for a value-focused foodie, be sure to look up the term B-kyu.

For sushi, most of the higher end places take reservations, so waiting shouldn't be a huge issue. *getting* the reservations can be. rely on your hotel concierge or a local friend to help secure reservations (in advance for higher end places).

for ramen, I'm just going to leave this here: https://ramendb.supleks.jp/ . My trips to Japan involved hit or miss success with ramen until I started going by that sites ratings. You can narrow down based on specific styles that you want, which is huge for me since there are styles I dislike.