Some suggestions. There is a thread on sushi at the fish market which is really inexpensive and I have univerally heard good things about those places. For a mid range I would suggest Edo Gin which is actually a series of small restaurants on the same block about 1 or 2 blocks from the fish market.

For upscale sushi I would recommend Kyubei in the Ginza area in Tokyo. Ive been to Kyubei a couple of times. From talking to concierges it is very highly thought of by the locals. It was recommended to me by a the owner of an extremely well reviewed Japanese restaurant in NYC. He is from Tokyo and his family is in the restaurant business there. He said he thought it was the best sushi restaurant in Tokyo. Last time we sat at the sushi bar and were entertained by the sushi chef. He killed the live fish and shrimp with quite a flourish and handled the massive sushi knife like a neurosurgeon. Given the price, he might have been a neurosurgeon (over ($250 per person).

Another place I have taken people (just went with 2 people this weekend) is the restaurant Kozue in Shinjuku. It hasnt failed to impress. It is on the 40th floor of the Park Hyatt. The wall of the restaurant is basically all glass and the views are unbelieveable. The service is excellent and with English spoken more or less (dont expect it at Kyubei or Edo Gin although both try and succeed to help, but it is a bit tougher). Food is also very good but probably couldnt be called great. It is the total package with the view that sells the place. Make sure if yo go you both see Lost in Translation since it was filmed in that hotel. They do a fugu special dinner which has all courses but one with fugu for about 20,000 yen per person. One reason it would be helpful to know a bit more is that fugu is really only in season part of the year, so when you are going matters. Also where yo are staying matters. If the hotel has one, another option is to ask the concierge of the hotel you are staying at. At better hotels you will get very good advice. I go there a lot but took my wife there for the first time this spring. We stayed at Hotel Seiyo Ginza and the concierge service was great. They recommended some great places that unfortunately I cant reveal to you since I never had an English name, but just a map and an address in Japanese. They arent places that got a lot of tourists but they were great.

Likewise, in Kyoto, we actually ate all of our meals where we stayed. I have read that some of the best food in Kyoto is the kaiseki meals served at the traditional Japanese inns. It is apparently very, very expensive to get a kaiseki meal in Tokyo and difficult if not impossible to do if you arent Japanese. As a result we took the suggestion of sampling this type of food in Kyoto. We stayed at Tawaraya Ryokan in Kyoto and had their kaiseki and it was wonderful, as was the hotel. Both were pretty pricy. Room was about $430 per night and the meal was about $350 per person. We also had other less elaborate and expensive meals that were also very good there.

In both cities there are countless inexpensive noodle restaurants and similar places that offer wonderful food for very inexpensive prices. Sunday night I went to an all night noodle shop and had a big bowl of noodles and pork in broth for $7.50. Found it with the help of the concierge of the hotel we were at.

One other note as far as additional information. Knowing when you are going, what prices you were looking for and where you are staying would help. Also what type food. Love sushi, hate sushi, etc. The location is important because metro Tokyo is about 3 times the size of metro New York. Depending on where you are staying you can be a very good distance from a given restaurant. Tokyo is one of my favorite cities to visit. Have fun!