Sinbad

Great Report, glad you enjoyed the evening. When I made reservations I always asked to sit at the counter at Yasuda-sans corner, and I was always seated there. Friends that I recommended to do the same thing have also told me that they always ended up at his corner. My recommendation is to sit there not only because of the Sushi but also because if he is in the mood he will tell you a few things about "the art of sushi" if you are interested.

Wannabechef You can propably keep the tab under $120 for two if you do not drink, and you avoid the more expensive items but my guess is that it will still be tight at dinner. As soon as you start trying different grades of Toro you will break the $120 budget easily. My suggestion is to tell the waiters about your eating preference, your intended budget and see if they can do an omakase that fits your budget(I think the regular omakase is more). I don't think that they will get annoyed, the service is always exceptional at Yasuda.

I never heard of cattle being shipped to Japan and finished in Kobe. Are the cows finished immediately after arrival in Japan or do they spend some time getting beer-feed and massaged? If you have a link I would really appreciate it. I must try it on my next trip to Japan.

It's because they have Mad Cow Disease in Japan, I don't think the ban has been lifted yet. I have actually seen a couple of restaurants in Japan that advertised that they served 100% foreign beef.

The Kobe Style beef available at Mitsuwa is not bred in Japan, since it is illegal to import Beef from Japan to the US, hence "Kobe-Style". I have had Kobe Beef on numerous occasions in the US at both restaruants and purchased and cooked at home and I have always been disappointed, it is not as good as what is available in Japan and it is way too expensive. Surprised that they did not have Toro, Mitsuwa in Edgewater in NJ always have it, both Chu-toro and Oh-Toro and in a couple of grades.

Was the foie gras sushi on the conveyor belt? It sounds like you ordered it.

I'll second the opinions on Kua'aina, and they have some decent microbrewed beers too. It is a real burger joint to unlike most other names on the list which are "real restaurants". Fujimamas is a restaurant I recommend not only for their burgers, it's has pretty good fusion food at a reasonable price (although sometimes the combinations don't work). Need to check out Pe’z Magic on my next trip to Japan, I noticed it's in the building I lived my first year in Tokyo. Johnny Rockets in Roppongi is pretty good too. Not a burger, but if you crave a large serving of meat the EX Bar in Roppongi is recommended. Their meat-loaf with vegetables is HUGE. The EX Bar is also the best Ex-Pat hangout on the whole planet. It's actually easy to find a good burger in Tokyo, but try to find a good hot-dog.

Nori? On Pasta? I actually had shiitake with Pasta on several occassions. I actually consider Shiitake (the quality one you can get in Japan, not the poor substitute available in the US) the worlds most versatile mushroom and I feel very comfortable adding it to quite a few dishes where the recipe does not call for it and the dish in my view gets enhanced. Some of the other "toppings" are what I expected.

Knowing what Pizza-La toppings are on their Pizzas are I am eager to see their pasta offerings. Squid sliced as spagetti is pretty common in Japan, they must offer that with a Squid Ink Sauce with natto, nori and shaved tofu topping.

I have yet to start getting a preference for Sake from a certain region. I look at the grading, but I never actually worry to much about the region (unless they would claim that the brewery is in Kawasaki or another industrial hub). Many Japanese tell me that sake from a certain region is the best, but it usually happens to be their hometown so I usually take it with a grain of salt. Any reason for Nara? Preference cold/hot? I prefer cold sake, even in the winter.

Ginga Kogen is actually a very nice beer, there are quite a few nice microbrews in Japan. Yona-Yona is another one that is also reasonable priced and there are a few others as well. My last few years in Japan I never puchased a single bottle of any of the mass-produced crap from the big four (Asahai, Suntory, Kirin and Sapporo). Their standard beer are all at best "mama-desu", and they have an irritating habit of throwing out mediocre seasonals with silly names like "Winter Snow Flake Santa" or whatever they might call them. Japan is a great country to eat in, but I do have one complaint and that is the selection of beer at restaurants which is uniformly bad (if you like me dislike the big four choices). I have extended my personal consumer boycott of the big four to include meals at restaurants, I always ask for a microbrew and if they don't have it I settle for Sake (which is pretty much always the case except in Fukuoka where quite a few places surprisingly carried local brews). Life is to short to waste on the big 4 and with sake in Japan being so good it usually doesn't feel like too much of a sacrifice.

You have been to long in Japan when you don't find things strange anymore I never got the (milk) tea and coffee in a can craze in Japan. The variety is just astonishing and there are new labels and flavors popping up all the time. I just can't understand how people can drink it?

