It is not hard to track down the very best of Tokyo's high-end Japanese restaurants. After all, there are plenty of guides and websites to point you on your way. At street level, too, it's easy to locate good noodle joints, yakitori counters or mom and pop diners. Navigating the middle ground, though, is far less straightforward.

So there's an extra level of pleasure when you find yourself at a restaurant of the caliber of Yuu, in Yoyogi-Uehara. It's a small neighborhood place, well away from the busy, bustling heart of the city, and far from a household name even in its immediate area. And yet here you dine so well on light, creative Japanese cuisine that you'd go right across town for it in most other countries.

Inside and out, Yuu has a modest, modern look. In classic kappō style, you sit at a counter looking in at the kitchen where owner-chef Yusuke Imoto presides. He dresses in black, rather than the usual white uniforms preferred by most Japanese chefs. It's his way of hinting from the start that his cooking is a little bit different.