Nakama voted Best Japanese in Pittsburgh by City-Paper readers again.

The Pittsburgh City-Paper this week released its "Best of Pittsburgh 2012" readers' poll results, with Nakama Japanese Steakhouse being voted the Best Japanese restaurant in the city. Same as 2008, 2009, and 2011.

Table-side cooking from animated — and at times knife-wielding — chefs is the draw, but so are the extensive sushi and cocktail menus.

Tamari was voted best sushi, Nicky's Thai Kitchen the best Thai place, and Sesame Inn best Chinese, to round out the Asian selections. Nakama benefits from being in a neighborhood that's a destination for food and drink, and that people are going out not just for the food is evidenced by "cocktails" getting mentioned in the write-ups for top Japanese and Chinese restaurants. Among Japanese, though, the most popular Japanese places are Chaya in Squirrel Hill and Teppanyaki Kyoto in Highland Park (here's a write-up from June), and are definitely worth visits if you can find parking.