Airing of Grievances: Yushi & the Treats Truck

With my hosting company in full meltdown mode this week, and Midtown Lunch’s server on the fritz I realize that one cannot underestimate the restorative power of venting.  If only I could have complained to somebody at my hosting company (or punched one of their employees in the face) it would have made me feel so much better.  In that spirit, I’ve decided to post two emails I received this week.  (If the Eater Complaints Dept. would like royalties, I’ll be happy to pay up…)

First up is Yushi, the upscale Japanese healthy bento place on 47th btw. Park+Lex:

Zach- I wanted to give you a rundown of today’s Yushi encounter… I know, it’s super expensive and kinda on the healthy yet measly side. But I met my boyfriend there for lunch… he got a seared salmon salad and I got a seared tuna nicoise salad. The salads were just under $10 each but with drinks I ended up plunking down $25.67 (number burned on my brain and in my credit). Grumbling at the fact that my $9.95 tuna salad only had four TINY slabs of tuna in it, I sat down, prepared to savor every last morsel of that shit.

Anyway, today they had several girls walking around with trays of samples.  Don’t know if this is a regular occurrence, but snaps for freebies. Boo and I finagled two prime beef/shiitake mini meatballs with teriyaki sauce each from one candy striper (delish and more filling than an entire $10 salad), then we were also given shot glasses of their tasty firecracker miso from another girl. All seemed well… until I noticed a third long-haired minx of an employee strolling the aisles with what appeared to be coupons in her hands. She seemed to be silently judging the inhabitants of each table she passed, while tapping the pile of coupons against her fingertips. Iactually WATCHED this girl hand coupons to table after table after table of males, explaining with a smile the complimentary miso they’d receive upon their return, yet she skipped two tables of women in between!! To add insult to injury, the chick glided past our table unfazed, offering little more than a selective sideways glance and a slight sneer. As we put on our jackets to leave, I was determined to give her the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps it wasn’t blatant discrimination or an aversion to her own gender, but maybe she was planning on gifting us with a coupon at the door, or maybe she was legally blind in her left eye.

Either way, the minx was camped out near the door with her stack of discounts, so I beelined straight toward her with an inviting”where’s the candy” look on my face. Don’t you know it, but this girl smiles cattily (perhaps my over keen female sensory picked up on this?) while continuing to click the pile against her fingertips, taunting us, and said smugly, “buh bye now.” And that was it. No coupon?! No thanks for my $25.67 and ten-block trek? I’m still appalled. I knew Yushi was bourgy and too leather-laden for its own good, but this sheer disregard for me as a return customer worthy of a free cup of soup really just chafes me. Thought it pertinent that you know. And if nothing else, perhaps you find this little rant amusing.  Cheers, Profiled Midtown Lunch’er “Shauna”

I don’t find anything amusing about missing out on free stuff, Shauna.  Hope that the public display of your rant will solace you as much as that free coupon would have. 

A 100% true Treats Truck complaint/public service announcement that everyone needs to read, after the jump…

Hi Zach- I wanted to write a little about the customers of the Treat Truck who take forEVER when it’s their turn to order, even though it’s freezing outside. I mean, why don’t they figure out what they want during the wait? The worst is when they dilly dally by asking inane questions about every single item. It’s SO annoying. I like to call them the Treats Truck Tourists, because they are slow and are all caught up in the “experience”… me, I just want my cookie. Take care, Ying.

I have to say Ying, I am familiar with the phenomenon that you have just described.  There are without a doubt a lot of Treats Truck tourists, who spend too much time deciding and ordering.  Everything is delicious.  It shouldn’t take that long…  hopefully your complaints will reach the right ears and we can end this problem once and for all!  (Treats Truck is on 45th & 6th today, btw.)

Have your own grievances to air?  Email them to zach@midtownlunch.com

10 Comments

  • I’m a treats truck regular and confess that I always dilly dally and ask questions so that I may fill up on freebies.

    Shauna: That stinks! I’m boycotting.

  • Great Festivus reference, Zach.

    Shauna – perhaps people who refer to restaurants as “bourgy” shouldn’t be complaining of snootiness? Just a thought. Also, why play by the rules? I would have just taken one of the coupons right out of her hand, but then again, I am a Nietzschean ubermensch.

  • I like to complain about this crappy hosting company. It’s taken me all day to finish reading this freekin post.

    Aloha Friday everyone!

  • Wow. Writing that you wanted to punch one of your hosting company’s employees in the face. I like the belligerence.

    Perhaps a new slogan? “The new Midtown Lunch. Read it! Or get punched in the face.”

  • Shauna:I’d of told the jumped up little bitch how much more i earn than her then projectile vomited in the sticky rice.

  • hey guys, thanks for the support! in light of the public display, i do feel slight vindication. on a completely coincidental note, i absolved my yushi disdain that day with a trip to the treats truck, which had been camped out closer to my office than usual… and i, TOO, was behind a treats truck tourist! the woman who works there is patient and lovely, she continued entertaining this fanny-packed tourist’s inquisitions long after i was ready to start throwing elbows. ying, i’m with ya. get yer cookies and keep it movin, people.

  • How come at Yushi the salads included in the meals taste like they are made of nothing more than Mustard Greens and Dandelions?

  • Hey Shauna, I noticed on your profile that you enjoy the delectable food of Sunnyside establishments. Few things to try: Mario’s Restaurant (Italian food on the corner of 43rd and 47th ave), Tasty Thai (47th and Greenpoint), Turkish Grill (42nd and Queens Blvd), De Mole (45th and 48th ave). I like the veal dishes at Mario’s. The tom yum soup, spring rolls, massaman curry, pad thai, and Lard Na are all good at Tasty Thai. Turkish Grill really dominates the Iskender Kabob, mixed app, and Special Beti Kabob. De Mole cranks out
    probably the only Mole sauce I’ll eat, big burritos, and nice enchiladas.

  • hey wicked! you better believe i’m already singing the praises of turkish grill and tasty thai, but am overdue at mario’s and will for sure check out de mole. i have yet to find a solid burrito option… thanks for the recs!

  • wait, scratch that on tasty thai… momentary mind lapse. mama sings the praises of I M THAI for their brilliant use of strip steak beef rather than low-grade cramp-inducing alternatives, and the abundance of enticingly-textured tofu in the tom yum soup and various meat dishes. i’ll certainly give Tasty another shot, though i seem to recall being disinterested in their rubbery rendition of what appeared to be pad thai. de mole, here i come!

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