We recently received a tip from Lunch’er “Victor” alerting us to a new sushi place that popped up in the atrium of the Citi Building on 53rd and Lex. But this isn’t just any old neighborhood sushi joint. Here, all orders are placed on iPads! I know what you’re thinking. “Sure, that’s pretty cool, but is the food any good?”  Let’s take a look:

The menus on the iPads are easily navigable and it’s pretty simple to place your order and pay without ever actually having to interact with a human (although there was someone walking around helping if you are unfamiliar with using an iPad).

Most of their sushi is offered in “maki bite” form, which is fancy lingo for a single piece of a sushi roll. These cost $1 to $1.20 depending on the variety, and you can mix and match so you don’t have to get a whole roll of a single kind. So, that comes out to $6 for a standard six-piece tuna roll, which is quite a bit more than the usual $4 to $5 I’m used to spending. I realized quickly that I wasn’t going to get out of here for under $10 with a satisfying lunch. I ended up choosing six Maki Bites and an order of gyoza, for a grand total of $12.63 including tax.

It was a paltry amount of food for the money, but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend any more on my meal. I had an order of 5 pork gyoza ($5), 4 salmon-avocado maki bites ($1.15 apiece), and 2 yellowtail maki bites ($1 each). I didn’t mean to get so many salmon-avocado ones, but I took too long playing with the iPad and perusing the menu and forgot I had already ordered it. Whoops.

The pork gyoza were pan-fried, with a crispy bottom, delicate skins, and very flavorful pork filling. They came with a slightly spicy soy dipping sauce that had a strong lime flavor, unexpected but enjoyable. The maki bites were actually very good. I was glad to see there was plenty of fish inside, more than your usual “lunch special” sushi roll. The avocado was ripe, the rolls were well-constructed, and the fish all tasted very fresh.

Sushi-teria is definitely in splurge territory as it is all but impossible to get out of there for under $10. The food is good and the people are very nice, but $1 or more for a single bite of sushi is just painful to pay. It’s unfortunate, but I won’t be replacing my regular go-to sushi lunch special with this place anytime soon.

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

• iPads! Cool!
• There is lots of fish in the rolls, I’m tired of getting a bunch of rice with a teeny piece of fish in the middle.
• I work in the Citi Building and this place is super convenient.

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

• I don’t care how much fish there is in there, these Maki Bites are just way too expensive.
• Why do I need to mess with this iPad, can’t I just tell someone my order?
• Did I mention it’s expensive?

Sushi-teria, Citigroup Building Atrium, 601 Lexington Ave (btw. 52 + 53rd), (212) 355-2229

Passed by this on 8th ave and 38th and thought I’d share this with y’all. It’s still in plywood but they finally put up the signage for Roll and Go, and there’s a sign on the window saying they’re hiring sushi chefs… sooooo I’m assuming this is referring to sushi rolls. Is this just going to be just another generic Midtown sushi place? Or could it possibly be something worthwhile? Will it be in the $10 ML price range? Only time will tell.

Ah El Mar: that great big blue that brings us such delicacies as the spicy tuna roll, salmon sashimi and shrimp tempura. Can there be a better piscatorial lunch then a plate of the finest of the sea? Freshly hooked, gutted, sliced and then served raw begging to take a little dunk into a shallow pool of salty soy sauce and nasal watering wasabi. I think not!

ML has always had an ideal vision of what an affordable sushi lunch should cost: 3 rolls for under $10. Any sushi lover out there knows that’s a tough one. Getting 2 rolls tends to be doable in most cheap Japanese eateries, especially if you include those refrigerated cases at delis and markets. However, ML is not about imitation crab and massed produced bento boxes. 2 rolls are for suckahs! Eaters like us need the magic number 3 to satisfy our gastronomic needs. For a while Aoki filled that craving, but their fishy trinity has increased to $11 and they are dead to us hardcore lunchers. Enter Hiroshi (on 3rd Ave btw. 38+39th) and things start to look up for us sushi loving lunchers on the eastside.

