Thanks to Lunch’er Blair for sending in this photo, which confirms the news we reported back in June.  Onya, the Japanese udon chain owned by the same company that owns Beard Papa, will be taking over the Cafe Zest space on 47th btw. Lex+3rd.  No word on an opening day, but here’s hoping that it isn’t too far off.

Related:
Cafe Zest Space to Become Beard Papa Owned Udon Joint?

Every since Cafe Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th) severed ties with them we’ve been getting emails complaining about the decline in the quality of food being served at Zest (on 47th btw. Lex+3rd).  So it should come as no big surprise that they closed at the beginning of the month (thanks to Lunch’er Gaji for the tip.) I’m sure the opening of Dainobu, on the same block, didn’t help matters either. The awning has been changed to read Amakusa (the name of the restaurant that used to occupy the upstairs space) but according to a sign on the door new management will be opening a new restaurant soon.  A photo of that is after jump…

Zaiya on the other hand has added a brand new lunch special for the money conscious…

$5 (all in, tax included) will get you one of their new $4.25 options plus a cup of coffee, tea, or a bottled water.  The choices change daily, with two donburi options (yesterday was a beef bowl or chicken donburi) and three bento options (yesterday was sweet and sour chicken bento, a sandwich combo bento, or a salad sushi roll with fried chicken pieces bento.)  Since you can buy the entrees themselves for just $4.25, spending the extra .75 for the drink is optional… in other words, it’s not some special deal where you are getting more expensive food for less money. A better way of looking at it is that they have added a new line of super cheap, but filling lunch options for $4.25.

If you are going to pay in cash, there is a table at the front where you can check out- probably the biggest advantage of getting the lunch special (because quite frankly, it’s usually pandemonium getting out of that place.)  The GM of Zaiya had this to say about the promotion (and business in general)

“We are doing this so we can help people out who are on a tight budget.  We try to keep prices low as it is but costs go up every year and so has some of our prices. To fight this, we are eating the cost on this promotion to get people in our door.”

In other words, you may get the lunch special- but you’ll probably tack on that extra rice ball or doughnut before checking out. (I know I did.)

Read More:
All Cafe Zaiya Posts
All Cafe Zest Posts

Yesterday Lunch’er Max sent me this photo from the line at Cafe Zest (on 47th btw. Lex+3rd), the new Japanese place opened by the owners Cafe Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th.) For their grand opening celebration they decided to offer everything for 50% off, yesterday and today, from Noon to 3pm. As you can see from the photo, yesterday got pretty bad, and they had run out of most everything but vegetarian bento boxes and white bread sandwiches by 1:45. Apparently today, it’s even worse. From the comments:

Walked over at 12 today, and man – the line was horrendous. For the usual folk who have just an hour lunch, it’s def’ not going to work out. We thought the 12pm lunch would be less crowded as 1pm is the more favored lunch slot – but we thought wrong. Apparently, Zaiya fans have all heard about Zest already. The line outside the door was about 70 deep at 12:15ish. There goes my plan for stocking up on ITO teas!

A review from somebody who stuck it out, after the jump… 

The wait was worth it for the an pan…and boy, was there a wait. Here’s the Breakdown:

The Salmon Shio Bento: the salmon was kind of dry, but the eggplant side was excellent. The Salmon Teryaki Bento would most likely be a better bet.

The Riceballs:
Tuna: Nice. The mayo wasn’t over loaded and balanced the tuna well, but the rice itself should have had a bit more salt.
Salmon: Bland.
Kobu: Yummy! Yay seaweed in a riceball! Nicely seasoned and stuffed. No skimping on the filling.

The Bread:
An pan: Just how it should be—delicious. Moist, sweet & an excellent combination of flavor and texture.

Mellon pan: While I’m not sure that it tasted as much like a melon as it should, it was still sweet & tasty. The texture was a bit harder than that of the an pan, but it suited the bread, and wasn’t so hard that it crumbled when you bit in to it…just pleasantly crisp.

Green Tea Muffin: (I know it has a real name, I just wish I remembered it) The texture was nice and moist, with the red beans adding a nice flavor. The green tea taste was a bit more overpowering and a bit less refined than I had hoped, but overall a good snack.

Yakisoba pan: Very authentic. If you’re used to the American version of yakisoba (i.e.: mostly oil with a dash of soy sauce) you may find yourself pleasantly surprised by this one. It’s nicely flavored, and the bread holds on to the yakisoba well, so you most likely won’t find yourself covered in noodles or sauce. This would make an excellent lunch for those on the go.

As with any of these things, you always have to ask yourself “how much is my time worth.” Prediction for tomorrow: no line.

Got your own report from the scene?  Post it in the comments below…

Finally some big time, super duper exciting news for Midtown Lunch’ers on the East side (yes, I just typed the words super duper.)  Cafe Zaiya (41st btw. Mad+5th), winner of Best Japanese Take Out in the Midtown Lunch Readers Poll, has opened “Cafe Zest by Zaiya” in the space formerly occupied by the 47th St. Japanese Convenience Store (on 47th St. btw.  Lex+3rd.)  A slightly upscale version of Cafe Zaiya, Cafe Zest sports an almost identical line up of goods, with a nicer (albeit much smaller) dining area in the back.  Sandwiches, bento boxes, rice balls, and a full dessert bar towards the back- plus they’re selling pre-packaged goods from Nonoca, a new restaurant concept opening in August (but more on that in a bit.)

Since the convenience store closed in January, I’ve been closely monitoring the progress, wondering what would end up in the space (and worrying it would suck.)  Now that Cafe Zest has opened, I can pretty much say that we couldn’t have done any better than this.  And I have even told you the best news.  That, plus your first look inside the new Cafe Zest, after the jump…  

On Monday and Tuesday of next week (July 21 & 22nd) all food will be 50% off to celebrate their grand opening. Here’s a look inside:

As for the space upstairs, which was formally occupied by the Japanese restaurant Amakusa, the owners of Cafe Zaiya have taken that space as well and will be opening Nonoca in August, a Japanese restaurant featuring all organic ingredients.  If you want to get an idea of the kind of food they’ll be serving, they are currently selling a few things as take out items downstairs- including a pork and potato Japanese stew, a chicken steak with pasta dish (seen on the right) and an udon noodle salad (which has been selling out very quickly- despite the place being open less than a week.)

All of this comes just 7 months after they opened the Zaiya Cafe on the 2nd floor of the Kinokuniya Bookstore on 6th Ave. btw. 40+41st. I can’t wait to see what they do next!  (Thanks to Lunch’er Nancy for the tip.)