SG-

Too much of a board! what will you be hacking up whole lifestock carcasses?!?!!

Price wise, LA offers great value even Nozawa. I pay the same amount here in Philadelphia for places that would not be considered edible elsewhere I've was there for the first time (so take my comments with a grain of salt) this past summer and thought the fish and rice especially were very good. What really annoyed me though was how insistent he was on drowning everything with ponzu sauce especially early on in the meal. Really numbed my tongue and after a while couldn't tell what I was eating. The omakase meal didn't really produce anything exciting, everything was your vanilla type fishes tuna, albacore, chu-toro, yellowtail really defeatedfthe purpose. The other pet peeve of mine was how he insist on packing the rice sooo loosely that my shoyu plate was filled with rice by the time I was done. If I were to go again I would probably sit on a table and order off the menu instead. Oh yeah no fresh wasabi either. Here I go ethnic profiling again, all white people at the restaurant. On the other hand one of my best experiences to date here in the US was at Sushi Shibucho 590 West 19th St. Costa Mesa http://www.chowhound.com/california/boards...ages/40281.html

Interesting point, I think ethnic profiling IS more reliable for cuisine outside of it source country. You confirmed the same point I was trying to make, perception of what is authentic for a particular cuisine (asian or western) may not be as rigourous outside of it's country of origin. I agree with an earlier post that if you do see items in Japanese that you don't recognize (ie. ankimo, kohada, kazanuko etc.) you're off to a good start and the place probably holds some promise. If they have freshly grated wasabi whoaaa ....serious stuff.

Let me ask you this... who would you trust to recommend a burger joint, Japanese or American? Here in Philly there are a couple of Chinese restaurants that are packed and receive excellent ratings from respected local American reviewers, chowhounders, egulleters, zagats etc. I've been to them and my conclusion is that it's not real chinese food just glorified overpriced americanized chinese food. Crap is crap no matter how well you dress it up. And it shows too, there are usually no Asians in the place for good reason. Likewise in good chinese restaurants you hardly see any Americans because many are unaccustomed to the the authentic versions or find the ingredients too unusual. The much ballyhooed Iron Chef's restaurant, Morimoto here in Philly. Hopelessly overpriced for average fare, but it's packed to the gills night after night. And the many of the reviews are a joke, "Best sushi this side of Japan" etc. There are sublte nuances one does not appreciate/understand if you're not immersed in the culture or have been exposed to the variations that exist in the country of origin. Just look at the obsessive discussions about simple foods like burgers, pizza etc here in the US. Pose the same questions at say someone from China and you'll likely get a blank stare. That's not to say I won't take the opinion of any American when looking for a Japanese restaurant. It all depends on the depth of experience of the individual. What it boils down to is unless the restaurant is frequented by 80% die hard, hardcore American sushi eaters it probably ain't all it's cracked up to be. What's the likelihood of that?

Classic case of the japanese clientele knowing something that the americans don't. Just like Sushi Nozawa in LA, highly recommended by most locals but when you get there quality is good but overall experience is geared towards a non-japanese clientele.

You'll probably be merely satisfied but will find it a good value at $55 for the 3 course prix fixe which also includes coffee and dessert.

Just recently installed a 460CFM 10"H/30"W viking hood for $700. So far after 3 weeks it's held up quite well in a variety of cooking styles (wok frying, curries, steaks etc) . For the money, I've been happy and covers 70% of my needs. Cooking smells have been reduced to a minimum and tolerable level. Looking back, to allay ALL fears probably a 1000+cfm 36" unit over my 30" range would be ideal to vent all steam and smoke overflows my current unit does not handle. By the way I had a vent a hood 300cfm unit installed by mistake prior to the Viking which surprisingly was not as sturdy and did a fairly poor job for the money $630.

Just got back a few days ago and thought the following was pretty good. Canoe House at Mauna Lani - great food and wonderful setting by the beach Roy's at Waikaloa - enjoyed my meal very much, seems to fare much better in hawaii than the branches on the mainland. Hakone @ Hapuna Prince - if you must have Japanese. Kamaelua Deli in Waimea on Rt 19 across from Parker Ranch Grill - for some cheap and extremely huge portions of mix plate rice. tasty but not at all fancy local spot good for when you're tired of too much rich food.

both. Personally I find that most of the best stuff that's not overpriced tends to be in the grittiest / realistic market environments. ie. chinatown, italian market or other wet markets in general (ie fulton). Once you move them to more sterile environments like RTM and Whole foods the clientele tends to get watered down and prices go up in tandem. In general fish quality for regular consumers in philly is dismal, ever tried shopping for diver scallops ?? Usually when I go shopping I have to trek through several destinations chinatown, korean markets, whole foods etc depending on what I'm looking for. Some recent gems were live spot shrimp, bass, cod, manila clams and blood cockles in Chinatown; live geoduck, cockles, pre shelled fresh sea urchin at Han Ah Rheum, skate and mullet at Vietnamese markets in South Philly, generally paying an arm and a leg for wild salmon at whole foods. The other alternative is mail order which I am still not ready to make the plunge.