I’m relieved to tell you this is not another review of cheap drugstore or hospice sushi. Hiroshi has a full sushi bar and offers the familiar list of fresh made rolls, sashimi, teriyaki, soba, plus some Thai options like Pad Thai and Curry like you’ll find at most Japanese fusion restaurants. The space is deli sized but the ambiance is calm, clean and modest.

The lunch special is for dine in and take out. It offers any 3 rolls with soup and a salad for $9.50 or an array of hot kitchen items, like sesame crusted salmon ($9.95), Thai basil ($7.75) and lemongrass shrimp ($9), all from 11am-3pm. The roll special cuts it a bit close at $9.50, but for all that food I’m sure we can ignore a few cents tax right? I succumbed to the siren call of salmon avocado, eel avocado and spicy tuna -which turned out to be a crunchy spicy tuna roll, even better!

In addition, the salad was fresh and even had some baby greens, as opposed to that all iceberg lettuce crap that you get all too often. The soup was decent, but far from the best miso soups I’ve had.

3 rolls, soup and salad made for a Neptune inducing coma and well worth the $10. Yet, I would be remiss if I didn’t also share this nugget of lushy goodness. Hiroshi also does an “All You Can Drink” special EVERY DAY from 5 to 11pm for $12.95. Now don’t wet yourselves yet, you only get 2 hours worth of drinking in that period and in addition you also have to purchase $13 dollars worth of food. As far as the lunch special is concerned: Eastside pescetarians rejoice, this is your new sushi destination!

The + (What people who like this place would say)

• 3 rolls for $10!
• With the addition of soup and salad this is enough food for any big eater
• Special is available for dine-in, and the space and staff is welcoming

The – (What people who don’t like this place would say)

• Obviously the lunch menu does not include fancy rolls like dynamite or spider rolls
• This is not an upscale Japanese restaurant, if you’re hosting clients look elsewhere
• With sushi, you get what you pay for.  (And I’d rather pay!)

Hiroshi, 585 3rd Ave (btw 38+39th), 212-661-9288

Dear God,

Hello, it’s me Mamacita. I know I haven’t been the best lamb in your flock these past few years. In fact, I think I ate some of the flock over rice with white sauce recently. Nevertheless, I ask you now to stand beside me and guide me through this fishy situation. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no fish; for thy stomach pump and Immodium A-D are with me.

Last week everybody was talking Duane Reade sushi.  But that is child’s play when compared to this challenge. Yes, I am facing this thing we humans call Jack’s $1.99 sushi rolls. People can talk all they want about it, but it is time someone put their roll where their mouth is. How can such an abomination exist and at such a low price? Such dubious consumables are not meant for this world. I can’t answer such an existential question, I can only follow my destiny: to be the cheap and hungry girl that eats the stuff no sane person would touch. So be it. I’m sailing the ship called Jack’s 99 Cent Store and it’s a one-way ticket to the porcelain gods. So here I go.

When I entered Jack’s refrigerated aisle I noticed a couple things. First was the mind-boggling sight of 20 pounds of frozen fish fillets. You can buy a fillet to take home to cook for only $1.29. That’s about the price of a pack of Twinkies. As I came to the sushi section I saw an older Asian woman picking up container after container, eying them up, then putting them back unimpressed. Well that instills confidence.

Once again, I went all out and got the spicy tuna roll and also the salmon/avocado roll. Really, Midtown Lunch needs to get a health plan. I’m just saying, Lord knows what bacteria I was about to ingest. Two containers of raw discount store sushi came to a grand total of $3.98. A bargain basement deal! I took it back to my secret ML lair and unlike last weeks sushi challenge, there was no use bringing the cat litmus test into this. If he turned his nose up at $9 sushi there’s no way he’ll try the 2 buck up-chuck. Plus there is only room for one Evil Knievel in this household. So it was with pounding heart and trembling chopsticks I dug in.

The avocado in the salmon roll was tainted with little brown specks, denoting an over ripe/going bad fruit. I was surprised that the salmon all in all didn’t look too shabby, but the rice was dry and so was the seaweed wrapper. This was also true of the spicy roll.

