Staff:
Cindy Yoon
Director, Asia Society Online

Recommendation:
Mie Japanese Restaurant
196 Second Ave
(btw 13th and 14th)
(212) 674-7060

Type of Food: Japanese

Favorite Menu Items:
I always order the tofu appetizer Soboro Ankake. On the menu it says it has a "special sauce" that is really delicious. They won't tell me the exact recipe, but the dish consists of lightly battered pieces of tofu served with a semi-sweet sauce. It is much more interesting than the standard Agedashi tofu at most Japanese restaurants.

The fish is very fresh so you can't really go wrong with the sushi and sashimi. They often have specials and dinner combos that are worth trying. I usually order their Tonkatsu Oruna Don. The tonkatsu dinner is one of the best deals around- a generous portion of crispy and lightly battered lean pork cutlet, excellent Japanese-style potato salad, warm miso soup, green salad with ginger carrot dressing, and of course, the homemade bitter green tea ice cream.

The only other place that I really love to go for tonkatsu is in midtown at:

Katsu-Hama
11 E. 47th St.
Midtown East
(212)758-5909

It is a no-frills place but completely filled with Japanese people so you know it's good. People don't go there for sushi, they go for the tonkatsu. It's excellent and is served with a great radish salad with a delicious carrot dressing.

What kind of occasion would you recommend this restaurant for?
The prices at Mie are not extremely cheap but not outrageous. You'll spend about $15-20 on an entrée and about $5-8 on appetizers. So it could be good for a casual dinner or a nice place to bring out-of-towners who want to try some local sushi places. It gets busy on weekends but is still quiet enough to have conversations.

How would you describe the atmosphere of this restaurant?
It's a very warm little basement restaurant in the East Village. The service is good and I recommend sitting in the dining area to the right as you enter, because it is much more cozy. They also have very comfortable tatami cushions to sit on at the tables. The owner is always there wearing a bow-tie and the staff is very friendly.

In general what else do you like about this restaurant?
I like that it has a female sushi chef and is one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in town.

How did you come across this restaurant?
My friend and I wanted to meet up for some tonkatsu, and by mistake we went to Mie, thinking it was another restaurant. It turned out to be so good that it became a favorite.

Other comments:
The combo dinners are often big enough to share with a friend.