Originally Posted by robyng

I wouldn't kill myself if I couldn't get the reservation. I recall a discussion here a ways back where someone mentioned that the primary reason Saito seemed so popular was that it was the least expensive of the 3 star Michelin sushi restaurants. Then someone else mentioned that the menu you got for this price excluded certain things that are included in other restaurant menus. I can't remember the name for these extra courses - but it was similar to the word "tsunami" IIRC (perhaps someone else can help me out with the right word). Once you added these things to a Saito menu - you were talking about more or less the same price that you'd pay at other high end sushi establishments.

IOW - if you can't get a reservation at Saito - get one elsewhere. Perhaps one of the 2 Jiros (both discussed at length here). Sushi Yoshitake - Sushi Mizutani? Or find a place that isn't on the radar screen (more than a fair number of restaurants in Tokyo don't care to be listed in Michelin) and make it your own .

My personal opinion about sushi in Japan is that you will pretty much get the same varieties of seafood in most higher end restaurants at any given time (chefs are kind of fanatic about sourcing the best seasonal ingredients) - and that the differences between chefs/restaurants (at least in terms of food) are too subtle for all but experts to appreciate (I am very far from being an expert). Finally - dining experiences can be very variable depending on the luck of the draw. We lucked out at Mizutani because we wound up being seated next to a bilingual couple from New York. They helped us to exchange words with the chef (who pretty much doesn't speak a word of English). And - since the husband was a chef who had worked at sushi restaurants - he helped us to understand a lot of the (unfamiliar) fish we were eating. Robyn