There wasn’t really very much tuna in the roll, what was there didn’t look fresh and pink. I ate it anyways. Hell, might as well go out with a bang. The one oddly positive point was that unlike the Duane Reade sushi these rolls had black and golden sesame seeds.

If I were Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto I’d give the Jack’s sushi a minus 5.

So take my advice, don’t try this at home –or anywhere really.

Jack’s 99 Cent Store, 110 West 32nd Street (btw. 6+7th), 212-268-9962‎

It was with a heavy heart I left my apartment with one last kiss goodbye to my boyfriend. The future ahead of me looked dim, but the task before me demanded courage and strength of will. I had to put on my big girl pants and face the Duane Reade sushi challenge like a true gastronomic gladiator. My arena would not be filled with salivating spectators, but with bright florescent aisles packed with cosmetics, junk food and pharmaceuticals. In fact the DR pharmacy might play a vital part in the aftermath of this challenge. Dios mio man! Will Mamacita meet her maker at the hands of ptomaine poisoning? Find out after the jump!

I took a deep breath as the automatic doors slid open at the Duane Reade on 51st Street & 6th Ave.. Right in the center aisle was a round display of chilled sandwiches and 3 types of sushi. California rolls with imitation crab, spicy tuna and a combo of salmon nigiri with a spicy tuna roll. My choice was obvious. I wasn’t going to wuss out with cooked fish. The combo was the sure way to give me that one-two punch in the midsection. Now $9 dollars lighter in the pocket I took my meal back to home base for examination.

For this special assignment I figured I might need a helping hand from a specialist on dubious seafood and back alley delights. I brought in my resident expert Senor Don Gato. This is a cat that was eating out of garbage cans before I took him in and he is constantly hungry. His, shall we say, adventurous palate was exactly what I needed on a task like this. It’s about time the little freeloading bastard earned his keep and who better to be the proverbial “canary in the coal mine” for this challenge? Would DR sushi get the feline seal of approval?

I offered him a spicy roll. He declined. I offered him the salmon. He turned his tail at it!

The fact that the cat didn’t want anything to do with the Duane Reade sushi inspired no small amount of trepidation. Perhaps neither man nor beast should consume convenient-store bought meals in the raw.

The moment of truth had come; it was my turn to cowboy up. With a heart full of fear I took a bite. First thought was it just tasted like the soy sauce I dipped it in, the second piece without sauce still tasted bland. I guess that’s better then tasting like something scooped out of the East River. At press time, I’m still alive and regular, but would not suggest you try this at home. Leave this work to the professionals.

Yet, my journey is not yet finished. I obviously have a death wish, so I might as well go full monty. If I don’t end up in the hospital with severe dysentery, you might find me testing out the sushi at Jack’s 99 cent store today. Stay tuned.

Duane Reade, 51st & 6th Ave.

I have slowly come to the realization that in the matter of sushi (as it pertains to Midtown Lunch’ing) I will never find the holy grail. In other words, you pretty much always get what you pay for… and it’s impossible to get a ton of sushi for less than $10, and also have it be edible. But if push comes to shove, my favorite spot is still Aoki (on 48th btw. 7+8th) even though they raised the price of their 3 roll lunch special from $10 to $11.  Tasty Eating is apparently a fan as well, and I couldn’t help but notice that her roll choice is a mirror image of my standard order:  eel and avocado, crunchy spicy tuna (don’t judge me), & shrimp tempura.  Great minds, I guess?  What’s your ideal three roll combo?

Related:
3 Quality Sushi Rolls for $10? Aoki Me!

Photos courtesy of Food in Mouth

I’ve always wanted to try that Bento Nouveau place (on 39th and Broadway), but after reading this review on Food in Mouth I might pass.  They have inexpensive pre-made sushi and udon noodle soups, but Danny went for the beef sukiyaki, which doesn’t look too appetizing- and that’s saying a lot because his photography usually makes the ugliest food look great. Overriding theme of the post: you’re better off going to Woorijip (on 32nd btw. 5+B’way.)

