mtgtimewalker

I was told by the sous chef that's they use California-farmed white sturgeon caviar. Per se uses it as well in general except when you order extended menus, no surprise that Masa shares the same source as Thomas Keller I guess. oakapple, have you ever been served by Masa himself before? I have dined there a few times and always been served by sous chef Nick. I would love a chance to see how much difference in taste his technique would make, but I guess I have been labeled by the restaurant as the sous chef's guest...

Last time I was there the head chef told me that it is because the sous chef left during summer, so they don't have enough people to handle it. Nevertheless, they would still put together a nice tasting menu for you if you request on the spot (at least that's what I did).

Give Kyo Ya a try. They have one room with the recessed seating raji mentioned. It can seat 4 to 6 people and is generally reserved by Japanese business people, but if you tell them that it's a special occasion for 2 they will likely let you reserve it. As far as authenticity goes this is the place I consider the top kappou restaurant in NYC. Here is a link to a friend's blog from his last visit: http://blog.yam.com/breadbug/article/17344036 The blog is written in Chinese, so very likely that you won't be able to read it. Just let the pictures speak I guess. It also has the contact information of the place.

From the Yasuda website: "Yasuda is renowned as a tuna specialist—he typically offers seven or eight options for tuna" http://sushiyasuda.com/restaurant.html ← I have never once sat with Yasuda and been offered less than 8 options for tuna. In fact all of the times, he has offered more including cuts which were apparently not on the menu that is updated daily. ← I once sat in front Yasuda and had a tuna tasting omakase where he served me 15 pieces of sushi each made with a different part of tuna. Definitely one of the most unique sushi experiences I've ever had.

I had a discussion with Masato about the high-end sushiya in Tokyo. He said that while he was impressed by the quality of fish at Jiro, he thought the rice was just so-so. He also considers Mitzutani to be the best sushiya in Tokyo at the moment.

Just make sure you request to be seated at the bar. There are only two chefs there in charge of making nigiri, Uezu-san and the female chef (I never caught her name). You shouldn't have any problem getting served by Uezu-san unless the restaurant is crazy busy, in which case you might get served by the female chef instead. No need to worry though, in my opinion her skill is just as fine as Uezu-san.

Bu Pun Su, Regarding kaiseki, robyn already mentioned Kitcho, which has also been recommended to me by a friend of mine who had the chance to dine there. There are six Kitcho's in Tokyo and also six in Kyoto. However, the main ones in each city are known for being some of the most exclusive restaurants to get into, requiring you to be referred by a member to book a reservation. The branches of Kitcho are open the to public though. Perhaps some pictures would provide you a idea what you can expect. The blog is written in Chinese, but the pictures do justice: http://blog.yam.com/aegonfelix/article/12461336

Thank you for the wonderful review. I am a little surprised that you actually got to take photos of this meal as all the other reviews on Jiro I have read don't have any photos to accompany them (mainly due to having to eat it in time to appreciate its full flavor as you mentioned in your reivew). I am planning a trip to Japan at the end of the year and this is a must-visit on my list. Did you have the hotel concierge make reservation for you? Because I have heard they only let people who speak Japanese make reservation. I have also heard that Ono-san himself doesn't serve any first-timer or people who don't speak Japanese unless you are someone truly speical (like Robuchon when he first visited), hopefully my Japanese will be sufficient by then to request to be seated in front of him...

Thanks for the infor sharding. Are the dishes of the tasting menu you had the same as the ones listed on Zagat and Four Seasons website? Or do you happen to know if they change it on a regular basis?

Thinking about going to L'Atelier for solo dining as well. Does anyone know whether they'd let you order the tasting menu if you dine alone at the bar?

$400 per person before tax and gratuity. Since 20% graduity is automatically included, you would be looking at a little over $500 per person if you don't order any alcoholic beverage.

If you knew which sushi chefs I talk to, I doubt you'd be suspicious. "Consumption Roe Sea urchin roe is considered a delicacy in Japan, where it is primarily served raw in sushi. The Japanese name for sea urchin roe is uni." Most sea urchin roe buyers at Tokyo's Tsukiji Central Wholesale Market purchase for expensive traditional Japanese-style restaurants which demand extremely high quality in both appearance and taste. Although some imported sea urchin roe is currently shipped to Hokkaido and northern Honshu for processing, inferior quality has prevented an increased market share for imported roe. The demand for sea urchin roe is seasonal, with the largest amount being consumed in December. Sea urchin roe is marketed in different product forms: Fresh (nama uni), frozen (reito uni), baked and frozen (yaki uni), steamed (mushi uni), and salted (shio uni). Salting is used primarily for lower-grade roe. Two fermented urchin roe products are also popular in Japan: Neri uni (a blended urchin paste) and tsubi uni (a lumpy paste). Live Urchin Virtually no live imported sea urchin is sold at the Tsukiji Market. Buyers of live sea urchin usually prefer the domestic Japanese sea urchin which is limited in supply. Because of the difficulties in shipping and handling live, whole sea urchins, Japanese importers generally prefer to have the roe processed at the place of origin. " ← To add a little more details (from some interviews done with the distributors of uni in Tsukiji Market), besides shipping costs, the main reason why most uni are sold in boxes rather than whole is because quality control. The two advantages whole uni has over shelled uni are freshness (obviously) and lack of potassium alum (chemical product used during the shipping process of shelled uni to prevent it from melting). However, the bottom line is -- it is nearly impossible to tell the quality of an uni until you crack it open. Hence at the source, the uni would be shelled and then packaged according to their quality (and usually labelled accordingly). At big markets like Tsukiji, the distributors would double-check to ensure the quality of the uni match their labels and price listed. This system saves buyers the risk of buying bunch of whole uni of inconsistent qualities and ensures the consistency of quality control, at the cost of pure taste of uni (the use of potassium alum gives uni a bitter taste no matter how tiny the amount used, though in top-quality shelled uni you can hardly taste it unless your taste bud is ultra-sensitive). The reason why there is limited number of imported live uni in Japan is the same. There is just too much risk that the importers would end up with incosisent qualities on top of the already high shipping costs.