Midtown Lunch

Is this what you’d call an occupational hazard? My stomach hasn’t been feeling well lately (most likely all the crap I have been eating) and whenever I feel sick I always crave for cleaner foods. Nothing heavy or oily. Usually I would get kimbap and it’s great since most places give you free soup on the side.

Last time I was at Cafe R I noticed they had a kimbap station with a lady making kimbaps behind the counter so I decided to give it a try.

Instead of sitting in the cool shelf like the boxes of sushi, you have to go to the kimbap station and point to which ever box you want. The lady will hand you the box (and miso soup if you want it) and you take it to the cashier. When I was there, there were only chicken and beef kimbaps.

The chicken kimbap ($5.30 with tax) looked pretty standard except that there was wasabi in the box and red bell peppers inside the kimbap. I don’t think I have ever seen bell peppers in kimbaps before. Taste wise it was pretty standard as well. The rice wasn’t too stale like the rice from Woorijip but definitely not as fresh as E-Mo or Food Gallery 32. The free miso soup was great, it had a good amount of little tofu cubes at the bottom.

I probably wouldn’t go to Cafe R for kimbap unless I was just too damn lazy to walk that extra block to either E-Mo or Food Gallery 32. Though unlike Woorijip, who makes their kimbap in the kitchen and you never know how long they have been sitting on the shelf, at Cafe R you can see the lady making them fresh.

Cafe R, 116 W 32nd btw. 6+7th 212-695-9550