakamura. Yasuda’s tasting menus are an eclectic cocktail of Japanese ingredients, Nordic influences, and French technique — cured fish wrapped in wasabi leaf; koji-infused pork; pickles and ferments aplenty — all underscored by a wide-ranging list of natural wines and sake.

Yakitori master Yoshiteru Ikegawa has opened a second restaurant. Torikado feels more formal than his Michelin-starred flagship, the acclaimed (and impossible to book) Torishiki. The menu has also been tweaked, with a greater number of side dishes served in between the skewers of premium Date Shamo fowl. As expected, though, the quality is impeccable.

Yusuke Namai’s modern French cuisine won him praise and a Michelin star during his time in the kitchen at Chic Peut-etre. Now, with his own place, he has raised his game even higher. Inventive, intricate, and beautifully plated, his tasting menus reflect the warmth of his personality, more than mitigating the minimal gray-on-gray decor.

Mega-chef Eneko Atxa has landed in Tokyo, giving Japanese diners a chance to discover the modernist cuisine that won him three Michelin stars at Azurmendi, his headquarters in the heart of Spain’s Basque country. Besides the main dining room, which serves dishes such as his signature truffled egg, there is also a separate ground-floor bar. At last Tokyo can enjoy decent pintxos with good txakoli and rioja wines to back them up.

Noodle maverick Tomoharu Shono’s latest venture in Tokyo is his most adventurous yet. Part lab, part production facility, it’s also an eight-seat counter restaurant where Shono showcases his new-wave “farm-to-bowl” noodles, made from wheat stone-ground on the premises. His signature shio ramen features scallop, bottarga, and tuna-stuffed wontons. As the sign on the street outside proclaims, this is a “bowl for tomorrow.”

Kyo-Aji alumnus and one-time Iron Chef Jun Kurogi has made his move uptown. Regulars will miss the old premises— a wonderful, atmospheric former geisha house — but not the location in the seedy alleys of Yushima. His sleek new digs in Daimon are far more worthy of his intricate hyperseasonal multicourse Japanese cuisine.

Hiroyuki Sato is back in action, 10 months after leaving Tokami, the sushiya where he won a Michelin star and numerous fans both in and outside of Japan. Hakkoku, his beautiful new space, boasts three small separate counters, each with just six seats, and a new menu featuring no tsumami (sashimi or other starters), but more than 30 pieces of his outstanding nigiri and maki.

Finally, Shin Harakawa has returned to action, more than a year after he walked away from his much-loved restaurant, Beard, in Meguro. For his new project, the Blind Donkey, he’s teamed up with Jerome Waag, formerly head chef at Chez Panisse. The inspiration of Alice Waters is evident in everything from the bistro-meets-California cuisine, the support for sustainable farming, the natural wines, and the mellow vibes that serve as a refreshing break from the rowdy drinking dives around Kanda Station.