I was pretty bummed back in March when Luncher “Matt” told us that Negi-ya (37th btwn Mad and 5th), the Japanese spot formerly known as Washoku Cafe closed its doors. They were the closest place to my office that served a proper bowl of tonkotsu, not to mention all the off the menu snacks in the display case.

Well, Matt wrote back with some good news. Apparently they’ve reopened as “Ronin” – complete with pictures of Robert DeNiro and Jean Reno in the window.

From Matt:

Update on Negi-Ya. They’ve reopened under the name “Ronin.” Same cute, pleasant Japanese lady (who I presume is the manager). Same sushi chef. Takeout is now ordered in front. Waiter service with a red-bearded white guy who also may or may be the owner.
 
Friend and I ordered “Rice Burgers” – Japanese lady said they’re the only ones in the city to have it. $8. The “buns” are made of grilled rice and hold a filling of your choice. I got sliced pork and ginger and friend got chicken sukiyaki. Served with very good steak fries. Burger itself holds together surprisingly well, filling is well-flavored but a little salty.
 
They still have ricebowls, noodles, etc. More expensive (chicken teriyaki don is now $8 but organic). Also now a full tap beer selection in the back. Half-price happy hour 5-7.

I stopped by to get a photo and noticed that they’ll be hosting a grand re-opening party on the evening of May 25th (next Wednesday). Check out the flyer after the jump (it’s mostly in Japanese, so if anyone can translate, let us know what it says in the comments.

I decided to begin my search for a proper Italian sausage hero close to home at Mondello (on 37th btw. Mad+5th). Their chicken parmigiana hero has been a favorite of mine since I started working in the area nearly seven years ago.

The first sign that this wasn’t going to be the sub I was looking for came as soon as I saw the sausage and peppers on display in the steam tray. Piled up and soaking in who knows what sort of liquid, it clearly wasn’t going to provide that crispy char on the edges that comes from a good griddling. Still, I’d never know for sure if I didn’t try it.

I was surprised when the guy behind the counter put meat sauce and cheese on top, but decided to go with it. I wasn’t expecting a great sandwich, so cheese and sauce certainly weren’t going to hurt.

That was for the best, because they were pretty much the best part of the sandwich. Unlike the chicken parm, which is just one or two chicken filets, the sausage is cut up into many smaller pieces that all seem to want to go a different direction. Holding it all together was a bit of an ordeal.

Besides that, even with all the toppings and the time in the oven, the sausages still tasted like they were boiled or at least simmered. It didn’t have any of the crispness that makes a sausage worth biting into.

The sandwich wasn’t bad, it’s just not what I’m looking for and certainly not as good as the chicken parm. So, it’s onward and up(town)ward as I keep looking for a good Italian sausage hero.

Mondello Pizzeria & Restaurant, 3 East 37th (btw. Mad+5th), 212-684-2411

Yesterday, Luncher “Matt” emailed in with this report:

Washoku Cafe (aka Negi-Ya) may have closed! A coworker tells me the gate’s down, there’s no sign, and they stopped taking credit cards yesterday. It is the first of the month …

Calls to the Japanese cafe and noodle shop just get voicemail. Personally, I’m going to be very disappointed if the only source of decent tonkotsu this side of 40th Street has gone under. The weather might be warm today, but I know I’m going to need more soup before the summer comes.

Related:
Soup’s on at Negi-Ya (aka Washoku Cafe)

The random swings in temperature over the last few weeks probably have a lot to do with the coughing and hacking I’ve been hearing up and down the rows of cubicles at work. It’s getting to be about that time when the office cold starts spreading. Hoping to preempt the first cold of the season, I headed to Negi-Ya (on 37th btw. Mad+5th), formerly Washoku Cafe, to fortify myself with noodles and rich, warm broth.

According to luncher ‘hungryk9′ in the comments last week, Negi-Ya does table service in the evenings. I’ve only been here for lunch, so I’ve never seen it, but I imagine the experience is a little more sensible that way. During lunch, customers line up at the back counter and order either with the cashier or the person behind the display counter. It can get a little confusing as there are a couple different menus scattered behind the counter and the items in the display case aren’t listed. I know I’ve missed items in the past by ordering from one menu before discovering an entire other list of options available. So, fair warning… look around behind the counter for two menus in order to see all the offerings.

