raji

same thing, but Yellowtail neck = collar correct?

If I had one last meal, it would be sushi; a good sushi experience can be transcendental and I certainly equate sushi with the pinnacle of culinary experiences; however, it's almost in another class because it is so very dependent on the raw quality of the ingredients vs. fancy procedures and fusions of different regional cuisines. That said, it's simple supply and demand that there's only so much sushi-grade fish out there and the higher and higher the grade or rarer the catch, the less of it there is. Japan's an island nation and per capita just consumes tons more fish. You can go to $1 per plate (100yen for 2 pieces) conveyor belt places in Japan that are better than the vast majority of sushi in America - it's sad but true. Conversely, you can go to Ginza and spend more than Kurumazushi - which I'm starting to think is named "kuruma", which means car, because you can buy a car for the price of a meal there. I'm lucky because I lived in Japan, speak the language fairly well with very accurate pronunciation, and have friends I can crash with, so if I'm looking at $300 to dine at Kurumazushi, that's going towards a ticket overseas... There are plenty of expense-account Japanese restaurants in Midtown, as there are so many Japanese companies with presences in NYC, just as there are so many non-japanese expense-account places in Midtown. But I still think you get what you pay for, it's not just an automatic markup. And the Japanese economy bubble burst in '91 and never revived, so it's not crazy like the 80s, although some of those restaurants survived. Exchange rate is no benefit either. If anything, consider that Japan is not so much an "ownership society" like here so people tend to spend more of their income outside the home, and for the traditional Japanese companies, the business entertainment allotment has not been cut back the way it has in the states, so they have to go out and spend spend spend or they don't get the same budget the next year.... Back to Kuruma, the owner notoriously prides himself for having the best bluefin tuna in NY if not North America, and similarly prides himself on the other fish he has, so you are paying for that top top quality - you be the judge - was it 200% than the same thing at Yasuda? You certainly aren't paying for the decor at sushi bars, or at least you shouldn't be - Yasuda is one of the nicest and airiest I've seen, and I've paid those prices for places in Tokyo that look like holes-in-the-wall, albeit spotless. Space is such a premium in Japan. Also, if you are there for the first time, you are definitely going to pay more than regulars.

I think it's easier to come by in Japan certainly - it's just the kind of thing, like hamachikama, that will show up on the osusume menu and will go quickly. After all, only 2 collars per tuna, no?

That's true - HK especially having many kinds of places to duck into... but I've travelled extensively in China AND Japan, and Japan really excels at this quality....

I'm glad you didn't have to wait and had such a great meal! And yes all the waitresses are very nice and some particularly cute! Somehow the owner has kept the spirits high here for a while. Where have places like this been all your life? Japan! The single greatest culinary feature of Japan is that, at least in the cities (although much of the country is just one big urban sprawl by now), and especially in Tokyo, the restaurants tend to focus on one particular style or dish. The samurai spirit and devotion to perfection lives on in the chefs of Japan. You can walk down a block in Tokyo and find one shop devoted to tonkotsu ramen, then pork tonkatsu, then sushi, then omelettes (omuraisu), then negitoro donburi, then katsu curry. (I've just described 1 block of Meiji-dori in Shibuya). Contrast that with Chinese restaurants, most of which try to be all things to all people. Only recently have so many "focused" places open in NY so that you can now get a reliable ramen, takoyaki, okonomiyaki, soba, etc. etc. at least somewhere in Manhattan. Besides their perfection in grill-work, I too noticed that anything fried there arrives completely light and grease-free - No raw chicken for you? Maybe Avian fear means I can go in on a Friday night and get a table without a painful, guest-pissing-off wait - although let's hope it's not worse, the whole BSE thing really killed Yoshinoya in Japan....

Yeah but they're here for the tourists. I don't know any proper NYer who patronizes any of them. ← As a "proper New Yorker" -- my mother was born at Mount Sinai hospital, I was born at Mount Sinai hospital, my son was born at Mount Sinai hospital -- I can say with the voice of authority and experience that there are millions of "proper New Yorkers" who have no taste or discernment whatsoever when it comes to food. While New York is home to a large portion of the cream of the crop of the gourmet community, the population as a whole is nearly as food-ignorant as the population anywhere else. Not all New Yorkers are foodies. Not even a small percentage are. That's why we have so many bad restaurants -- not just chains, either: there are bad restaurants of all kinds here. Marian Burros wrote about the chains in the New York Times in June 2003 in an article "Chains Bring Strip Mall Flavor, Or Lack of It, To Manhattan." The article, well researched, does not support the theory that only tourists dine at the chains. A particularly telling expert quote: ← Argh well let's not confuse fast food with these casual chains. Fast food works anywhere. But I only see Olive Gardens, Red Lobsters, Fridays, Applebees, etc., in areas trafficked by out-of-towners, because I think they feel safe eating there. Of course there are just as many food-ignorant as anywhere else, judging by how many bad diners, pizzerias and delis there are.

