Ukai Toriyama - outskirts of Tokyo near Mount Takao

Ukai Toriyama is called a traditional Japanese restaurant. It is quite a long haul from Tokyo, but it really is worth the trip. If you are in the Tokyo area and you have money to burn, get your butt to this restaurant.

The food and service are spectacular, but the scenery is out of this world. The restaurant is made up of small private cottages where you cook over hot coals. The cottages are hidden away in a beautiful garden that sits in a ravine and there is a stream running right down the middle.

We started our trek from Tokyo just after lunch and after a few site seeing events (and wrong turns) we arrived for dinner at 5 pm. It is good to get to the restaurant just before sunset. This way you can see the garden in sunlight and then at night with all the artificial lighting and the warm glow coming from the cottages.

Can't find a website for them, but here is some information: Ukai Toriyama

Hyatt - Hakone, Japan

We spent a few days enjoying the spa area of Japan and we stayed at the Hyatt in Hakone. The hotel is a year old and it was just marvelous. In the lobby there is the aroma of wood smoke that comes from the chalet style fire place. It keeps you warm in the cold mountain air. This is a hot springs hotel, so you can enjoy a hot bath and let the volcanic minerals invigorate your body.

There are two restaurants, a French one and a Japanese one. We tried both.

The French restaurant is also where you have breakfast, but at night they dim the lights and it becomes quite intimate.

The Japanese restaurant is very authentic, except its decor. We had a private room with one large table made out of a polished tree. Our niece and nephew were with us and they had never had raw fish, but they were even impressed.
http://hakone.regency.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/entertainment/restaurants/index.jsp

Mere Bulles - Brentwood, TN

This restaurant is in an old mansion. The original owners apparently owned everything around it at one time, but now it is surrounded by office buildings and hotels. Don't let this dissuade you, this is a fine restaurant and well worth going to.

If you just look at the menu, it seems pretty plain. Simple meals like Veal Chops, New York Strip, Prime rib and others like Phyllo Wrapped Sea Bass are going to wow you with their taste and presentation.

This time I had the Phyllo Wrapped Sea Bass, which is stuffed with shellfish, brie and spinach. It is then wrapped in buttered phyllo and served with an artichoke tomato beurre blanc. I do not know if the Sea Bass is good every night, but the this night it was remarkable. No fishy taste at all and not oily at all.

On a previous visit I had the Rib Eye, I highly recommend this also.

The staff makes your meal even more pleasurable with prompt accurate service and they really do put on that southern hospitality.

If you are in the Nashville area, take a little trip south of the city and enjoy an evening at Mere Bulles.

http://www.merebulles.com/