raji

In that case I'd add Sugiyama

Agreed. I was going to mention Tabla and wonder out loud why they don't get put in the upper echelon anymore. I know what was creative was creative when they opened 8 years ago, but I'd certainly put them on this list...

Hey Pan - Next time in that area, you might want to try try Aburiya - they're serving a whole different teishoku menu for lunch and I've heard it's really good and cheap - I'm going to FINALLY try it out in the next few days

I happen to be meeting a friend at Cafe Zaiya tomorrow for lunch, and I'll settle this once and for all dammit!

Awesome recomendation Raji. ← I had a big bicycle accident 3 years ago and had my jaw wired shut. Upon unwiring, I went there with my family for a delicious lobster butter sangria dinner. It was all really great and affordable. However, I think after 5 weeks on liquids, all that solid food and sangria disagreed with me because I got to see it again about an hour later. Maybe this was how I honored fashion week. Anyway, this should not prevent you from going, just a stupid/funny story.

gotta be Francisco Centro Vasco!

Taboon's bread and dips for it are unreal but found anything else unremarkable - but that might have been my singular experience... If I had one meal, if not at Sugiyama, it would be at Yakitori Totto on 55th for super-authentic Japanese Yakitori. Find the thread on that one to find out how to get/wait for a table... On 10th - If you're in the mood for BBQ, the ribs, pulled BBQ, chili and sides at Daisy Mae are REALLY good. That place is the real deal. The dry rub ribs are some of the best I've had in the city. Better than Virgil's and certainly anywhere else in Midtown... Hallo Berlin if you're drinking Queen of Sheba @ 46th is the best Ethiopean in the city IMHO 44X is quite good if not pricey for what it is... On 9th - Grand Sichuan @ 50th for Chinese, definitely. Pam Real @ 47th for Thai Hell's Kitchen @ 47th is really great nouveau Mexican, I'm still a big fan of this place, it's consistently great. I still like Marseille @ 45th, if you're drinking wine

メロンパンright? MELONPAN Panya definiely, you can probably get it at Zaiya up in Midtown. There's a Japanese bakery on Madison above 42nd and also at Rockefeller center too... They were probably just out of them that day at Mitsuwa! I think it's a fairly common item...

There's a few Beard Papas around the city - http://www.muginohousa.com/locations.html and there's a few Japanese bakeries in Midtown, but if they don't have it at the Mitsuwa then I don't suppose they'd have it elsewhere... I know what you're talking about, never have had it outside of Japan tho...

I'm sorry to curse, but it's the Japan board, and the NYer I am comes out: That's fucking DISGUSTING

Sounds like I really have to save up for a meal here, lest my sushi snobbery wane... It's the type of place that I'll withhold rent and eat 99cent pizza for a few weeks to get to. Based on these latest reviews, it also sounds like you are not paying for a meal, you are paying for a feast. I can't recall any omakase, course or kaisekiryori I've ever had that had 34 distinct dishes. I've easily spent $200 on an omakase in Tokyo and that was for sushi only. $350 plus plus is the blanket omakase price... meaning at the end you can actually ask for more of something you liked? Not that it seems like anyone has room. I'm curious how one also arranges to be in front of Masa.. I'd just call up in Japanese and ask to sit in front of him and find out availability... I guess places like Morimoto, Ono, Matsuri, Buddokan help put things in perspective as well....

So which is better, Pam Real or these? I usually seen Sea and Planet being touted by Brooklyn/Billyburg apologists...

It's looking like it will be 20 people, at least - I made a reservation at Il Bastardo, so, if it works out well, Daisy thank your friends for me - I work in the area and swung by, looks innocent enough, and it's only a few blocks away from Muse Karaoke (which is my friend's Karaoke box/lounge, which I recommend to you guys because they have an extremely wide song selection unlike the other places) 35/40 is looking more like 50... they'll probably stick us with some kind of prix fixe, usually that's what a restaurant does with 12 or more... Otto said for 12-20 it would be either 6 or 10:30PM, with that many people, I probably shouldn't chance it.

I checked it out on city search, looks like a small place but would not be able to take a party..

Otto can only do it at 6 or 10:30PM... not ideal... Any other ideas? i'm going to call Il bastardo too...

Otto..... you may have hit the nail on the head... never been but have been meaning to go, probably can't get a a reservation.. maybe I'll feign 12 and if more show, so be it....

Ahh I haven't been to John's in ages! Only problem is that it's on the east side, and it's a little too Little Italy for me..... Honestly I wish I could go to Noodle Pudding, but that's over in Brooklyn....