Yeah but they're here for the tourists. I don't know any proper NYer who patronizes any of them.

And Corner Bistro ain't far, either! ← Still the best late night burger, and the bartender is a walking NY Mets encyclopedia.

Overpriced comfort food, I've been dragged there many a time by B&Ters... so funny because I just had dinner at the Cafeteria in Miami Beach on Lincoln - much better! Service was horrible but it was because it was Winter Music Conference and the place crawling with retards.

I'd be willing to go with you Daniel! Maybe I'm a masochist. I also happen to be a lifelong Mets fan, knowing that you must suffer the lowest of the lows to enjoy the highest of the highs. Sometimes it good to remind yourself that New York is very much not like the rest of America, New York, or most other cities. For some reason, in the rest of America, restaurants like OG, Red Lobster, Chiles, Fridays, you name it, thrive, mass-produced frozen salad and frozen jalapeno poppers and all. It also help rationalize the pollution I breathe, the sky-high cost of living, an often smelly city and broken-down subway system, among other gripes... Guess what I'm saying is as a culinary city, we really take NYC for granted.

After relocating from 3rd and Ocean to 16th and Washington I finally made it to Le Sandwicherie today!!! Got a Saucisson Sec + Camembert with everything on it but Olives, and a rainbox shake. So great. I think it comes down to the ingredients they use - from the really tasty french bread they use, to the tasty vegetables and cornichons, but that Saucisson sec was ridiculously delicious. My bad on Puerta Sagua - you're right it's at 5th and Washington, I have been there 4 years ago, I will try to make it there tomorrow... Is there a place on par with this in New York?

What's the name of that really old cafe with the neon sign? Fellini? Falucci? something like that? That would do it...

Thank you for your suggestions! - La Puerta Sagua, I think I went to this place last year - is it a couple blocks from the Day's Inn, with a couple of nightclubs on that same block (Club Nerve, I'm sure that narrows it down)? I think it was big enough to have bands. Also huge Sangrias? If so, yes this place was great I'll be back... Front Porch sounds good... News Cafe I'm sure I've been to...also good - don't like Jerry's Is Escopazzo the white tablecloth place right next to Crobar? If so, I went there too... Any others?

Hello my fellow gulleteers in the Sunshine State! I was hoping some of you could enlighten me. Starting Thursday, I'll have 100 hours, staying in Miami South Beach, with trips up to Port St. Lucie and Osceola County Stadium for spring training games. The only place I KNOW I want to go to is this sandwich shop I'm absolutely addicted to: http://miami.citysearch.com/profile/250471...ndwicherie.html Which is approximately where I'm staying. I will have no car except Sat/Sun to drive up to the games. Not interested in getting Japanese, Chinese, or Indian down there, constantly getting the good stuff up here in NY. Would really like to know what the favorite haunts of fellow egulleteers are given those conditions, from cheap to mid-luxe Would appreciate your advice!!

If you're in the mood, some of the Chinatown bakeries have really yummy air-light spongecakes...

That place, on a Friday night.. I'd suggest going there at 7, putting your name down, finding a nice bar, because they'll call your cell phone when your table is ready, which could be an hour Totto 4ever