Once you order and pay, it takes between five and ten minutes for them to make your food. The staff may not inform you of it, but your number is on the ticket with your order (not the receipt), so you’ll need to listen out.

On my first visit, I went for the tonkotsu. They offer two options, a lighter version at $9.50 and a richer one for $10.50. I don’t really do ‘light’ anything, but I stuck with the ML price range and got the light version hoping it wasn’t just a watered down version of the porky deliciousness I love in tonkotsu. I needn’t have worried. If it hadn’t said ‘light’ on the menu, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it. The broth was creamy and intense and makes me wonder how much better that rich broth could be.

My main complaint is that the serving was fairly light on the pork and the noodles. For $3 more you can add more of each, but that’s a just too pricey for me (even though it needed both.)

I’ve been a big fan of curry udon ever since my first introduction to real Japanese soups at a ramen shop in Hawaii. When I ordered Negi-Ya’s curry udon ($7.50), I had a particular idea of what I thought it would be: a thick, spicy, warming broth almost dense enough to be a sauce. That’s not exactly what this was.

Instead, the soup had a regular broth with curry sauce poured into the middle. It definitely warmed me up on a chilly fall day, but it wasn’t quite as satisfying as what I had been hoping for. They also don’t offer it with meat, like the fried chicken at Udon West, so the udon is the meatiest part of the meal.

Even so, the soup was very good. Carrots, onions and potatoes added a depth of flavor and even though the curry wasn’t as thick as I’d prefer, it still gave an underlying heat that I liked a lot. The real problem was that they only gave me a tiny plastic spoon to eat it with. That was less an issue with the tonkotsu, which I could mostly eat with chopsticks, but the bits and pieces in the curry udon required a little more equipment.

With all the other options at Negi-Ya- including many non-soup ones – I’ll be stopping back in to follow up soon. I may even come in after work one day to see how much table service makes a difference and to partake in the $2.99 Saporro Drafts (available all day).

The + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• Even the light tonkatsu is hearty and rich.
• The curry udon is exactly what a rainy day needs.

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

• For $9.50, you could give me more pork and noodles.
• I need a real spoon.
• Ordering is confusing and the staff doesn’t always make things clear.

Washoku Cafe, 9 E. 37th St (btw. Mad+5th), 212-686-2233

Japanese bento haven Washoku Cafe has apparently undergone a change in name and management – and it looks like it happened a while ago. You wouldn’t know it by looking at it, but it’s is now called Negi-ya.  Although everything looks more or less the same, including the awning- which still says Washoku.

According to the Negi-Ya website, they have been in the space since April, which is about the time that we noticed the addition of ramen to the menu. The menu still includes the sushi and bentos that Washoku was known for, but it looks like Negi-Ya’s focus is on tonkotsu ramen. It’s about soup season, so I expect to be stopping in to try it out in short order.  Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.

Negi-Ya, 9 E. 37th St. (btw. Mad+5th), 917-515-0238

It’s been awhile since we’ve mentioned Washoku Cafe, the Japanese quick lunch spot on 37th btw Mad+5th. They’ve actually made some adjustments to their menu recently. In addition to the selection of bento boxes, sushi and rice bowls, they are now serving ramen as well. I’ll definitely be stopping by soon to give it a try. With the weather bouncing from warm and sunny to damp and dreary, it’s just a matter of time before a nice bowl of soup is in order.

If any early adopters have checked out the ramen at Washoku, let us know how it is in the comments.

Back in September my quest to find the best chicken parm in Midtown took me to Mondello (on 37th btw. Mad+5th).  It was “satisfying, but nothing to write home about.”  And yet, it appears as if I missed something crucial that would increase the awesomeness of their chicken parm tenfold.

From the blog Ultraclay:

Where other places may dump pizza sauce on top, they offer a choice of regular and a meat sauce. Both have a salty, sweet flavor, but the meat sauce has a richness that adds another dimension to the sandwich.

Shut up! Meat sauce on a chicken parm!?! That… is… awesome. I don’t remember them giving me a choice, because if they had I would have obviously gone with the meat sauce.  Clearly it’s time to revisit this one.

Mondello Pizzeria & Restaurant, 3 East 37th (btw. Mad+5th), 212-684-2411

As Eater reported last week, Washoku Cafe (on 37th btw. Mad+5th) has opened for business.  They’re running at about 60% right now, with bento boxes, sushi, and drinks packaged and ready for sale.  There is a coffee section in the front, but the hot food section in the back isn’t quite ready yet.

