I Think I'm Turning Japanese

Have you ever noticed how many generic Japanese restaurants there are?

Where I live, in NYC, there are hundreds of Japanese joints serving dry as dust chicken teriyaki, california rolls made with 3 year-old crab stick (you have to figure that something called crabstick is not going to be good), and watery miso soup.

That's why it was such a thrill to find Momoya, a very fine neighborhood Japanese restaurant in NY's Chelsea section. Here the chicken teriyaki was made with moist chicken thigh topped by properly seared skin, housemade teriyaki sauce, and somewhat improbably, carrots and new potatoes. If only the miso soup was warm, there would be nothing to complain about.

Momoya 187 Seventh Avenue at 21st St. 212-989-4466.

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