Best Spot for a Romantic Dinner: Great Pacific Rim fusion cuisine, attentive but unobtrusive service, dim lighting in an airy, tropical setting, a year-round open deck for after-dinner drinks, and a row of massage chairs make Casita, 54-10-25 Roppongi (tel. 03/5414-3190), a perfect rendezvous for a romantic evening.

Best Spot for a Business Lunch: The convenient Akasaka location and varied, international menu of Trader Vic's, 4-1 Kioi-cho (tel. 03/3265-4707), make playing host or hostess here a cinch.

Best Spot for a Celebration: New York Grill, 3-7-1-2 Nishi-Shinjuku (tel. 03/5322-1234), has all the makings of a joyous occasion: great food, excellent service, breathtaking views, and superb live jazz.

Best Decor: In a city where presentation counts as much as the food itself, it's difficult to choose the best decor. For traditional surroundings, nothing beats the Japanese-style rooms of Takamura in Roppongi (tel. 03/3585-6600), Komagata Dojo in Asakusa (tel. 03/3842-4001), or Kandagawa in Kanda (tel. 03/3251-5031). For offbeat decor, one of my favorites is Tableaux in Daikanyama (tel. 03/5489-2201), with its whimsical, Russian-tearoom atmosphere.

Best View: New York Grill, located on the 52nd floor and surrounded by glass, offers breathtaking views of an endless city and, on clear days, Mount Fuji, making this the closest you can get to dining on a cloud.

Best Wine List: New York Grill wins here, too, with 1,600 bottles in its cellar, featuring mostly California wines. La Tour d'Argent, New Otani Hotel, 4-1 Kioi-cho (tel. 03/3239-3111), has an excellent choice of French wines.

Best for Kids: Loud music, rock 'n' roll memorabilia, and familiar fare like burgers, chicken, and sandwiches make the Hard Rock Cafe, with two locations at 5-4-20 Roppongi (tel. 03/3408-7018) and 7-1-1 Ueno (tel. 03/5826-5821), a sure winner with children and baby boomers alike.

Best American Cuisine: Steaks and seafood are the mainstays of the classy New York Grill, with high prices to match. Easier on the budget is the U.S. chain Tony Roma's, with several locations in Tokyo.

Best French Cuisine: La Tour d'Argent, Hotel New Otani, 4-1 Kioi-cho, in Akasaka (tel. 03/3239-3111), is the Tokyo branch of this very famous Parisian restaurant, serving excellent classic French cuisine, including duckling flown in from Brittany. A beautiful, dramatic setting and superb service round out the experience.

Best Kaiseki: Perched on a wooded hill in a 50-year-old traditional house, Takamura, 3-4-27 Roppongi (tel. 03/3585-6600), offers eight private tatami rooms and exquisitely prepared kaiseki meals. Expensive but worth it.

Best Sushi: If money is no object, head for Sushiko, 6-3-8 Ginza (tel. 03/3571-1968), a fourth-generation restaurant with room for only 11 privileged diners. Otherwise, for sushi on a budget, try Sushi Dai, located in the Tsukiji Fish Market (tel. 03/3542-1111), where the fish couldn't be any fresher.

Best Fusion/Crossover Cuisine: Nobu, 6-10-17 Minami Aoyama (tel. 03/5467-0022), is Tokyo's hottest restaurant for fusion food, serving its own beautiful creations of East-meets-West cuisine with a unique blend of Pacific Rim ingredients. Also good: Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill in Roppongi Hills (tel. 03/5786-9630) and Casita.

Best Burgers: Hawaiian import Kua' Aina, 5-10-21 Minami Aoyama (tel. 03/3407-8001), hits the spot with the best burgers in town, a real lifesaver when nothing else will do.

Best Pizza: Italian-owned Trattoria-Pizzeria Sabatini, 2-13-5 Kita-Aoyama (tel. 03/3402-2027), offers the closest thing to real pizza in Tokyo, with many ingredients actually flown in from Italy.

Best Late-Night Dining: La Boheme, with several convenient locations around Tokyo, has made a name for itself by offering inexpensive Italian food daily until 5am; ditto for Zest Cantina, which serves Mexican food, and Gonpachi, which specializes in Japanese fare, all under the same ownership and open daily until 5am.

Best People-Watching: Aux Bacchanales, 1-6-1 Jingumae, in Harajuku (tel. 03/5474-0076), with sidewalk seating, is a very civilized place from which to watch the hordes of teenyboppers throng past as you dine on good bistro fare and cheap wine, thankful that your own adolescent days are over.

Best for Japanese Desserts: Tatsutano, 7-8-7 Ginza (tel. 03/3571-1850), has been popular with Japanese housewives for more than a century, especially for its anmitsu, a dessert made from beans, molasses, sweet-bean paste, and gelatin.

Best Weekend Brunch: The weekend brunch at New York Grill is so popular there's practically a waiting list.

Best Theatrics: There's never a dull moment at Inakaya, 4-10-11 Roppongi (tel. 03/5775-1012), with waiters shouting out orders, U-shaped counter seating, mountains of food, and kneeling cooks laboring over charcoal grills. Great fun.

Best Buffets: Imperial Viking, on the 17th floor of the Imperial Hotel, 1-1-1 Uchisaiwai-cho (tel. 03/3504-1111), with views of the Ginza and Hibiya, was a pioneer of all-you-can-eat buffets in Japan. After 40-some years, it still offers great lunch and dinner buffets with international selections.

Best Place to Chill Out: When the crowds get you down, escape to Selan, 2-1-19 Kita-Aoyama (tel. 03/3478-2200), with its glorious setting on a gingko-lined street, complete with sidewalk seating and an airy dining room with lots of windows. It's a good place to relax and do absolutely nothing. Another good choice: Sunset Beach Brewing Company on the man-made island of Odaiba (tel. 03/3599-6655), with mediocre buffet meals but great views of the Tokyo skyline from its outdoor deck.