A look at some of the food is after the jump…

The Salmon Lunch Box ($8.00) looked pretty standard.

The Chicken Teriyaki Combo ($7.50), however, looked pretty meh.

Sushi and rice balls.

Potato salad and ?????

According to a commenter on Friday, the $2.25 hearty Miso Soup is the early star. I’m going to reserve full judgement until after the the hot food is introduced, but my gut tells me that this place is not going to be replacing Cafe Zaiya anytime soon. Early adopters, feel free to comment below.

Washoku Cafe, 9 E. 37th St. (btw. Mad+5th), 917-515-0238

So on Friday after I walked by the still plywooded Washoku Cafe (the new Cafe Zaiya’ish Japanese place that is opening soon on 37th btw. Mad+5th), I decided against my better judgement to check out Mondello’s, a standard take out pizza and subs place right next door. I say “against my better judgement” because I pride myself on my strange sense for good Midtown Lunch’ish food. There is a vibe a place gives off that lets you know it’s going to be good, and this place didn’t have it.  But there were alot of people in there, and sometimes you just feel like a chicken parm.  

Most places will buy cheap Italian sub rolls, and attempt to cover their crappiness by adding tons of sauce and popping the whole sandwich in the oven before serving it. Mondello is no exception. The chicken parm is pre-made, but benefits from being the thinly sliced kind- so it wasn’t dried out.  The massive amount of shredded cheese they added was good, but the sauce was slightly sweet and nothing to write home about.  For the price ($7.25) they don’t add nearly enough meat, and should probably use a good fresh mozzarella.  This was more like a $5-6 deli chicken parm. Satisfying, but nothing to get excited about.

The pizza on the other hand looked good enough to be intriguing. At $2.75 you’re not getting any kind of bargain- but the slices are a decent size, and if you love that super thin slice of incredibly oily pizza than this is your spot. Nice and salty, I wouldn’t go out of my way for it- but if you work in the area, I’m sure you could do a lot worse.

I don’t normally like writing about generic Midtown places (there are so many, and if I did they would litter the site) but in this case I figured I’d throw up a quick review just in case there are those of you who had walked by and wondered about this place.

THE +

• Decent place, always crowded for lunch
• If you like the super thin crusted, very oily pizza that New York is known for- Mondello’s has got it
• Thinly pounded meat on the chix parm sub, so it doesn’t get dried out

THE - 

A little expensive for what you’re getting

Everything about the sandwich was pretty middle of the road.  Bread, cheese, sauce… just your typical Italian pizza deli in Midtown

Mondello’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, 3 East 37th (btw. Mad+5th), 212-684-2411

The guy is only out there until around 12:30/12:45 so by the time I showed up yesterday the pickings were slim.  What I got is after the jump… 

The choice between a ginger pork rice bowl and sushi that’s been sitting in a giant plastic tub on the hot sidewalks of Midtown, is not really any choice at all.  I’m all for buying strange seafood off the street, but there is something about unrefrigerated sushi that even keeps me away.  The pork was sliced really thin, so it was tender and fatty in the best possible way.  The bowl is mostly rice (not a ton of meat) and I could have done without the glob of mayo underneath the shredded cabbage, but all and all it was real tasty, and still kind of hot (although that probably had more to do with the sun than whatever pan it was in at 10 a.m.)

If you don’t like leaving your lunch up to chance, the guy has a menu print out in Japanese and English that changes every week.  You can even call in your order (347-852-2385) if you know what they are serving that day.  It’s not necessarily as good as the Japanese Trinity on 41st btw. Mad+5th (Zaiya/Chiyoda/Yagura), but if you work in the area, it’s a nice change of pace.

There is no opening date set for the Washoku Cafe on 37th btw. Mad+5th, and I’m not exactly sure what the place is going to be like, but it’s pretty safe to assume it will be like Cafe Zaiya or Chiyoda sushi.  If you’ve been to Washoku Tei on 2nd Ave. btw. 53+54th, it’s the same owners, sort of.  The restaurants are owned by a team, and it looks like one of the owners has broken away to open the cafe.  Very scandalous!  No word on whether or not they’ll continue serving bentos on 49th after they do open. 

Washoku Cafe, 9 E. 37th St. (btw. Mad+5th) Coming Soon

Street Bentos: on 50th btw. 6+7th between Noon(?) and 12:30/12:45