Le Miu - LES Japanese

Had the delicious rock shrimp on salad followed by the vegetarian sushi.
High quality fresh food. Also the broiled dishes on the neighbor's tables looked and smelled yummy.
What a pity that the interior design is so uninspired! The bar looks horrible and the baseball game on the flatscreen is a turn off.

http://www.lemiusushi.com/

Yakitori Totto

So, one of the Japanese list has been tested....
http://www.torysnyc.com/
the one on 55th

very authentic, mostly expats, beautiful smokey athmoshere, the food was very good

the ones you should not miss...
ASPARA MAKI: asparagus wrapped in thinly sliced chicken breast
MISO DARE MUNE NIKU: chicken breast topped w/ scallion and special miso paste
SHISHITOU TSUKUNE: chicken meat ball stuffed into jap. green pepper
SHISHITO: japanese green pepper + spicy bean paste w/ miso or ponzu

not terrific:
NAGAIMO: japanese sticky yam w/ soy sauce
KAWA: skin

West Village PERILLA

Not cheap, but very subtle taste range... Opened in May 2007 -- the owner Dieterle won Top Chef (poor fellow).... but nevertheless seems to know what quality means.

Perilla Restaurant
9 Jones Street (btw. West 4 and Bleecker Sts.)
New York, NY 10014
(212) 929-6868

What we drank:
Cava, SP Raventos I Blanc Brut ‘L’Hereu’ NV
nice taste, lots of bubbles, great value for 33

What we ate:
Peekytoe Crab Salad
avocado, mango & ginger dressing

the crab tasted of... fresh crab, not lemon, not fish, delicious...
Garden Pea Salad
wasabi peas, pea sprouts & pickled red onion vinaigrette
fresh and crisp, nice idea to get wasabi beans instead of croutons...

Red Snapper, the edamame croquette was not delicious everything else was...

side order
Chinese Broccoli & Baby Bok Choy
garlic chives & watercress caramelized pork belly & oyster sauce
very convincing

Goat Milk Ice Cream

Tried Vanilla Flake - a dream....

http://www.goatmilkicecream.com/index.php

Japanese in Manhattan

Japanese I have tried and would go back anytime:
Soba-ya www.sobaya.com
Omen, Yasuda, Matsuri, Morimoto, Takahachi, Izakaya Ten

The one I am not too fond of:
Sasabune

The ones I like to try:
Nobu 57 / 40 W 57th Street (betw 5th and 6th) 212 757 3000
Torishin / 1193 1st Ave betw 64 and 65 / Yakitori, solliesu, drink Kuro-shichimi pepper, organic chicken 212 988 8408
Torys / 248 E 52nd (betw 2nd and 3rd) / Yakitori and Okinawa kitchen 212 813 1800 www.torysnyc.com
Momoya / 185 7th Ave (at 21st) / healthy and affordable, spicy red crab cake, steamed vegetables, black sesame ice cream 212 989 4466
Cha-an / 230 E 9th (2nd and 3rd Ave) tea house with healthy creative meals, sakura flan. Traditional tea ceremony on reservation 212 228 8030
Gyu-kaku / 805 Third Ave 2nd floor (betw 50 and 51st) BBQ at the table Kobe beef www.gyu-kaku.com
Aburiya Kinnosuke / 213 E 45th (betw 2nd and 3rd) robata grill, very authentic
Le Miu / 107 Ave A (betw 6th and 7th) / sushi and sashimi / 212 473 3100 www.lemiusushi.com
Uminoie / 86 E 3rd Street (betw 1st and 2nd) / Japanese homestyle dishes / Goto udon

Balsamico Divino

One of the best balsamicos worldwide FT says, also agriturismo in Reggio Emilia www.cavazzone.com