日本美食魅力不输给法国

Tokyo is once again the brightest star in the culinary universe, according to the 2011 Michelin guide.

Japan's capital was awarded more stars than any other city by the tire company's newly released restaurant guide, which includes outlying cities Yokohama and Kamakura for the first time. The 2011 volume goes on sale Nov. 27. Tokyo increased its envious roster of three-starred restaurants to 14 â ' that's three more than last year.

It was enough for Tokyo to edge out  Japan's gastronome-centered cities to the west - Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto - as the reigning restaurant city by the French publication for the fourth consecutive year. The western part of Japan enjoyed the culinary crown for a brief period when Michelin heaped three-star ratings onto a dozen restaurants in late October.

But Tokyo didn't need the newly added Yokohama and Kamakura to reclaim its title, unlike the Kansai area guide. No restaurants in the two cities on the outskirts of Tokyo received three stars. Two restaurants in Yokohama mustered two stars and 24 restaurants from the two areas total received one star.

The four newcomers into the three-star circle, like the ones already in the honored pack, mostly specialize in Japanese-styled cuisine: sushi, traditional Japanese, tempura and blowfish, known as 'fugu' in Japanese.

Perhaps in a tip to trying economic times in Japan, this year's guide includes a new feature -- a 'bang for your buck' type image of a pile of coins, indicating the restaurant offers a menu under 5,000 yen ($60).

But let's not make this into a domestic kitchen competition. Japan would be proud to know that the number of Michelin's highest-rated restaurants in the Tokyo and Kansai areas combined â ' 26 â ' officially ties the country with France as the crème de la crème of where to eat.Â据米其林(Michelin)餐馆指南，东京再度成为烹饪界最耀眼的明星。

在这家轮胎企业最新公布的餐馆指南中，日本首都获得的星级比其他任何城市都要多，该指南还首次收入了地处边远的横滨和镰仓。米其林2011年餐馆指南于11月27日上市发售。东京令人羡慕的三星级餐馆数增至14家──比去年多出了三家。

这足够让东京击败西部的日本美食中心──大阪、神户和京都──连续第四年成为这家法国出版物评选出的美食天堂。当米其林10月底向十余家餐馆大量授予三星评级时，日本西部地区曾短暂地享受过这尊美食界的王冠。

但东京并不需要依靠最新加入的横滨和镰仓来重新夺回自己的头衔，这一点与关西地区的餐馆指南不同。东京周边的这两座城市中没有一家餐馆获得了三星评级。横滨有两家餐馆得到了两星评级，两个城市中共有24家餐馆获得一星评级。

和其他有幸获得三星评级的餐厅一样，新近获得三星评级的四家餐厅也是大多以日式菜肴见长：寿司，传统日本菜，天麸罗和河豚。

也许是对日本困难经济时期的一种提示，今年的指南增加了一个新特色──“物超所值”的功能以一堆硬币的形象作为一种标识，表明这家餐厅的菜单价格在5,000日圆以下（约合60美元）。

但我们还是不要把它变成一场国内美食之争吧。日本应该感到自豪，东京和关西地区总共获得米其林最高评级的餐厅数量（26家）已经使日本在美食之都的称号上正式同法国平起平坐了。