Hachi Restaurant & Lounge, Manhattan

The chefs at Hachi Restaurant & Lounge accessorize the simple, straightforward presentations of Japanese cuisine with flourishes of pan-Asian and European flair. Cinnamon-coated orders of seared tuna arrive with a piquant dab of wasabi aioli, and grilled clams fist bump taste buds with their bacon-truffle butter. Even the sushi pushes its traditional bounds with a dollop of mango salsa or yogurt sauce lining rolls of spicy salmon and hand-peeled grains of rice.

Much like Paul Bunyan's cummerbund, the dining room spreads across two stories, creating the ambience of a lounge with its intimate lighting, S-curved couches, and rich wooden floors. Circular sconces cast sunburst patterns of light across the walls, and blue and purple fiber-optic lighting dangles over the bar.