Types of Japanese eateries in New York

[MRX]

Riki is an Izakaya - Sakagura is way too high end to be an izakaya.

Riki is great, but I am not sure if I have been banned from there - I am normally the sane one if people have too much to drink, I keep them in line (teaching skills combined with old bartending skills). Having worked in resturants and bars, I also totally emphasize with the people who work them, so I hate it when someone with me is difficult towards them. That being said...one night I apparently was just a wee bit "toasted" when I arrived to meet up with another group of friends who were drinking there...after that well, I'm not saying.

[emmapeel]

Might donburi be considered a specialty? Haven't seen any great examples in NY.

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There is a restaurant, Yodo of Japan, which is easily overlooked because of it's location and odd hours. (It services the 9-5 crowd and closes at 2:30pm and opens again for dinner.) It has the best Tendon I've had in town (and I've tried plenty.) I have never had a bad meal there. They also have reasonably priced, fantastic combinations at lunch. I had dinner there once, but the menu was so authentically Japanese, I didn't know what to order. Since then, they have changed the menu, so the dinner and lunch menu is the same.

[Laura B]

I realize that this is of questionable authenticty as true Japanese cuisine, but are there any hibachi/teppanyaki places in Manhattan other than Benihana? Not necessarily where they cook at the table like at Benihana, but that at least serve that style of food. Any suggestions?

[M.X.Hassett]

Saka Gura http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...56&hl=saka+gura

[Todd36]

I realize that this is of questionable authenticty as true Japanese cuisine, but are there any hibachi/teppanyaki places in Manhattan other than Benihana?  Not necessarily where they cook at the table like at Benihana, but that at least serve that style of food.  Any suggestions?

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Japanese versions of Korean BBQ are currently becoming popular, Gyu-Kaku in Cooper Square is a recent example. Teppanyaki just doesn't seem to be a NYC thing. My 1968 NYT Restaurant Guide mentions a number of places that served Teppanyaki, all gone. Teppanyaki seems to have turned into "Japanese Steak-House" food, it's all over the south, on the outskirts of places like Charleston and Charlotte. You can also find it in surburban NJ. An interesting old book I have on dining in Tokyo, The Guide to Japanese Food and Restaurants by Marcus and Plimpton, has a chapter on Teppenyaki and lists 6 or so recomended places in Tokyo. The book is from 1984, and has a big testimonal from Craig Claiborne on the cover. It may not be the most classic Japanse cooking, but at least at one time, it existed in Japan.

[Laura B]

Japanese versions of Korean BBQ are currently becoming popular, Gyu-Kaku in Cooper Square is a recent example.  Teppanyaki just doesn't seem to be a NYC thing.  My 1968 NYT Restaurant Guide mentions a number of places that served Teppanyaki, all gone.  Teppanyaki seems to have turned into "Japanese Steak-House" food, it's all over the south, on the outskirts of places like Charleston and Charlotte.  You can also find it in surburban NJ.  An interesting old book I have on dining in Tokyo, The Guide to Japanese Food and Restaurants by Marcus and Plimpton, has a chapter on Teppenyaki and lists 6 or so recomended places in Tokyo.  The book is from 1984, and has a big testimonal from Craig Claiborne on the cover.  It may not be the most classic Japanse cooking, but at least at one time, it existed in Japan.

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Todd, thank you for all of that information. I moved to NYC a little more than a year ago from Chapel Hill, NC, and you are indeed correct, the Japanese steak house style is all over the south. I enjoyed it and realized recently that I just never see anywhere that serves that style of food here in the city. I suppose I will just give Benihana a try the next time I have a craving for hibachi steak!

[alacarte]

I'm a fan of Japanese pastry shops and sandwich shops too -- the ones that sell neatly trimmed (read: no crusts) salmon sandwiches as well as sweet buns stuffed with corn, ham, or sweet bean paste. I know there are several in Chinatown, and a couple on 41st Street between Madison and 5th (just below the NY Public Library).

