Tokyo Restaurant for New Years
 

We have one night - New Years Eve - in Tokyo on our way home from Thailand. Our anniversary is December 31st and we're looking for an authentic place with lots of atmosphere to celebrate and eat Kobe beef with our two teenage sons. Suggestions?

Where are you staying in Tokyo?

Don't know yet. In our usual fashion, we have booked at three places (The Park, The Hilton & The Century Hyatt), but are still hoping something better opens up. We have 36 hours and we are going to do all teen-related activities because my husband and I both have spent a lot of time there. We arrive on a redeye from Bangkok and I'd like to check into the hotel, go to Harijuku, the plastic food district and a video arcade, then relax before dinner. A Japanese friend here recommended the Ninja for dinner, but it seems "themey".

Tokyo has several good choices but food is rather expensive at the higher end.
Gonpachi, an upscale izakaya is wonderful. Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan until recently, is said to have entertained George W. Bush at this restaurant.
I think it's a lot of fun and since it is not uptight & pretentious, it could be enjoyable with your two sons along.
http://www.gonpachi.jp/en/casual/home/index

Looks wonderful, but I don't see Kobe beef on the menu. Is "Kuroje" similar? And did George wear a kimono when he went there (as in Vietnam)?

Not sure if they have kobe beef. BTW, I went to Gonpachi in Nishi-Azabu (couple of streets down from the main Roppongi crossing).
If you must have Kobe beef, go to a teppanyaki place (where the chef grills the meat right in front of your table). One of the best teppanyaki places is called Sazanka at the Hotel Okura. It's expensive but very good!
http://www.okura.com/tokyo/restaurants/sazanka.html

Don't know whether George wore a kimono or not but at least he didn't barf like George Sr. :)

Agree Ninja is quite theme-ly, though nothing wrong with it per se. Atmosphere and entertainment seems to be bigger draw than the quality of food.
If you are into Kobe beef, try Serina. They have several restaurants--Roppongi, Ginza and probably Shinjuku. They should have both Kobe beef in shabu-shabu or teppanyaki. I would assume it would be around JPY20000 per person without drinks.
If you're going for NYE, Harajuku to Meiji shrine area gets quite crowded around midnight. It should be quite safe, though probably not for those who hates big crowds. Othewise, soba noodle is the traditional NYE meal.

BTW, my understanding is "kuroge" refers to particular breeds of beef. Kobe beef refers to kuroge cattle that was raised in particular way--beer, massage et al. So no all kuroge qualifies to be certified as kobe beef.

I'm not sure if I have heard "kuroge" in reference to beef but kuroge means Kuro = black and Ge = hair so can mean black haired beef?

There is Kurobuta (black pig, pork) that is appreciated for it's taste (I think) more than usual pig.

Oh, I see Kuroge Wagyu (Black hair Japanese Beef) is a popular name for certain quality beef. Kobe beef can be other race (?) of beef than kuroge but raised in Kobe method (massage with beer, etc) so there are Kobe Kuroge Wagyu and just Kuroge Wagyu.

I've been to the Ninja restaurant and I would not go there on New Yrs Eve. We had pretty bad service, it's expensive, and portions are tiny.

If you are asking about Kobe beef then you are willing to pay big bucks and I'm sure you want good service. If this was my evening and I was staying at the Westin where I've staye in Tokyo, I'd call ahead now to the English-speaking excellent concierge and ask her advice and have her book a great place. They will know if Kobe beef is served.

Beer and massage? I should have it so good.

Thanks for the tips and the beef lesson. We're actually trying to get a room at the Westin. Just checked kobe prices and we might have to get one order to share plus three servings of noodles.

Your staying at the Westin on New Years Eve for your anniversary? Lucky dog. Get a room on the club floor if you can. The club is great for drinks and view in the evening and you get a full breakfast buffet (japanese bfastavaialable too) in the restaurant or bfast in the club.

Hope my Tokyo iron chef advisory panel is still lurking aroudn. We now have reservations at Syrena Honten ( Roppongi) for December 30 and at Gompachi for December 31. We have mulitple-reseravation syndrome and will be staying at the Prince Park Tower Hotel (in Shiba park) OR the Oakwood Roppongi aparts OR the Park Hotel (in Shindome tower). Still hoping for our personal lost in translation hotel to become available, but that's another story.
As far as restauants, our family eats sushi, udon and/or shaba-shabu usually 2 times a week. We are bona fide Japanese food addicts.(We even consumed every unidenifiable morsal in the JAL-BKK bento box.)

So, the question is - did we choose the right two quintessential restaurants for our 2-night stay? We want to feel as if we're in the real, not touristy, japan, but don't mind being among other foodie tourists (also don't want our dinner to be so authentic that it is still moving - that happened last time). Also, this is a vacation and we don't have expense account or gracious host this time.

So - Should we stick with dives for lunches and go with Syrena & Gompachi, two iconic choices for dinners?

I think your plan of checking out "authentic" places for lunch and keeping Seryna & Gompachi for 30th & 31st is a good one. I haven't been to "Syrena" before, but there used to be a Japanese steakhouse in NYC called Seryna that was a branch of a popular Tokyo steakhouse. And Seryna in NYC was quite good.
Part of the limitation of going to super authentic places is that one can barely get by without somewhat fluent Japanese and once in a while I almost got the feeling that "gaijin" or foreigners were frowned upon in some of the ultra traditional places.
One good place for lunch is "Maisen" famous for its kurobuta. That's literally black pig but this is a pork cutlet that is in a league beyond the usual tonkatsu. Maisen, 4-8-5 Jingu-mae
Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Tel: + 81 (03) 3470-0071
Note-in Tokyo most places are open for a couple of hours only for lunch & after around 1:30 they don't serve anymore.
I really enjoyed my meal at Gompachi - great food, authentic yet foreigner friendly. And authentic/"Japanese" atmospere or not, what I love about cooking in Japan is the single minded devotion to bringing out the ingredient's flavor; e.g. chicken meat balls ("tsukune") at Gompachi. Pick up a Zagat's in Tokyo if necessary.