I'm traveling to Tokyo and Kyoto for the first time at the end of this month.

Can anyone recommend some good, reasonably priced restaurants in Tokyo and Kyoto that also have an English speaking staff or menus in English?

Yes, you can try our favorite in Shinjuku:

Restaurant Le Coup Chou
1-15-7 Nishishinjuku Shinjuku-ku Tokyo
Tel (03)3348-1610

The owner Sugitasan speaks some English and will explain the menu to you. The place is a treat if you want to mingle with the local Japanese and enjoy a great French meal at unbeatable prices for Tokyo. Tell Sugitasan that Peter from Hawaii sent you and he will make sure you have a good time. Sit on the cooks bar to observe. It's the best seats in the house, imho.
Patience.....

Aloha!

for domestic beef, go have the teppan lunch at the okura hotel in tokyo. great bargin, excellent service, out of this world beef, great view.

I am not an expert like hawaiiantraveler or kuranosuke but I do really like Seryna or Mon Cher Ton Ton for Japanese teppanyaki.

http://www.seryna.co.jp/en/index.htm...f57d34a2b74560

HT & Ken,

Chef Sakai from "Iron Chef" is coming to Bangkok soon. Ken you're interested?

hanuman, nice site. will check it out when next in tokyo.

chef sakai, he has been here a few times. when will he be there, and whats the venue?

2 days of cooking at the Maduzi hotel and they are paying him 1 million Baht for his effort! It should be later this month or perhaps they have moved or cancelled the event due to the protest - I'll check.

Best restaurant we ate at was the little hole in the wall at Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo. The name was only written in Japanese so not sure what it's called, but very easy to spot since there is a huge line out the door. They have a picture menu so it's easy to order--and the sushi is seriously the best I've ever had!

In Kyoto, there was a wonderful place on Kawaramachi Dori two blocks south of Maruta-Machi Dori. Again a very small little place, but very popular, with red lanterns outside. They only have two items on the menu so it's easy to choose--just get the seafood noodle soup. Best soup we had during our stay (and we had a LOT).

More info and pics in our Japan posts at http://patrinadoestheglobe.blogspot.com/

I don't speak Japanese other than a few words and phrases I picked up from my Pimseleur CDs, but I had no trouble getting fed. Many restaurants have pictures of the food on the menu. Others have plastic mockups of their dishes in the window--often with numbers to make ordering easier. Plus, because I was on the go so much, I often ate in inexpensive Japanese "fast food" places--octopus, or grilled fish or eel, or noodle dishes, or a rice bowl with choices of meats and vegetables instead of our typical burgers or chicken tenders. It's easy to order what you want in these places as you can see the food and they almost always have pictures of the dishes.