https://tabelog.com/en now allows online reservations for some places but it charges a 440 yen per person reservation fee. I had to select a specific course and provide name & credit card details but no tabelog account needed. It gave a box to communicate any allergies and another to confirm the establishment only accepts cash.

tabelog.com (JP) offers no-charge online reservations but requires a JP tabelog acct and JP phone number. I also noticed another restaurant offering reservations on tabelog.com but not tabelog.com/en.

I opted for the EN surcharge to just be done with it while I remembered but could have signed up for an account & provided JP sms phone number.