Japanese Culture in New York - Chopsticks NY

With its bright, eye-catching yellow exterior in the arty neighborhood of Alphabet City, Sushi Lounge offers Japanese cuisine in a casual atmosphere at unbelievably affordable prices. Their All Day Campaign is the best deal in town. When you order over $16 of sushi or sushi rolls, the price is sliced in half! You can choose from a variety of nigiri sushi and 36 kinds of rolls, and the Golden Dragon Roll and the Orange Dragon Roll (both $5.13 after discount) are steadily in demand. The menu also includes 12 signature ramen noodles and tapas dishes from their sister restaurant, Noodle Café Zen, and they will surely please any Japanese food cravings.

At the yakitori specialty restaurant, Tori Shin, you can enjoy items that are hard to find. The winter special, Tori Nabe (chiken hot pot) Course, allows you to appreciate various vegetables, char-grilled chicken meatballs and wings, thinly sliced chicken breast and chicken dumplings in a chicken stock. The course comes with pickled vegetables, an appetizer, and four yakitori skewers of your choice, and for finishing the course, you can choose zosui or ramen made in the delicious dashi from the nabe you have just enjoyed. There will be complimentary service of toshikoshi soba on Dec. 31 and ozoni on Jan. 1 and 2.

At the midtown east yakitori specialty restaurant, Torys, a bargain Torys Course began this winter. You cannot only appreciate their signature yakitori but also sample dishes from Torys’ substantial kitchen offerings. This $35 course meal can be ordered for 2 or more people, and for a table of 2, it includes a seven-type appetizer assortment, Ramen Salad with Sesame Dressing, a three-type Yakitori Skewer assortment (two each of chicken with spring onions, thigh and chicken meatball), Osaka style Pressed Sushi, miso soup of the day, dessert and your choice of wine, beer or a soft drink. This is the perfect meal, especially for a first-time experience at Torys.

Yakitori Totto is a homey restaurant where you can eat freshly roasted yakitori and homemade Japanese food. What you want to enjoy here is Jidori Donabe Gohan (rice with chicken in an earthenware pot). Cooked with chicken thigh, burdock root, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots and konnyaku, the steaming hot dish entices you with the aroma from the ingredients. Also make sure to try some popular standards such as the Fried Zucchini dressed in rice crackers, and the Spicy Chicken Salad served with homemade spicy sesame dressing. This winter, Totto is the place to go to warm your body from the inside.

Greenwich Grill's executive chef has developed a limited, 8-course seasonal menu to indulge all of your senses this holiday season. Their Christmas Course ($70) features exquisite dishes like a Sautéed Foie Gras appetizer, a delicate Sparkling Wine Granite palate cleanser, and a Kobe Beef Steak with Red Wine Sauce. The dishes, none of which appear in the restaurant's regular menu, capture the essence of “Tokyo-Italian” using ingredients and cooking techniques to pull out the full umami in Italian food. Served only from Dec. 21 to Dec. 25, this is a truly rare and limited treat, and reservations are highly recommended.

Friend House boasts a great selection of fine quality Asian cuisine at reasonable prices. They feature an extensive selection of Chinese cuisine as well as incredibly fresh sushi, sashimi and a number of original sushi rolls that are exceptionally palatable. The restaurant is also spacious and spreads over 2 floors, with a lounge area equipped with a full-service bar on the upper level which can be reserved for private parties of up to 100 people. Their menu is ideal for enjoying different types of cuisines under one roof without straining your wallet, and its sleek and romantic décor makes Friend House one of the top choices for a holiday party this winter.

If you’ve ever wondered how Chinese food can be lighter and healthier, try Saburi – a “wafu-chuka” restaurant searving Japanese style Chinese cuisine with a healthy twist. Perfect to try out for parties is the Wafu-Chuka Prix-Fixe ($35/person). It comes with an assortment of 5 appetizers, 1 dim sum dish, 2 entrées, a fried rice and a dessert, and each dish is portioned for your party size. The choices for your entrée are Kani-Tama, Qin Zhao Rosi, Ebi Chili, Subuta or Mabo Tofu which are all Saburi’s customer favorites and will satisfy any appetite. Reservations are required, and it can be ordered for a party of 4 and up.

Tue Thai Food, which opened this past June, is a place where you can experience authentic Thai home cooking. The menu the Thailand-born owner confidently offers includes exquisite Grilled Chicken, made with his mother’s recipe. They add lemongrass to eliminate the meat’s smell and marinate it in pineapple juice to make it soft before roasting it, and finally it is grilled right before being served. Turnip Cake, a Thai street food, and Basil Duck are also not to be missed. Appetizers begin at $4 and all rice noodle items are $10 or less. Prices are so reasonable you will want to go every day!