I finally had the great, great pleasure of making it out to this destination that I've heard so much about. Now that the Mets have nearly clinched, a trip out to Queens can now mean a stop on the way out or back in Jackson Heights for some real quality Indian food, or in this case, Woodside for my new favorite Thai restaurant. Thankfully I find myself yet again hosting friends from Japan and commanded to deliver only the culinary best of what NY has to offer. It takes another's vacation for mt to enjoy my own city. You'd think that you'd be able to get great Asian food in Japan, but unfortunately, even moreso than most Asian food which is dumbed down and sweetened up for the American palate, there are 2 factors that combine for overal bland flavors in the land of the rising sun - the near complete lack of a foreign population in Japan (quickly changing thanks to the rapidly aging population), and the Japanese intolerance for spice and extreme flavors. Cultural lesson aside, remind me to go there BEFORE the game rather than AFTER, so I'll have more room to experiment. With the dishes so cheap, why not. This is the best Thai food I've had since Thailand. I hurriedly scanned this thread from my browser-phone while my Japanese friends utilized the photo catalog, and our appetizer order was Beef Laarb and the fried soft-shell crabs. The waitress asked "you want medium spice, for me Medium Spice?" which I assumed mean very spicey for mere mortals. I thoroughly enjoyed the complexity and range of seasonings that went into this beef larb, while I lied to my companions about what level I ordered, which unfrotunately rendered their tongues useless for about 10 or 20 minutes. Still, great dish, I'll order it again. The softshell crabs were plump and perfectly fried. And at $2 a pop. the Thai iced teas were being downed to ward off the incredible spice of the Laarb, which also democratically disallowed me from ordering something else spicy (I really wanted that Jungle curry) - Another crimp in our order was that noodle soups cannot be ordered after 5pm (it was abut 5:07 as I recall), but I quickly realized the Whammy Burger feeling coming on was more of a result of the meatballs Trachsel had been leaving over the plate. Why this rules? The 2nd order was for the beef soy sauce noodles, bean thread soup, and this appetizer of puffed rice cafes resembling rice crispy treats that came with a sweet chutney of some sorts. That was almost like dessert for us. The Soy sauce noodles were absolutely delicious, once again with prodigious amounts of Thai basil, lemongrass, I'm assuming some kaffir lime, all sorts of indigenous spices. The soup was really great, the broth refreshing, and the bean threads resembling extremely thin intestines, like a cow stomach. My only complaint was that the 2nd orde took a while to come out m- good to know everything is made fresh, but left us sitting there for a while, thankfully the Tennis final was on their new plasma screen TV.... What can I say, I'm almost sad that I finally made it out there, ignorantly blissful in the Thai food wars of Hell's Kithcne... I'm gonna go by Pam Real to compare, but I have to say, I was extremely impressed, pleasantly suprised by the prices set by a restaurant which has obviously enjoyed uncharacteristic success over an extneded period of time - all in all, yet another wonderful reason to be a Mets fan!

Hey guys - My birthday is Thursday this week and it looks like it may be upwards of 20 or so people joining me for an intimate dinner that night 9ish followed by drinking and karaoke; I'd say 12 minimum... Most people are late 20s, early thirties. Not going Japanese, Korean, or any other Asian this year , so those of you who know my posting habits know that that leaves me relatively clueless in my own city... So, that said, Italian would by ideal, reasonably priced such that everyone will be able to get out of there for, say, 35/40 bucks a person, including a good amount of wine. Somewhere where a $30 bottle of wine is pretty damn good. I had been meaning to check out Crispo but the size of the party quickly outgrew that place..... any ideas? The closer to Chelsea the better, must be west side. I'm wary of getting stuck in any sort of "private room" which sometimes means the dusty windowless basement that the waiter never visits! At the end of the day, tasty food is the top priority....I guess other mediterranean would also do... That also means I'm trying to get a large reservation on Thursday night.... most likely, not a problem?

Usually if there's tempura on the menu, or any agemono, they're going go to ahead and do that for you. And at many izakaya that's on the menu, you can order it!

Hmmm I don't know.... Mr. Chen?

What was the damage at Yasuda vs. Kurumazushi? I've remarked this before, but there is a certain Kuruma tipping point at which it is cheaper to transport ME to the FISH rather than the other way around... BTW I fell into a conversation with a friend of mine who frequents Kuruma, and the "Kuruma" in Kurumazushi does not refer to car (in Japanese, car = kuruma), but most likely is from kurumaebi, which is the king-size shrimp sushi, and is eaten raw as all good shrimp sushi should be... I can't stand cooked shrimp among my sushi order!!!

I pretty much always go to the Fish markets on 9th avenue below 42nd... However, I've heard from many ABCs, and from what I've seen, that the markets on Grand east of Broadway are the better ones... While you're down there, don't forget to hit that huge meat market, i think it's on Elizabeth?. It's the one so large that it cuts through to the the next avenue over...

Can't tell you how many times I just grab something out of the conbini, whether it be a sandwich or actual breakfast pastry, can't tell you how many of my friends did the same....

Hiroyuki - What a great topic! As usual you get to the heart of Japanese cuisine - I learned my Japanese by total immersion, but it was more than just language, it was culture too. This meant observing, approximating and assimilating what I saw going on around me, of course when it made sense to my own sensibilities and palette - I've never heard these words before either - I bet your average Japanese doesn't even know them! But I do remember one of my first days living there, a good friend of mine to this day told me, "Well, most all Japanese food is designed as different ways to eat rice." This made a lot of sense to me - from onigiri to nigirizushi to a slice of tonkatsu, i was surrounded by people taking a bite and then shoveling some rice in, whether it for taste adjustment or not - I don't think many foreign foods do this triangular eating, however, there is a famous episode of "All in the Family" where Archie Bunker makes fun of Meathead. "Why do you eat all your peas, then all your mashed potatoes, then all your carrots? Why don't you mix it all together like this?" Anyway, I've had a unique experience with Japanese culture so I know I'm not your average foreigner, but after a few months, the way Japanese food was being presented and portioned, this is how I was eating...