Well, you can get pretty much anything from a vending machine. Beer, Whiskey and Sake. (but minors are not allowed to buy, and the machines turn themself off at 11 PM). I have never seen a machine that anyone tried to break into. Hamburgers and Hot Dogs ready to eat. Bags of Rice. In the same machine, 250 cl and 350 cl cans of coke with the same price. If the size fits, a machine in Japan will sell it. Not Food Related I thought I had heard it all, but one guy was actually convicted (I believe he went to jail) for operating a vending machine that sold second-handed underwear that he bought from teenage girls.

yeah, sometimes it is in cans too I actually like the blue can called Royal Milk Tea hot from the vending machine. Is this cold? THey actually have vending machines that heats the cans in Japan, usually for coffe and tea but I have seen it for other items as well (Corn Chowder). I'ts actually not to pleasant to hold a hot metal can in your hand without any insulation

New Yorker's. Does anyone know if Adriana's Caravan in Grand Central have them in stock now?

Going to Tokyo next week, but this place is not high on my list (it's actually not on it) despite the fact that I'll be working in the area. Instead, I'll trek down 5 minutes down the hill to Wakon-Yosai in Nishi-Azabu, the best Kyushuu sea-food place in Tokyo (that I know of).

Did you go to Jiro Sushi?

Anniversary dinner at Jean-Georges in NY. During the third course of a tasting meal a tray was dropped nearby and some glass were shattered on our table. We were quickly moved to a new table and the staff apologized. Or current plates were replaced with the same item and a new bottle of wine was brought out. More apologies were handed out and we received some outstanding service after that and a couple of complimentary glasses of wine(+ some excellent food). At the end of the meal, which I expected to be about $600 with wine, but excluding comped items, tax and tips, the waiter informed us that the meal was on the house and handed us a card with which to call for future reservations! That was our first meal when we moved to NY, and our stay could not have begun better. A stay in a Ryokan in Japan. The ryokan only accepted group reservations(usually 15-20) people but by sheer luck me and my wife were also considered a group. We received some outstanding food for the weekend, but we also had a staff sized for handling 20 people take care of the two of us. I think I was the first Gaijin guest that they had ever had (at least they were not used to foreign guests) so the staff went the extra mile there too. In a country with some very good service that was the most outstanding that I ever received.

Roppongi Hills. Yes, here is a link http://www.roppongihills.com/en/information/ Amazing place, worth a visit.

Ramen-gyouza at 4 AM after a night out in Roppongi-Shinjuku-Shibuya.... Heaven!

I used to dread Osechi-Ryori. Since no one ever cared to make it we always up ended up buying very expensive and in my view not particulary tasty food at a department store. Two years in a row, and then I had it, told them I could have a gourmet vacation for the money spent. Besides Torakris in this thread I never heard anyone who ever actually liked it.

One of the trademarks of the store is their triangle shaped shopping bags. Whenever I go to New York, which isn't as often as I would like, I go to the tea shop in the basement. For the next couple of weeks I have the best lunch bag in the classroom! Takashima-ya in NY although a branch of the Japan department store chain in no way resembles the Japan department stores, it is much more of a specialty shop (my wife who is Japanese goes there for the tea). Wished the NY branch had a Foodhall of the same quality as the Japanese Takashimayas

I was more referring to the extravagant "excesses" that occured before. Did you celebrate thanksgiving on Monday this week? (it's one of those Japanese holidays that I forget what it's actually about, but that always seems to coinceede with Thanksgiving)

A few years back Christmas was celebrated more like valentines day for young Japanese couples as mentioned in the link, splurging on a very nice meal, expensive gifts and staying in a luxury hotel, all courtesy of the boy. I think the fad all of a sudden died and I don't think it is as common anymore. Valentines day in itself is the reverse, on february 14 the girl is supposed to give chocolate to "every" man she knows, romantically linked or not. I think something like 90% of all luxury chocolates in Japan are sold in February. Maybe less than 1% of Japanese are christian, but they take on a lot of christian traditions in their own way, mostly weddings. The Häagen-Dazs shop in Roppongi (one of Tokyos major entertainment areas) was converted into a Christian Wedding Chapel.

That's what I always thought, too. But then I discovered that Canada produces much more garbage per capita than Japan does (1157 lbs vs 758 lbs--US produces 1930 lbs--all numbers are from the late 1990's). I was pretty embarrassed when I learned of that, especially since I was complaining about the waste in Japan at the time. Statistics don't always compare to well between countries. I think the main reason though is that even if Japan propably wastes more money than any other nation on the planet on food wrapping, other nations makes up for it in other areas. For example, the amount of direct mail that I receive in my mailbox here everyday is just astonishing and more than makes up for the food packaging that I would use in Japan. Also, in the US most meals outside would be at a McDonalds, Taco Bell etc which would come wrapped, where as in Japan a fast food meal is typically Ramen, Sushi or something similar that is not wrapped.