Think locally, eat globally. Why stick with the tried and true when we have on our doorstep a planet-wide geography lesson in cross-cultural cuisines? As often as not you'll eat better in Tokyo than you would in the countries that are home to your favorite culinary delights--and with no worries about flies in your face, gritty sand in your teeth or virulent bugs in your guts.

As a case in point consider Ghanaba, a tranquil oasis just steps away from the fray of Roppongi's central crossing. Owner Marcus Agyapong sets a sophisticated tone with Asante print fabrics and an eclectic, pan-African mix of music on the sound system. Back in the kitchen, chef Edna works with the same ingredients you'd find in an Accra market (cassava, plantain and local fish sauces, all flown in direct) to produce the kind of food that sustains a continent.

Dinner at Ghanaba, as anywhere in sub-Saharan Africa, revolves around well-simmered meat stews, fiery fish curries and rich casseroles of beans and vegetables, all served with a hefty portion of carbohydrate, be it rice, cassava or corn meal. This may sound overly robust, but the results are surprisingly satisfying--much in the style of South Asian foods, but without the insistent overtones of spices--and display a subtlety and grace you'd be hard pressed to find in West Africa. As you would at Indian restaurants, forget about individual meals and order a selection of dishes to share between your dining companions. If you're unsure how to go about ordering, Marcus will point you in the direction of the Por Che De fish stew, Akreko (fried patties of plantain), maybe the kebabs, or a curry of seafood or okra. Ecological correctness may hold back any epicurean sense of adventure when it comes to the elephant soup--the stock really is prepared from pachyderm bones--but kako (deep fried fish) and koosay (deep-fried balls of ground beans, akin to falafel) fit the bill equally well as appetizers.

Should you find the food a touch on the bland side, pep up your plate with a few dabs of the nifty (and aptly-named) shitto sauce, a forbidding concoction of chili, fermented shrimp and peanut oil that's as ill-tempered as it looks. With a bottle of Yebisu to wash it all down (the weak, Accra-brewed Club Mini lager, at ¥900, is only worth trying for the novelty value), you will be all set up.

BURMA
2-6-1 Jingu-mae, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 3796-7272
Open: 11am-10pm; Closed Thur.
Average check for two: ¥8000

There's no mistaking the politics of this place. The prominent portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi and the anti-SLORC samizdats suggest that the folks from the Myanmar Embassy don't drop by too often. But that's their loss, because hands down this is the best Burmese food in the city.

Those unfamiliar with the cuisine will be comforted by the strong resonances of Indian, Thai and Chinese styles. Given the geographical proximity, it's hardly surprising that samosas, curries and noodle soups all find their way into the Burmese diet. Although you can make do with these more obvious choices, or simply settle for the unadventurous set meals (¥2000 and up), the true rewards are those foods representing the Burmese heartland.

If you fail to decipher the menu (fully bilingual, but in Japanese/Burmese only), one stratagem would be to select one or two items at random from each section of the menu, with reference to the illustrations outside the front door. Or you could construct a very representative dinner around the following:

The classic appetizer is lepet--a salad of roasted beans, peanuts and prepared tea leaf--for munching on while you wait, with perhaps some samosas and a soup. As main dishes: one of the coconut-based curries (vegetable, chicken, fish or pork); the excellent (and quite authentically oily) nasshin cho, a dish of spicy eel and onion; and shan hta minn chin, spicy chicken and tomato over a bed of rice cooked with small chunks of spicy potato. Burma being a country that still takes its Buddhism seriously, there is plenty on offer for vegetarians, notably tofujo, a delicate tofu made of yellow beans, in the style of the Shan highlands and markedly different in flavor to the albino East Asian variety that we know and love.

Forewarned is forearmed: this is not the liveliest of Tokyo eating spots--indeed Burma has about as much atmosphere as an airport terminal coffee shop. In this it is demonstrating the highest levels of authenticity: as in Thailand and China, soulless decor is the order of the day for any upwardly aspiring establishment, along with the standard bottle of Chivas and nonstop vernacular cover versions of western soft-pop standards. While this makes it less than ideal for intimate dates, in larger groups you probably won't notice a thing once the food arrives.

AGADA
1-32-12 Higashi, Shibuya-ku
Tel: 3486-2827
Open: 11:30am-2pm (lunch); 2-6pm (coffee); 6pm-late (music bar), daily
Average check for two: ¥4000

Adama is dead; long live Agada. In 18 short months, Moto-Azabu's favorite Middle Eastern falafel shop-cum-hangout achieved cult status for its budget prices, massive portions and good-time vibes. Now, having outgrown their tatami-sized premises, proprietors Amnon and Tomash have set their sights on a target of far greater ambition. Their dual mission: to corner the Japanese market in pita bread and create an ongoing party space of the kind we all know Tokyo can sorely use.

The unlikely vehicle for this vision is the basement atrium of a bubble-era office block on the lower fringes of Daikanyama. Sensibly, they are not attempting to create a flashier version of Adama in these upmarket surroundings. The philosophy, price structure and food quality are unchanged, but the emphasis here is on snacks and lunch time take-outs rather than full-scale sit-down meals. This may disappoint hard-core fans, but all the old favorites are here--the hummous and salads, dolmades and killer falafels--along with a wider menu of pastries and snackfoods.

Amnon and Tomash have created Agada as a café/bar, a place with plenty of music for people to sit and sip cappuccinos, Maccabee beer or the very passable Golan wine. Its combination of stylish architecture and funky home-built furniture are not likely to draw people from across town on their own. That is why they are putting on evenings of live music, especially at weekends. When the office crowd goes home the building starts to rock. Judging from the initial reactions, it will be successful. If Amnon and his cohorts deliver on their vision, it promises to be a fun summer.

TIDBITS

Pro-democracy Minshuku

Forget that "Visit Myanmar Year" hype: instead, how about a weekend at Burma, the minshuku run by the same folks behind Burma, the restaurant (see above). East-coast Izu is a far cry from the palm-fringed coast of the Andaman Sea, but at least you'll know you're not helping to prop up a military dictatorship. And where else can you eat curries after your onsen? (171-23 Akazawa, Ito-shi, Shizuoka-ken (0557-53-1305)

Serendipity in Shibuya!

Fans of string hoppers, godamba, and jaggery ice cream take note: Sri Lankan food has arrived in Shibuya courtesy of Court Lodge 17-12 Sakuragaoka; 3476-6011). If you know Meguro's Sigiriya (3446-2555) or other branches of this mini-chain, you'll know what to expect. For the uninitiated, here's your introduction to the subcontinent's least appreciated cuisine.

TV dinners à la Thai

A plethora of South East Asian retort-pack convenience foods have reached these shores in recent years, bringing the heady aromas of Bangkok street stalls to your Homat. All are worth trying, but after exhaustive testing the Tokyo Journal Aroi Maak seal of approval goes to Wan Thai Foods' Chicken in Yellow Curry. Look for the "Heat & Eat" brand at selected gourmet shops (Ginza Printemps Dept. Store basement, etc.) and ethnic food stores.