Archive for 'Dainobu'

The Search for Midtown’s Best Katsudon


What do you picture when you think of Japanese food? Sushi probably comes to mind first, right? Then maybe teriyaki of some sort? Possibly ramen something or other? While these answers are all correct, I’d like to assert my opinion that the greatest Japanese food is actually katsudon. What is katsudon, you may ask? Well, according to Wikipedia, it’s “a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, and condiments.” So basically, it’s the one Japanese dish that Americans wish they had thought of. Deep-fried meat with egg? Sign me up!

I first discovered this wondrous food when I reviewed Benton Café on 45th street a few months ago. Even though Benton’s katsudon is relatively cheap, I was immediately smitten and vowed to try as many katsudon options in midtown as I could. Sadly, the dish is most often over the Midtown Lunch limit of $10, but if you look hard enough, there are options within our budget.

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Dainobu Japanese Deli is Coming to 56th St

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Good news for lunchers in the mid-50s – Dainobu Japanese deli is opening an outpost on 56th St between 5th & 6th. Whether its their fried oysters, reasonably priced bento boxes, or their spin on mapo tofu, the original location at 47th & Lex has earned itself a good number of fans. We took a peek inside of the work-in-progress space, and while it doesn’t look close to opening, there’s definitely progress being made.

Dainobu’s Fried Oysters Are Surprisingly Good

Dainobu Recently I found out that one of my coworker started eating California rolls for breakfast (along with her cup of coffee). It may sound a little weird but why not? So obviously that got me craving sushi. Luckily Dainobu is right around the corner from my office and since I still haven’t tried their sushi I thought it would be a good time to do so (also I was still on the lookout for their fantastic looking spider roll that Zach got few years ago). Once I got there, I found something else completely that caught my attention: kaki fry! (aka fried oysters) Dainobu, selling fried seafood?! It was too crazy for me not to try it. Also, the box was still warm, a good sign that they were still some what fresh. (Freshly cooked, anyway.)

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Mabo Tofu from Dainobu is Not Bad

Dainobu It seems like the general consensus about Dainobu’s hot foods are just decent and you’re probably better off with their slightly cheaper sushi options. So during my most recent trip I was a little hesitant to get their newest hot food item, a mabo tofu with beef over rice ($6.50). I finally gave in when there was nothing I wanted to eat. Just by looking at it, it looked quite delicious. Maybe the mabo tofu will be different. There was only one way to find out.

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Bento Boxes Are the Way to Go at Dainobu

Dainobu What I love about the area where my new job is, is how close I am to a lot of Japanese places. Maybe I can finally try out the vegetable soup from Menchanko Tei that Brownie raved about, or the Philly Lamb Steak sandwich from Sunrise Mart Ultraclay recently had. But what I REALLY wanted the other day for lunch was a cheap spider roll from Dainobu. Spider roll is one of my favorite rolls ever and I’m just few blocks away from it, so I had to go check it out.

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More From Dainobu: The Good, The Bad, & The Udon

Kathy YL Chan, the author of the most excellent blog A Passion For Food, and Midtown Lunch’s resident Hawaiian expert, went to the new Japanese grocery store Dainobu (on 47th btw. Lex+3rd) the other day and uploaded these photos to the ML Flickr Pool:

Dainobu

Curry Rice… she said it was “just decent. Not good, not bad. Just rice with curry out of a box.” In other words, their curry won’t be replacing Yagura or Go Go Curry anytime soon.

Udon and more is after the jump…

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First Look (And Taste) at Dainobu Japanese Deli

First Look: Dainobu

Dainobu, the new Japanese bento place/grocery store on 47th btw. Lex+3rd, quietly opened a few weeks ago and it looks like they are going to be some serious competition for Cafe Zest (on the same block).

First Look: Dainobu

Taking a page from the Yagura playbook, Dainobu is half grocery store (with all kinds of wet and dry Japanese ingredients) and half lunch spot.

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Dainobu To Open Tomorrow?: They were hoping that yesterday would be the big day, but it is looking like tomorrow (the 24th) will be opening day for Dainobu- the latest Japanese bento/lunch/grocery store to hit the Midtown Lunch scene (on 47th btw. Lex+3rd). They "are working crazy" to get it all done.

Dainobu Japanese Deli Shooting for a 12/22 Opening

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Speaking of Japanese bento places, Dainobu, the Japanese grocery store on 47th btw. Lex+3rd, is hoping to open for business on December 22nd.  Seeing how close they are to Cafe Zest, they plan on distinguishing themselves from Zest & Zaiya by offering more hot food, served fresh, and a whole grocery section. They will probably end up being be most similar to Yagura, one of the other Japanese places that makes up the “trinity” on 41st btw. Mad+5th.

If you are into seeing construction in action, that shot is after the jump… 

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Another Japanese Bento Place to Compete With Zaiya

Dainobu

Cafe Zest (on 47th btw. Lex+3rd), the semi-upscale Japanese bento place from the owners of Cafe Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th) is about to get some competition. A few doors down, the space that used to be a Burger King now has signs for “Dainobu” a Japanese Grocery/Bento/Sushi/Deli coming soon from Japan. Their website is no help at all, but I’m always up for more Japanese fun in Midtown! I’ll keep an eye on the progress…