Though people occasionally talk about Omen Azen as a sushi restaurant—its menu does carry a nice selection of sashimi—you’d be a fool to miss their other Kyoto-style specialties, like black cod and Omen noodles. The latter are homemade udon noodles with ginger, carrot, broccoli rabe, and shimeji mushrooms in a dashi broth, served hot or cold. It’s great to eat in a tranquil restaurant, where you can sink into a deep enough calm to focus on the food (so much so that you might miss Patti Smith or Francesco Clemente sitting right next to you). It’s no surprise that Mikio Shinagawa, who came from Kyoto in 1976 and founded the Soho restaurant five years later, practiced as a Buddhist monk. After all, you can’t spell the restaurant’s name without “zen.” —Nathan King

Nathan King is a Deputy Editor at AIR MAIL