2 Best Restaurants in Side Trips from Tokyo, Japan

Opened more than 40 years ago, this popular venue between Chinatown and Yamashita Park is Yokohama's source for Italian food. The owner, whose father studied cooking in Italy before returning home, is also the head chef and has continued using the original recipes. The house specialty is seafood: the spaghetti vongole (with clam sauce) is particularly good, as is the spaghetti pescatora and the seafood pizza. An added bonus is the impressive selection of Italian wines.

This is a cozy and inviting casual Italian restaurant, whose interior looks like an Italian country home. There are candles on the tables and an open kitchen where diners can watch the cooks making pizza. On the menu: 18 kinds of Neopolitan-style wood fire–baked pizzas, 20 kinds of pastas, fondue, and other dishes that include—you guessed it—cheese. The set-course menus are reasonable, filling, and recommended.