Midtown Lunch

I may be too excited to type out this post.  Sushi.  On conveyor belts.  In Midtown.  Oh my lord,  my prayers have been answered.  No, not the one where David Chang starts serving Korean burritos out of a cart on 49th St. & 6th Ave,  or the one where Saigon Banh Mi opens a Midtown branch, but doesn’t change their prices.  It’s the dream, where I’m sitting in a Midtown Japanese restaurant, and all the food is circling around me, there for the taking, around and around, each plate begging “Pick me!”  “Take me!” “Don’t I look good?!?”

That’s a good dream.  And hopefully by the end of the year, I will finally get to visit this place while I’m awake.  Sushi Sakae, a very large and famous Singapore chain of Japanese (go figure) Conveyor Belt Sushi restaurants is opening their first U.S. location here in Midtown.  It’s going up on 43rd btw. Lex. & 3rd Ave. and they are hoping to open it by the end of November.

Conveyor belt porn, and a sneak peak, advance look at the U.S. take out menu- after the jump…

_{Photo from a Singapore location posted to Flickr by Ke Wynn}

This is going to be the greatest place of all time.  If you’ve never been to a Conveyor Belt Sushi place, it’s a pretty easy concept to grasp.  Food comes out and circles around the bar or restaurant on a moving conveyor belt.  You take whatever you want, and at the end they count up your plates to determine how much you owe. 

At the Midtown Sushi Sakai, they will offer three different priced plates.  Multi-colored will be $1.90,  Pink will be $3.90,  and Red plates will be $6.90.  In addition to the conveyor belt sushi bar, there will also be tables equipped with computers for you to order items ala carte from the kitchen.  There is also mention of hot water faucets at every table to refill your own tea pots.  If you thought Kushi Q’s rotating skewer cooker was cool, I have a feeling this place is going to blow it out of the water!

With most really good Japanese food in Midtown, it’s always a struggle to stay within the Midtown Lunch boundaries, and after a look at the take out menu, it seems as if Sushi Sakae will be no different.  Most of the bento boxes, and sushi platters are over $10, but if you are careful with your conveyor belt choices, you may be able to do it.  In addition to ala carte sushi, they will also have chawanmushi (a Japanese savory custard),  tempura, agemomo (fried stuff), yakimono (meat on sticks), udon, soba and donburi (rice bowls). 

According to the take out menu, it looks like small 6 piece basic sushi rolls (salmon, spicy tuna, etc), and 2 piece nicer rolls (soft shelled crab, futomaki) will all be $1.90.  Two pieces of regular nigiri sushi are listed as $3.90, and premium rolls are listed as $6.90.  If these prices transfer to the conveyor belt, then it looks like with some proper restraint you could get your lunch for under $10.

If not, who cares!  It’s conveyor belt sushi, and in my book that means automatic permission to spend more than $10 on lunch.  Click on either of the photos below to see an expanded view of the take out menu…

For more Sakae Porn check out this Flickr Set, and for more info on the chain itself check out their website US Website.  You may notice some mention of all you can eat buffet pricing, but I haven’t heard if they are going to do that here.  As soon I know anything more, I’ll let you know.