thelobster

The food at Bikini is very good. It's "modern Catalan" cuisine from a serious Spanish chef. Dinner is around Y7000 with drinks.

I also had a fantastic meal at Ryugin recently (the same night as Peter Green, in fact), and I won't duplicate the excellent descriptions here other than a few quick comments. I actually ended up walking past the actual restaurant a few times. I saw a red exterior and the kanji for dragon so I naturally assumed it was a Chinese restaurant! Unpasturized I'm sure you meant to say. Does it happen to match any of the sake I had? (click for photo and scroll to bottom). I thought our sommelier did a great job, or at least his choices corresponded to my tastes once we asked him to take over the recommendations. He even gave us small pre-tastings of a couple of his more offbeat choices, in case we didn't like them, which was thoughtful. He also had a good selection of several vintage koshu sake to go with dessert. All in all, my meal was much better than I expected, and I had high expectations. I think I expected something very flashy and exciting, so I was pleased to additionally find substance beneath the flash.

I think it hit its peak this year around the very end of March, but it all depends on the weather of course. And it's different for different parts of the country. Oh, and nice pictures, Robyn!

I was helping friends make last-minute reservations during cherry-blossom season this year for Kyoto, and even two weeks before the date there were simply no rooms to be found in Kyoto through the online booking sites. So I don't think individual rooms actually change their prices, but the more reasonably priced ones tend to be booked far in advance.

I had high hopes, but actually looking at their list of nominees for Japan, there are some pretty surprising entries: Arms Canal Cafe Dexee Diner (Shibuya) Frames (Daikanyama) Homework's (Minato) Junkadelic Jyu (Shibuya) Pizzeria Bar D'Oro The Tavern (Yokohama) What the Dickens Zest Cantina Burger joints, British-style pubs, designer cafes. None of them bad, but still odd choices for "best restaurant in Asia." (Sorry to return to the tangent.)

Kozue obviously. Nondescript view + "best meal of my life" = Park Hyatt. (Although I've been wrong before!)

You're right around the corner from Jangara Ramen if you just want something quick. There's also a nearby branch of Zanmai Sushi, which is open 24 hours a day. If you want something more substantial, you can try chanko-nabe at Waka. Here's a link that might help(hit the "late-night" filter).

Thanks for the great report! I haven't been to Sant Pau in a couple of years, and it's good to hear they're keeping up their standards. I especially liked their micro-menu and their desserts and cheeses. By the way, Pierre Gagnaire (another two-star spot in town) also does a very ambitious dessert menu. I'll look forward to future installments of your report.

I was going to mention the early Shiodome closing times too, especially on a Sunday. It might be a good idea to double-check Sunday closing times, and have a backup plan. (And that's good to hear about Silom Soi 9 - it looked pretty good but I haven't eaten there yet.) I'll second the wishes - have a great long weekend!

En in Shiodome City Center and Seasoner in Caretta are a couple of my favorites in the neighborhood. Also, Tateru Yoshino in your hotel has an attached wine bar with lower prices than the restaurant.

I've never heard of it, but then again there are over 60,000 restaurants in town, so it's hard to keep track. But FWIW, the restaurant got fairly mediocre ratings in both Asku.com and Tabelog, two restaurant sites with user ratings. I guess the Michelin inspectors weren't the only ones to miss the charms of this place. You might also want to check out Ryugin and Tapas Molecular Bar if you're interested in cutting-edge cuisine.

Ah, thanks! I haven't been to Yamaya in awhile but I'll check. Actually it's even instant-er than that - you drop the perforated plastic bag in a pot of boiling water, then you pull it out a few minutes later and open it. No need to measure the water!

Did you happen to notice if they have the really easy-to-cook couscous that comes in a thin plastic bag that you drop directly into boiling water? That was my favorite kind, but the other supermarkets in town stopped carrying it.

Bikkuri Sushi lived up to their name the last time I was there - I was totally ripped off. I would not recommend walking into any strange sushi restaurant in Tokyo without an introduction, as pricing policies can be completely arbitrary. For moderately priced sushi I'd recommend Kakiya, an upscale kaiten-sushi shop. Prices are higher than the average kaiten, but not outrageous, and the quality is good. Also, places near Tsukiji Market like Zanmai have good value for money.

Sammy's Ebisu Plaza in Namba, Osaka is an amusing food theme park with several different okonomiyaki stands to try out; if that's too involved, try the nearby main branch of Chibo for okonomiyaki. (Click on restaurant names for links.) Tori No Mai in nearby Namba Parks has good, accessible yakitori and tofu. They also have branches around town, try the Bento.com Osaka page for more. For a good all-around Japanese-food experience I'd recommend one or more of the fancier izakayas up in Umeda: En, Maimon, Sun in Hilton Plaza, or the 27-floor Sun in nearby Phoenix Tower. And if you want to try Okinawan, there's Katsuri or the more down-to-earth Okinawa restaurant. If you have time for a day-trip to Kyoto, spring for a vegetarian temple lunch at Izusen or Shigetsu, then stop off at Kyoto Ramen Alley or Kokkekokko yakitori at Kyoto station on your way back.

You're welcome. And good luck!

In Motomachi I can recommend the Retro Cafe, with a nice international menu (Japanese and European) and good sake. Link And Colombo (Link) has good Sri Lankan food.

Generally it refers to furnishings, service, cleanliness, atmosphere, price, and value for money. Apparently it's very unusual for a three-star restaurant to get only one fork, as Sukiyabashi Jiro and Sushi Mizutani did.

Ryugin got two stars. Tapas Molecular Bar is fantastic, and well worth a visit in my opinion. Here's the full list.

Mist (http://www.bento.com/rev/2484.html) in Omotesando Hills does nice ramen. Waka in Shibuya is much closer than the Roppongi branch.

Izusen has a nice little outdoor seating area, although I'd suggest requesting it in advance when you reserve.

Maybe for the same reason people want to eat Italian food in the US. Tokyo is a sophisticated international city and it has many world-class Italian restaurants.

La Bettola is often full but I'd guess you should be able to book a table if you call at least a few days in advance. The food is good, but they seem to offer only full-course menus (or at least that was true last time I was there), and it's usually more food than I feel like eating. In general very few restaurants in Tokyo will be so busy that it takes weeks to get a table, but good places do fill up (and even not-so-good places fill up on Fridays), so it's usually worth it to call in advance rather than wait in line or wander the streets looking for an alternative. (And often you'll get a better table if you've reserved.)

Stefano in Kagurazaka has excellent food, with an emphasis on Venetian-style, and good prices, although the tables are on the small side. Il Pinolo Due in Marunouchi does good-quality budget Italian and they have a big wine list with all bottles priced at either Y4500 or Y6500. I haven't been to Ferraro in Ochanomizu in awhile, but I've had excellent Northern Italian cooking there. Rusticanella in Akasaka might be a little above the price range you mentioned, but they have a serious Italian kitchen. L'Estasi in Azabu-Juban is a casual restaurant with a serious wine list from the Michelin-starred Sadler restaurant in Milan; it's probably more expensive than others on the list but worth mentioning.

There are thousands. Any preference for price range? Neighborhood?