DanaT

Are they open on Sunday? I have class near there and a sweet bread would be tasty.

I didn't intend to put you on the spot oakapple it was just a general observation. If this had been a discussion of the best top-tier restaurants, I would place more emphasis on reputation and consensus. But for the tried and true standards, I think reputatiion has a lot more influence of people's perceptions of their meal. But that may not be germane to the discussion here.

It may be in how we define tried and true...for me, its good, dependable, and someplace I go often enough to be able to judge its consistency. Some of the suggestions look like they are based on one or two visits. For me, that would not be a basis to call a restaurant tried and true. I've found that the higher the level of quality, the harder it is for a restaurant to keep consistency unless its at a certain price point where the extra dollars go to making each meal consistently excellent. Then its priced out of a range that allows you to go often engough to judge its consistency. How often are people going to places like Katz, Peter Luger, etc.? Are any of the restaurants your neighborhood haunts?

The moderators can delete this if its inappropriate here but... You could try Kurumazushi, a sushi place often compared to Yasuda. It would be fun to compare the omokase between the two. Alas, I haven't done that yet. If you go to both, please share your comparison in this thread. It would be fun to read. Sushi Yasuda vs. Kurumazushi

This may sound heretical but are there really any tried and true restaurants over 10 years old in Manhattan? The only restaurants I know over 10 years old are living on their reputation only. They may have been noteworthy once but something is missing. I think restaurants change hands and fold too quickly for that. If I want to eat the best that New York has to offer at any price range or type of food, I'll go to a new restaurant with something to prove.

I was underwhelmed by Le Cirque 2000 about a year and a half ago. I wish I could tell you what we ate but it wasn't memorable. It will be interesting to see who fills the space. The New York Palace is a prime hotel.

Another Yasuda convert! I can't wait to hear about your meal. March, is it?

I doubt it too. Businesses are productivity conscious and are starting to expect a tangible result from almost everything. Our vendors sponsor events on their site so they can freely talk business with a customer when the opportunity arises. That's not always possible in an open restaurant setting. I found out when I scheduled a sales dinner in an open restaurant. The guys started to talk business and our legal expert was horrified that they were divulging confidential matter in a public setting. Also a lot of companies get the Super Bowl boxes, tickets, etc. thrown in the deal when they purchase a sponsorship or they negotiate long term deals with hotels who throw in some meals at the hotel restaurant. I don't think that model fits well with standalone stellar restaurants like Masa.

Oops, forgot to come back and report. When we went the Monday before Christmas, the place was not too crowded and the service was fine. I did mistakenly think from Rachel's review that there would be a wine pairing offered with the meal but I was wrong and a bit surprised that the waitress didn't know right away whether they offered a pairing or not. The salad of Porcini mushrooms, mache, fried ham, candied walnuts, and herbs was delicious. The only complaint we had was the timing. A salad before the main course seems odd in a French meal. We would have enjoyed it much more after the main course. The crispy oysters were quite frankly disappointing. I agree with Rachel that the breading was overdone. Alas, I have less refined tastebuds than she for I could not taste the caviar. The goose with confit was simply amazing. Now I know why Jason was sopping up the sauce. Thick, a little sweet, very pungent, it made everything it touched delicious. The goose was tender and fell apart in the mouth. Rich, delicate all simultaneously. The Buche de Noel was moist, yummy and everything that a buche should be. This was the second menu I have partaken on recommendation from the New York board. The first was omokase at Sushi Yasuda. With alcohol, the price of the two meals were comparable. I think the overall quality of the food was more consistent at Yasuda. Perhaps its not fair to compare a Japanese and French restaurant but those were our impressions. So far we have enjoyed each meal that was recommended and look forward to picking out our next choice on this board.

Hmm, interesting comparison between eating out and other luxuries. I met a woman awhile back whose husband insists on tickets to the World Series every year. In return she insists on going out to eat out twice a year in a top NY restaurant. She told me, he's considered a good old guy in the family; she's considered high-maintenance but just the logistics of going wherever the World Series is playing requires a lot of high maintenance in her opinion. "Baseball is so American" she said. "Any amount of money for the all-American pasttime is not only alright, its a solemn patriotic duty. But being particular about the quality of food is a bit foreign so its suspect." She may have overstated the case but I think she has a point. Diamonds have a resell value so I don't know if they can compare to an experience.

Hmm, my favorite Spanish haunt I haven't been to in ages. My girlfriends and I used to go to El Faro when we lived in the Village. The paella was good but the sopa was fantastic.

Umm for a single person, that's 6 visits per year. Does the MOMA have enough to go back 6x a year?

well this is promising: I hope it puts to rest the common knowledge that The entrance fee raised eyebrows. I prefer the Met for the variety of art exhibits but the food in the Met cafe is nothing to write home about.

Hmm, I think I ate at Maeda when he was chef. He was the first to turn me on to fresh uni and homemade preparations of ikura. The lunch omokase started to get pricey though at about $70. I didn't dare go at night but the area around Grand Central wasn't exactly a mecca for evening dining. I wonder if Maeda closed or if someone else took over?

pictures of Yasuda where I had such fond memories. Thanks doc. I enjoyed seeing yourself, jogoode and Bond girl in the flesh in addition to reading your posts here. Its so fun to put faces to names. I have not been to Kurumazushi (at $200 a head it may be awhile) but Yasuda was a magical experience. glad you found the place that jj, turned me and other on to here.