Hey, do cilantro, le bouchon, chinoiz have websites. Where is le bouchon located. What's good in the way of Japanese these days? I only know of kanpachi as being the reliable favourite.

They have a bad habit of destroying their hawker fare by adding sweets sauces. Very puzzling why they insist on doing this.

Okay finally made my way to the local Sur La Table store here in greater philly today, they're the only ones in the area that carry messermeister. Cutting edge definitely looks more respectable than wusthof but overall the finish still pales in comparison to the better japanese knives (global is not in this category unfortunately in my opinion). Have not got a chance for an upclose view of eberhard schaaf which is supposedly the best built german knife. At this point thinking of giving up on german knives altogether and just build my collection exclusively of japanese knives, the are just way superior be it stainless or carbon steel!! For those who have not handled nenoxs, suisin, mac, masamoto, glestain, misono etc, you have to try them out at least once and compare to the europeans. Ony drawback is that no one I know of makes the super functional german shape. Might have to resort to a custom made from Bob Kramer. For current owners how do they compare to the likes of say a nenox?

based on the price it could be this fish the marble goby? flesh is soooo silky and smooth almost like tofu... http://filaman.uni-kiel.de/Photos/Pictures...76&what=species

I am familiar with kinome but would never have thought that sanshou pods come from the same plant. Thanks

Not Vetri, can't seem to ever get reservations and I called up over a month in advance this time round too!!!

Which restaurant is Terence going to be in at the ritz carlton and what's Shazad's background?

intestines, gizzard, liver, chicken skin... me sauce guy although depends too on what item I'm eating, togarashi a must on everything. Also recently got hooked on sansho pepper putting it on everything

WOW, this is a mighty bold statement! Care to elaborate on why you think so? Any other HCR devotees care to chime in on "Malay Satay Hut's" quality compared to the hardcore places in Asia?

One restaurant recently featured on the Cook's Tour had me salivating, excellent looking chinese style seafood in a no frills destination Sin Huat Restaurant 659/661 Geylang Road Lorong 35 http://www.foodtv.com/food/show_tb/episode...6_21993,00.html Any Singaporeans care to chime in on this place?

interesting list of restaurants although some left me puzzled, $30 for Buca Di beppo doesn't seem that much of a bargain...

My perfect chicken rice meal must consist of the following: - mix of dark and white meat, poached chicken - side of liver and crunchy gizzards - parboiled bean sprouts with light soya sauce - accompaniment of chili sauce, ginger and thick dark soya sauce. On thing I did notice missing in all of Fat Guy's pictures was a topping of cilantro on the chicken. Use to hate them when I was younger but now just love them for dipping into the chili sauce and soya sauce. By the way is it common to have thick Soya sauce (sweet?) over the chicken in singapore as in the first pic?

I thought damascus knives fall under kasumi forging method which involves the blending of metals with different degrees of hardness. This eases sharpening but does not hold it's edge as long. Whereas the most expensive knives are honyaki forged which is a single hard unblended steel folded many times, similar to japanese swords . Benefit being, a knife that holds an edge longer but is difficult to sharpen without experience. My understanding anyway.... http://www.suisin.co.jp/English/japanesekn...information.htm http://www.japanese-knife.com/Merchant2/me...Code=HAR-KA1xxx (aritsugu hongasumi damascus yanagi)

look for a ice dried longan beverage stand around the mid point section of the nite market on Petaling street for a refreshing beverage, great break from the heat and humidity. Also look out for stalls selling spicy roasted caramalized squid, excellent snacks.

Anyone know of a good sushi book, all the one's published in english sold here in the US aren't very detailed or informative at all, more for beginners really. In desperation bought one published in Japanese at kinokuniya, only prob is I can't read the darn thing but just looking at all the pretty pictures was worth the $50!!! Is there a good sushi book in english someone can recommend that I can can order from amazon.jp?

My aunt use to bring me there everytime I was in Singapore back in the early 90s, never did seem all that crowded though but thought the food was good. Is it still popular?