Too often — in this column, just as in life — we have to say goodbye. So it's been a rare pleasure this year to welcome back a couple of longtime favorites that have been sorely missed during their time away.

Over the best part of a decade, Good Honest Grub established itself as an essential port of call for Tokyo's foreign community, prized as much for its casual, laid-back ethos as for its wholesome cafe/diner menu. Even when it moved from its shabby but cheerful Ebisu digs for less idiosyncratic premises in Harajuku, it still offered reassuring solace alongside generous portions of wholesome, down-home cooking.

Last year, owner/chef Don Foley decided to step back and take a well-earned break to recharge his batteries. Now, as his Web site proudly proclaims: "The Grub is back."