Midtown Lunch

I have passed by Restaurant Riki many times these couple months (a few times on my way to the new Schnitzel & Things spot) but each time I merely glanced at their lunch menu. I didn’t pay much attention because the 1st thing I noticed on their lunch specials menu was the price ($15 is a bit over the ML price range.) But recently fellow Lunch’er, Beth, tipped us off to the fact that Riki serves ramen for lunch, and it’s only $9.50. With Ippudo expanding to Midtown, is there room for more ramen in Midtown?

Restaurant Riki offers 4 different ramens for lunch. I decided to go with the most basic option (ramen with meat broth, sliced pork, dried bamboo and seaweed). Right when I was about to place my order, I noticed at the bottom that for $3 you can add a sushi roll! Freshly made sushi for $3?! Yes please! The deal only works for certain rolls (the ones that were priced $5 and $6) and it puts you over $10 but whatever.

The salad with Japanese dressing that comes with your ramen was pretty standard stuff. And shortly after getting the salad I got my plate of spicy tuna roll. They looked and tasted pretty good for $3, and the rice was the perfect temperature and consistency. A quick dip into the soy sauce didn’t make the pieces fall apart- though I had wished the spicy tuna would’ve been more spicy (has anyone tasted spicy tuna that was actually spicy?)

The ramen came in a big bowl but it was mostly broth. It was a decent bowl of ramen but I probably wouldn’t get it again. The 2 slices of pork were thin, tiny and more lean than fat. The noodles were way too chewy and the broth tasted thin.

Restaurant Riki’s ramen will probably not impressed picky ramen fans (Menchanko Tei is just few doors down and much better) but for causal diners it does an okay job, especially if you’re looking to pair your soup with some fresh tasting sushi. Riki is also a great place to just have a quiet meal because even at 12:30 the place wasn’t packed at all.

The + (What somebody who likes this would say)

• Fresh tasty sushi for $3.
• Ramen + Sushi?  Awesome!
• A good quiet place to eat lunch.

The – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• Too damn quiet.
• Really not the best bowl of ramen.
• The slices of pork were just too thin.

Restaurant Riki, 141 E 45th btw. Lex+3rd 212-986-5604