If you live in Murray Hill, you're graced by the sounds of ambulances, firetrucks, and assorted other sirens from the neighborhood fire station, hospitals, and police station at all times of the day or night. By the time you get to Les Halles, your hearing is already shot.

Thanks for the clarification, Robert and zeitoun. How true. Fois gras is a bit temperamental, I think. It needs the exact mixture of complements to bring it out and then the combination that pleases one fails to please the other. That's probably true of a lot of dishes. A friend in Pasadena still hasn't been able to get into the French Laundry. Its on the Relais and Chateaux site. I wonder if Per Se is.

Welcome to egullet, zeitoun! I would love to have the opportunity to be 'disappointed' by Per Se. I'm curious about this. Did the men and women in your party make separate orders or did Per Se offer a his and her menu. Novel concept, if they did.

Merci, Rachel! Sounds like a delicious evening. Les Halles is just around the corner so its worth dropping in. I agree with you on the oysters. I love 'em but I always ask for the tiniest. The website doesn't have the Christmas menu listed yet. Any idea on how much the prix fixe would cost?

I don't understand the circles. He always often suggests fish that aren't circled, which is consistent with his "if it's not the highest quality I won't serve it" philosophy. So why does he circle certain items? I enjoy that, too! Sometimes, the scallops get sea salt and lemon or daidai. Man, I need to go back... ← Thanks JJ for the recommendation and the suggestions. It was heavenly. I don't think we had daidai but after awhile we stopped quizzing him about the food and just ate it gratefully. :) Let me tell you, I'm saving up the money right now. We were going to visit a French place in Brooklyn near the Sargent show but after thinking about it, said "Nah!, lets wait till we can go back to Yasuda again." Good suggestion, robert. I enjoyed the rolls with fish but not as much as the nigiri sushi. I'd like to see what he does with the ume yamaimo roll.

My understanding of the menu and the circles is that everything is of the highest quality otherwise he would not serve it. The cirlces denote the items he is especially fond of, has small quantities of, or are incredibly seasonal. ← Yes, that's it. The specials he circled were mostly seasonal. I think the big eye tuna was one of the seasonal items. He suggested fish that wasn't circled too, like the bluefin toro which was one of the best pieces of the night.

Ah heaven! Entering into Yasuda-san's sanctuary, our eyes were struck by the well lit atmosphere accentuated by the blond wood of the long sushi counter. Smiling attendants took our coats and escorted us to the sushi bar where Yasuda-san was advising the next couple on their next sushi purchase. A large bottle of dry sake to share and a quick perusal of the menu with Yasuda-san's special recommendations circled in red led us to believe we were in good hands. Three forms of yellowtail were circled as were two kinds of white see eel, big eye tuna was circled but surprisingly no toro. Scallops, and surprisingly fresh cooked shrimp were on the master's recommended list. Atlantic char and Atlantic king salmon rounded out the recommended choices. We two grown women had eyes as big as children in a candy store. A speciality of Yasuda-san was a topping of sea salt rather than soy sauce on many of his sushi creations. It made a wonderfully fresh difference in the kampachi, sawara that we started off with. A tasting of white sea eel covered with homemade soy sauce rounded out the first go round. After our drinks were refilled, we feasted on big eye tuna covered with the lightest coating of soy sauce and scallop which was so tender it melted in our mouths on contact. Other pieces came, sea bass among others, each more delicious that the last. At this point my companion and I split ways. I just had to sample the uni which she was allergic to so she tried the Atlantic king salmon. At that point some fresh cooked shrimp became available and he offered us some. Normally I disdain the cooked shrimp for amaebi or botan but this shrimp had so much flavor, it needed no topping or accoutrements. He offered us another piece of bass but in the meantime he was making some sushi for the next couple which looked very interesting so we asked for a piece - white sea eel with a light dusting of sea salt. This was eel, firm but not hard, slightly sweet, slightly salty-and cooked slightly different from the first we tried so that it tasted like a totally different fish. I cannot describe the ecstasy. We were getting full so when he offered us a taste of the bluefin toro (always my favorite) we declared it our last piece. And it lived up to its place as the last piece of the evening. A delicate coating of sea salt set the toro to its best effect like no soy sauce could. That piece could have just ended a perfect meal....until we realized that we hadn't tried the orange clam - the only clam that the two of us like and on the chef's recommended list. So the orange clam was the last piece of the evening. We had some dessert; I, some mochi balls; my friend, some green tea ice cream. The price for this did not come cheap. The bill came to $240 for two with tax and tip but it was worth every penny. Yasuda-san made a fitting comment as we stood up to leave..."To be continued" he said, and bowed. I highly recommend Sushi Yasuda for every sushi afionado and I can't wait to have the money to go back.

LOL I just changed jobs from consumer goods to Wall Street and the consumer goods people were worse. But I work in sales training and salespeople are control freaks no matter what the industry.

Sounds heavenly, jj. Thank you SO much. You've given us quite an education so we know a bit more about what to expect. My main fear is that we're going to totally forget about money when the sushi starts rolling in. That's what happened last time at Hatsake but there the damage wasn't so bad - $70 per person with tip, but that was with sake, soup, and dessert. I think we could go to $100 per person with tip here because the restaurant is so special but more than that is more than we're bargaining for.

Thanks JJ. We're salivating at the thought. We were thinking of each ordering a $60 omokase to keep to a budget and then ordering a few extra pieces. Does he ask for our preferences before the omakase or does he just do his thing and we ask for extra pieces later?