Taki Sushi

Ever since Wu Kong closed on 46th btw. 5th & 6th, I’ve been searching for a cheap sit down Sushi restaurant with a good lunch special close to the office.  Sure, Wu Kong was one of those split Asian restaurants, half Japanese/half Chinese (always a bad sign), but the sushi was good, and for under $10 you got two rolls and a miso soup.  Their Chinese food specials were good too, they gave you free peanuts while you waited for your meal, and once, awhile back, my wife and I were convinced we saw Lindsay Lohan eating there (that means it had to be good!)  It wasn’t the best, but it was our place- and since it closed there has been a cheap lunch special sushi void in our lives.

Well, salvation has come in the New Year.  As reported on Monday, Taki Sushi has moved from their 2nd Ave. location into the spot formerly occupied by Aron’s on 48th btw. 5th & 6th.  The spot is on the 2nd floor of the building, overlooking 48th st. and has a cute and modest interior.  The lunch specials are not only cheaper than Wu Kong, I’m pretty sure they are the cheapest available for fresh made sushi in Midtown.  For $6.50 to $7.50 (depending on what rolls you order) you get two rolls, miso soup and salad.  The $6.50 rolls are all non-fish rolls (avocado, cucumber, spinach, natto, etc) and the $7.50 choices include Tuna, Salmon or Shrimp with Avocado or Cucumber, California Roll, Salmon Skin, Eel with Avocado or Cucumber, Yellowtail and Spicy roll with Tuna, Salmon or White Tuna.

If Sushi or Sashimi is your thing, they have very nice, generously portioned sushi lunch specials for a pretty decent price.  The Sushi lunch is $8.95, Sashimi Lunch is $9.95 and the Sushi/Sashimi combo lunch is $12.95.  The table next to ours ordered these and they looked better than average.  They also have various Udon Noodle soups ($6.50 apiece), Don Buri specials (sweet Japanese stews) and all the usual Teriyaki, Katsu, Tempura and Negimaki specials you would expect.  Everything comes with miso soup and a salad (except the soups, which only come with a salad).

What we ordered, and a +/- after the jump…

My wife and I decided to share a maki lunch special and a bento box.  She ordered the Salmon and Avocado roll and the Spicy Tuna Roll.  The rolls were about what you would expect for this price… but a decent rice to fish ratio.  The spicy tuna wasn’t spicy enough for my taste (and neither was the wasabi) but they were good enough.  The salad was fine, and the miso soup was slightly watery but certainly better than what you get for free or for a $1 at most delis with takeout sushi.

For the bento box I ordered the Beef Negimaki, strips of beef wrapped around scallions and covered in a teriyaki sauce.  It’s probably not something most people order, but I love beef and I love scallions and always used to get it as a kid.  For $7.25, it’s a pretty good deal.  The teriyaki sauce was a little watery, but the beef was pretty tender, and it came with white rice and half a california roll, in addition to the Miso Soup and salad.  For the price, you can’t argue.

When it comes to sushi, 90% of the time you are going to get what you pay for.  Sure there are hidden jems where the price is slightly cheaper than the quality, but overall the price is going to be in line with what you get.  Taki hovers just above that ratio.  $7.50 for two rolls is a great deal (especially when it comes with soup and salad), and it certainly is better than all the takeout places… but if you are a sushi snob, it may not live up to high standards (although the sashimi slices on the table next to ours looked very generous, especially for the price).  So in the end, if you are looking for a cheap, sit down sushi meal near your office, you could do a lot worse than Taki Sushi.  There’s one thing I can guarantee… considering how many people were there after less than two weeks open- this place will be packed within a month.  It’s too cheap to be ignored… so get there while you can still get a table.

THE +

  • The price. $7.50 for two rolls, soup and salad.  Can’t be beat for a fresh made, sit down sushi place.
  • They have Eel & Avocado and Spicy Tuna… my two favorite choices
  • The sushi and sashimi platters looked like they had very generous servings (especially for the price)
  • All the usual Japanese options for rock pretty cheap prices, including donburi, udon, yakisoba, teriyaki, tempura, katsu and negimaki.
  • You get salad and miso soup with almost everything
  • The decor is a huge improvement over Aron’s

THE –

  • It’s a little better than the price… but in the end you still get what you pay for.  If you are a sushi snob, you may rather pay the little bit of extra money for the extra quality.
  • Everything seemed a tad watered down… the miso soup, the teriyaki sauce, the wasabi and the spicy tuna.  They may be toning it down for the Midtown business palate?  (Or just trying to save money)

Taki Sushi, 60 W. 48th St., 2nd Floor (btw. 5th & 6th), 212-832-6688

12 Comments

  • Ordered the Sashimi Lunch at $9.95. As a value, it’s pretty much unbeatable: 12 pieces of full-size sashimi – that’s more than you get in some sashimi dinners, often at twice the price. But as to the quality: cheap fish has nowhere to hide on a sashimi plate. It’s not great, it’s not quite good, it’s roughly what you get in a take-out pack from a deli. Comes with miso soup (bland) and salad (the dressing is bland, the lettuce refrigerator-cold and dripping wet). However, this is about as full as you can get for $10 in sit-down midtown, and for sushi the price is unheard of. Your best bet is to stick to the rolls, where the quality of the fish is masked by other flavors and textures.

  • Wow, that is REALLY cheap. Can’t get that here. Bah!

  • it’s not worth to eat japanese in manhattan anymore when they over charge to begin with. Brooklyn has the best deal of sushi and rolls, $1.00 a piece for sushi and $2.50 for rolls. Can’t beat that price….

  • I love this place. It is clean and the food is good. The service is great and it is nice to have something like this in midtown that is affordable.

  • I agree with Mari… Taki Sushi has become a go to lunch spot for me. It’s nothing to write home about, but when it comes to sushi in midtown for under $10, it gets the job done. Beat’s the pants off “Yummy” Sushi downstairs in Roc Center, that’s for sure… and at half the price!

    Also, if you’re up for the hike, Aki Sushi II on 52nd between 8th and 9th has one damn affordable lunch special ($8.95 Sushi Lunch; $9.95 Chirashi Lunch… both with soup and salad), and the fish is better quality and larger pieces than what they’re dolling out at Taki.

    (Don’t get me wrong, though: I still love Taki for a quick, cheap fix).

  • i hear kids go there at night for the alcohol

  • The only thing this place has going for it is how cheap the lunch special is. That being said, it’s not very good and hardly worth a repeat. I got the chicken katsu bento, and the chicken is flavorless, with somewhat soggy breading. Service was seriously atrocious (all three waitresses standing around yakking loudly in Chinese), and it took 25 minutes! Even though there were only 3 people in the restaurant!

  • I am having the Beef & Chicken dinner from Taki as I type at the moment. And being Chinese myself, I can confirm what “Not Happy” above says about the food and service.

    Service: Terrible manner. I ordered mine to go. The waitress took my order like she’s doing me a favor. Evidently her attitude towards the sit-downs aren’t much better, observing the way she handled a confused order.

    Food: The rice portion was small. Smelled moldy, tasted worse(That can’t possibly be japanese rice). The meat are smothered in sauce, which to me is a sign of bad cooking.
    These people are applying the Chinese take-out approach to preparing japanese cuisine.

    The upside? The food makes the service seem heavenly.

    These numbnuts are giving us Chinese a bad name. I hope they go out of business prompto.

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    This is a nice place. I usually go to only two places to eat sushi food one is this place and another is Jacksny at lower east side of NYC.

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