Last time I went there, 2/13, when I came home I wrote a long detailed review just to post on here, but when I awoke the next morning my Powerbook was frozen and I lost it. I'll try to write something quickly up here - I'm surprised to see this place on some "cheap eats" lists, because it's not cheap and not a cheap place. However, I would never call it expensive either. If you are not drinking you can easily fill your stomach for $30-40 a person while ordering a wide variety of things. I LOVE this place. I don't love their reservation policy, which is none after 6 or 7pm. I've been going there since it first opened a couple of years ago as I knew someone who worked in the kitchen. The word has finally gotten out and the wait can now be painful Thurs-Sat, I ought to go back on weekdays only. This is one of very few restaurants that I step into and feel that I am transported to Tokyo (where I have lived). From the cloth hanging door to the diminuitive furniture, door frames, plates and cups, ohashi, everything is pretty damn authentic, as is the decor. The staff is all Japanese and is trained very carefully, as you can tell by the care that everything is cooked with. And the PalmPCs that take the order rings true of the Japanese authenticity that I took for granted over in the Land of the Rising Sun. Of course the yakitori is incredibly good here - tsukune (their best dish), liver, chicken skin, cartilage, mune, asparagus and vegetables, wrapped with chicken, all prepared amazingly well. They always have specials which sell out early but which are also all delicious. I heartily recommend the chicken sashimi - it's totally safe I've eaten it dozens of times. All the fresh-killed chicken here just tastes that much better, and my friend who worked in the kitchen described to me how the chickens arrived still warm-blooded. There are various donburi and rice-based dishes such as yakionigiri, ochazuke, chaohan, etc., and those are all delicious and 100% authentic as well. Tofu dishes, salads, and vegetable dishes are also abundant and again, delicious and totally authentic. This is the real deal. You should fill up on those if you are concerned with the cost. But with very few dishes exceeded 10 or 12 dollars, and the yakitori priced affordably at $1.50 and up, it's tough to get a big tab here unless you start ordering bottles of nishonshu (Japanese sake) or shochu. The draft beer here also tends to be delicious; for some reason beer out of a frosted ceramic mug tastes that much better. I really hope they can keep this level up over the long haul. Oftentimes, a restaurant like this can keep their authenticity going only until the non-Japanese outnumber the Japanese customers and they have to start to alter their tastes and menu to cater to diners who are less adventurous or concerned with authenticity. I don't know how to say this without coming off to some as elitist or snobby, but it happens; consider how many sushi chefs/owners are a few spicy tuna rolls from losing their passion...

Thanks everyone... okay, so I'm pretty sure that this will be a safe bet for dinner Friday... unless raji can woo me away with his photos and report from his dinner tonight at Aburiya Kinnosuke, which I had also been considering before I came across Grand Sichuan Eastern. My only hesitation on AK is price... I'm sure GS would be cheaper? If it's not, then I think it's a toss up. Would appreciate any other suggestions for a good, yet affordable, dinner for three in Midtown East on Friday night. u.e. ← Alas I showed up to Aburiya Kinnosuke at 7pm last night, and it was 30 minutes wait for a table, on a Monday night! I thought their policy was the same as Totto's (same owner) so I didn't not make a reservation, but didn't think I needed one on a Monday night! I was down to wait, but my companion was starving so we went to Hizen a few doors down. HOWEVER, I would still HEARTILY recommend the place. If you are not drinking you can easily fill yourself for $30-$40 a person and try a wide variety of stuff, it's just a matter of order some more voluminous dishes, i.e. with rice and/or noodles, rather than smaller-size dishes of tender fish and meat... Chinese will always be cheaper than Japanese unless it's a real luxe place.

What a nightmare. Almost as bad as these morons waiting for a cupcake Is there a low-stress good time to go, similar to Century 21 EARLY morning? Makes me miss when Manhattan was dangerous...

Yeah I think if most people here knew that, like Pizza, consumption within a 7 minute window is key, you would see them devour them like nipponjin... until then however... it's soggy noodles...

Hiroyuki - i think most people would associate normal yabusoba or perhaps inakasoba with soba. I do love somen during the summer.... I can slurp with the best of them but only after living in Tokyo... most people I see here eat it more like pasta...

Their portions are that small? ← Not at all. I would've suggested Honmura An to start, except that it's nowhere near Grand Central, but I do think it is the best soba in the city. ← I haven't been there in years. From what I remember it was very small portions but the best... is it more substantial now?

I think most of the seasonal and "specials" will be uber luxe vs. the regular menu...some of the more unique whitefish - always the upper grade toros, certain kanpachi, certain anago, will always be costlier... fresh mackeral and uni, usually there will be a special oyster on the menu, softshell crab.... I had Sawagani at Sugiyama..... yummmmmm

Last time I went there we had an omakase and it worked out to about $150 pp. We probably went a bit more luxe. A lot the nigiri you mention aren't the types they charge extra for, so I think if you stay away from the real luxe stuff you'll be totally fine.... BTW I love Ankimo. So much.