I know some GREAT places for sushi and other Japanese cuisine, and I'd
like to share them with others that can offer their favorites as well.
I'd like this thread to become an ongoing guide to sushi bars and
Japanese food, much as several people have attempted on their websites.

NEW YORK

the best (and probably most expensive) imho

Masa - a spiritual experience for you, your stomach and your wallet -
the best
Sushi Yasuda - rice as an art form with perfect fish
Nobu - fun, fun fun 'til my daddy took my seafood away....
Hatsuhana (haven't been there in a while though)
Karuma Zushi (confirmed by Musashi)
Sushi Ann (i think this is the new name of a place that i used to go to
that might still be very good)
Sushiden (per Musashi)

and I hear now that Tomoe is supposed to be very good.

What do I look for that makes the above (esp. the first 3) so great?

quality, selection, flavor, balance and exoticism (or gastronomic
eroticism) it goes without saying that at these restaurants everything
is always fresh.

the quality of both the fish and the rice is outstanding - nothing
short of excellent. The nori is crisp, not soggy, sometimes they will
even toast it a bit just before serving it. the temperature of the
fish and the rice is correct, neither being too cold or too warm. I
prefer a little bit of warmth in the rice to warm the oils in the fish
and bring out a bit of extra flavor.

the selection is broad - not just your usual sushi roll fare by a long
shot. at a place like yasuda you may be lucky enough to try 12 types
of toro in one sitting. But at any of these restaurants you should
always sit at the bar where you can communicate your interests to the
chef.

the flavor is outstanding - you can taste the reason for eating the
fish or vegetables. it's not just a texture with a little soy sauce,
it's melt in your mouth mmmmm mmmmmmmmm great!

the balance is correct - just the right amount of fish and rice so that
you get the benefit of both. proper balance enhances the flavors and
the overall experience.

the selection is exotic - not just a california roll, tuna and salmon,
but peekytoe crab, shirako, shiso (maybe not that exotic but I love
it), live scallop (with liver and kaibashira), live octopus, fresh
cooked eel (live in the restaurant), young yellowtail (inada) and so
much more. Someone asked what I meant by live because they hadn't had
anything live other than shellfish. Live is live or freshly killed.
The live octopus has been freshly killed and you can still see
movement, especially in contact with soy sauce or lemon. This is only
a chemical/biological reaction at the cellular level since the octopus
has been cut up already.

MASA Redux
and at Masa, just like his previous restaurant, Ginza Sushiko (now
Urasawa) in Beverly Hills, you sit at the sushi bar (if you are lucky
enough) and look at the water and the branches behind the chefs, listen
to the quiet of the room, smell the scents wafting from the charcoal
grill, feel the special wood used to create the bar itself - and you
know that you are in the Temple of Sushi/Japanese cuisine, a place that
allows you to concentrate on the purity of the experience in a way that
you can't elsewhere. (It's been a few months for me and I guess I'm
suffering from withdrawal.)


---------------------------------------------------


LOS ANGELES

MATSUHISA
If you are in LA, try the original Nobu - Matsuhisa, and if possible
sit at the sushi bar one time and in the Omikase room the next time.
The food is incredible, the chefs are great and the selection is
broader than at any other location. (Although the fruit plate at Nobu
London is the best fruit selection that I've ever had at Nobu, I don't
go to Nobu for fruit plates.)

URASAWA
Also, Ginza Sushiko is now Urasawa and it is run by Masa's sous chef
(Urasawa.) It is similar in style and expense to Masa, NY.

TORAFUKU and TAKAI
2 top picks of sushi chefs that I know in LA are Torafuku and Takai.
Try the homemade tofu at Torafuku and the fresh grilled alaskan king
crab (in season) at Takai. I never thought that I'd be thrilled by
tofu, but Torafuku turned me around. Takai is simply and consistently
excellent. I believe that Chef Takai once was a top chef at Nobu.
---------------------------

LAS VEGAS

NOBU
An excellent representative of the chain. Consistently excellent,
sometimes great.
------------------------------

CHICAGO

HEAT
I remember their first year they opened when I was lucky enough to go
several times and try, amongst other exotic items, about 20 types of
live shellfish that I had never seen live before (akagai, razor clam,
etc.), live baby eel served in a test-tube with ponzu sauce, live
shrimp, a live black rockfish or something similar (I don't remember
exactly) and live sea urchin served in the cleaned out shell.

They had most of the shellfish on display in ice and they have lots of
tanks for the other fish.

However, I'm afraid that their clientele didn't support them enough to
maintain their selection, but they still have live items every week it
seems and they send out emails to alert you. You can check them out
at:

www.heatsushi.com
---------------------

TOKYO

There are several restaurants at Tsukiji that people rave about. I'd
like to hear more.
---------------------

KYOTO

Has anybody been to Agatha in Kyoto? I'd love to hear a review, as
long as they are still open.



REVIEWS WANTED

I'd like to hear about some of the places that I haven't been to for a
while and some that I have heard about but have never tried, including:

NEW YORK
Hatsuhana (one of my old, old favorites but I haven't been there in
years)
Sushiden
Kuruma Zushi
Sushi Ann
Tomoe

LOS ANGELES
Sushi Sasabune
Nozawa Sushi (I almost got kicked out for asking for a bowl of rice.)

LAS VEGAS
Shintaro at the Bellagio - I had average quality sushi there for 10x
the cost that I would have paid for the same quality at an average
restaurant. They served me barely passable toro as their best o-toro.
This was in 2004.

MIAMI
Other than Nobu, I have been consistently disappointed with sushi here.
Has anyone found one that is truly top notch? So many are run by
non-Japanese and the quality of the food really shows that. They have
Chinese Sushi, Korean Sushi, Hispanic Sushi, American Sushi, but not a
lot of Japanese Sushi.

BOSTON
The best restaurant I've found for sushi is Ginza in Brookline, but it
isn't great. I've tried most of them. Maybe I missed one. Ginza in
Chinatown is almost as good, Oishi Sushi has been a disappointment on
almost every visit. You shouldn't serve a 4 ounce piece of fish on 4
ounces of chewy rice.