My favorite is Panya (at least I think that's the name), on 11th St. between 2nd and 3rd. It's tiny, has a sidewalk cafe, and sells yuzu truffles and other Japanese-styled sweets.

[raji]

I realize that this is of questionable authenticty as true Japanese cuisine, but are there any hibachi/teppanyaki places in Manhattan other than Benihana?  Not necessarily where they cook at the table like at Benihana, but that at least serve that style of food.  Any suggestions?

←

Japanese versions of Korean BBQ are currently becoming popular, Gyu-Kaku in Cooper Square is a recent example. Teppanyaki just doesn't seem to be a NYC thing. My 1968 NYT Restaurant Guide mentions a number of places that served Teppanyaki, all gone. Teppanyaki seems to have turned into "Japanese Steak-House" food, it's all over the south, on the outskirts of places like Charleston and Charlotte. You can also find it in surburban NJ. An interesting old book I have on dining in Tokyo, The Guide to Japanese Food and Restaurants by Marcus and Plimpton, has a chapter on Teppenyaki and lists 6 or so recomended places in Tokyo. The book is from 1984, and has a big testimonal from Craig Claiborne on the cover. It may not be the most classic Japanse cooking, but at least at one time, it existed in Japan.

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I hate to burst everyone's bubble but Teppanyaki as Americans know it is for the most part an invention of Rocky Aoki, owner of Benihana, who added the showy chefs who are of varying asian descent but usually not Japanese. You CAN go to a restaurant with a grill in front of you in Japan, but usually you do it yourself and you are making okonomiyaki or monjyayaki. For some reason, Teppanyaki is wildly popular in Taiwan.

I'm a New Yorker who was living in Tokyo so I can expound further, but just off the top of my head I would divy up restaurants as following (lemme know what needs translation), because this is pretty much how it goes down in Japan and in NY is just an export of that...

Sushi

Soba/Somen

Ramen

Donburi

Bento

Kushiyaki/Yakitori

Yakiniku

Shabu-Shabu/Nabe

Chuuka (Jap. chinese food)

Izakaya

Tonkatsu/Katsu

Okonomiyaki/Monjya/Takoyaki

Robata

Kaiseki

I could honestly keep on going... In Japan there are just so many different specialty type of restaurants, far too many to list here, and this is pretty much a Tokyo list let alone all the other areas... In the end, while you can roughly group them, and the layout of the restaurant and what tabletop hardware is involved groups them further... each place has their history and their specialties...

Edited October 19, 2005 by raji (log)

[Pan]

I'm a fan of Japanese pastry shops and sandwich shops too -- the ones that sell neatly trimmed (read: no crusts) salmon sandwiches as well as sweet buns stuffed with corn, ham, or sweet bean paste. I know there are several in Chinatown, and a couple on 41st Street between Madison and 5th (just below the NY Public Library).

My favorite is Panya (at least I think that's the name), on 11th St. between 2nd and 3rd. It's tiny, has a sidewalk cafe, and sells yuzu truffles and other Japanese-styled sweets.

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The name is right, but the location isn't. Courtesy of www.superpages.com:

Panya Bakery

10 Stuyvesant Street, New York, NY 10003

(212) 777-1930

Stuyvesant St. crisscrosses from below 9th to 10th, going precisely west to east from 3rd Av. to 2nd Av. It is the only street in Manhattan that actually goes due east/west according to the compass.

[alacarte]

oops!

thanks for the correction.

[prasantrin]

The Japanese magazine Kateigaho International had some articles in their Summer 2004 issue on Japanese restaurants in New York. Under the link for 21 Recommended restaurants, they list them under specialty (izakaya, soba, etc.).

And I just noticed yesterday (after receiving all the back issues of the magazine) that eatingwitheddie has an article in there! I couldn't find it on-line, though.

It's a beautiful magazine if you're interested in photography, and also if you're interested in traditional Japanese arts and crafts (though it does not specialize in those topics, they often highlight them).