New cool Japanese places in NYC

Why is it at the END of my trip, THAT’s when I find new cool Japanese places to hang out at? One of them, I nearly lost track of time and almost missed my train that went to my plane…
There’s a new place called Soba Totto on E 43rd, near Grand Central Station. Their soba was OK but their yakitori kicked ass! Great stuff. Great decor and a young and hip 日本人 staff. They’re open late too. I’ll blog and report next visit.
On this trip, I stayed at the Pod Hotel again. It has a great Midtown location and is an “affordable” place to stay on the Island. Because US$89/night during off season is a good deal!
On my way to JFK on Monday via the 6 to the S to the 1-2-3 to Penn Station to the LIRR to Jamaica to the AirTrain (sounds harder than it is), I found myself pulled into a new tea shop called Tafu. And it was open!
Actually, I first noticed this place on Sunday, as you have to walk by it going to or from the 51st Street station. They’re closed on Sundays so I had to wait until today to get my fill of sencha before embarking on my long journey across three time zones and the continent back to SFO. Pix next visit since it was kind of busy during the lunchtime rush to take pix..
Soba Totto
211 East 43rd Street (between 2nd Ave & 3rd Ave)
New York NY 10017
(212) 557-8200
Tafu
Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel (on 51st between Lex & 3rd)
New York NY 10022
http://www.tafuny.com