Anybody else eaten at this place?  If there is anything worth trying, post about it in the comments.

I’ll admit I completely dismissed Asian Station, the new semi-chic looking Asian restaurant that opened over a month ago next to Bombay Bistro on 52nd btw. 3rd+Lex. Aside from it being a little too cool for school, they didn’t have a menu in the window- and from the looks of it, there was no way it was going to be cheap enough for Midtown Lunch’ing purposes. I do love Asian food though, so I was excited to hear yesterday that their lunch specials are actually well under $10! That’s the good news. The bad news is, they serve Japanese, Chinese, AND Thai food.

Lunch’er Joe was kind enough to transcribe the menu for us. It’s after the jump…

Lunch comes served with soup or salad — white or brown rice

Crispy White Meat Sesame Chicken $7
General Tso’s Crispy White Meat Chicken $7
Szechuan Crispy Shredded Dried Beef $8
Malaysian Sambal White Chicken/Prawns $8/9
Basil Chicken $7
Ginger Chicken $7
Pad Thai Noodles with:

• Vegetables $7
• White meat chicken $8
• Jumbo Shrimp $8

Fresh Broccoli in Brown Sauce with:

• Vegetables $6
• White meat chicken $7
• Beef $7
• Jumbo Shrimp $8

Baby Eggplant in Garlic Sauce with:

• Vegetables $6
• White meat chicken $7
• Beef $7
• Jumbo Shrimp $8

Mixed Vegetable in Brown Sauce with:

• Vegetables $6
• White meat chicken $7
• Beef $7
• Jumbo Shrimp $8

BENTO BOXES:
All served w/california roll shumai, soup, salad, rice

Chicken Teriyaki/Salmon Teriyaki $8
Beef Terriyaki/Shrimp Teriyaki $9
Beef Negamaki $8
Shrimp & Vegetable Tempura $8
Sushi/Sashimi $10

SUSHI BAR:

Sushi Lunch (6pcs & california roll) $10
Sashimi Lunch (12 pcs) $11
Sushi/Sashimi Lunch (4pcs sushi / 7pcs sashimi & spicy tuna) $15

Maki Combo: two rolls = $8 three rolls=$10
I’m not going to list all of the roll choices, but there are 18

(….remind me next time not to transcribe the menu….)

Joe… you’re a good man!  So, reading over this menu I have conflicting emotions.  I love Asian food… but hate 3 kinds of Asian food under one roof.  I love General Tso’s chicken… but I’m weary of a place that advertises their “white meat”.  3 sushi rolls for $10 is a great deal… but do you really want to eat sushi from a place that also serves Pad Thai and General Tso’s. This place use to be a fairly mediocre cheap Chinese food take out place (called Asian Bowl) that also served weird looking sushi and bad Thai food.  If it’s the same exact food, in a redesigned space that does not bode well…

All the signals point to no, but my Asian food loving stomach points to yes  (and you know who always wins in that battle.)  If only my brain and gut could get together on these decisions.  Clearly I’m going to end up going and trying this place.  Any early adopters been to Asian Station yet?  Let us know how it is in the comments…

Asian Station, 155 E. 52nd St (btw. 3rd+Lex), 212-752-1142

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

If you read this site often, you know I have fairly strict rules about price. I feel in my heart that lunch should not cost a person more than $10.  But I have equally strong feelings about buffets, and when it comes to something like the concept of all-u-can-eat, well… I can’t help but think that rules were meant to be broken.  I’ll admit up front I don’t break the rule too often for Indian buffets (there are good Indian buffets in Midtown for $10 to $11… so why spend $17?) but when it comes to Asian buffets, all bets are off.  So, two years ago this month I made a price exception and hit up the Todai buffet on 32nd btw. Madison+5th. I thought it was just ok, and definitely not as good as when it was Minado (its previous buffet incarnation, before being bought out by the big buffet chain.)

Since that time the price has gone up to $18.95, not completely shocking for a sushi buffet, but waaaay out of the Midtown Lunch price range (even for a buffet lover like me.)  But when I got an email invite to buffet it up with competitve eater (and profiled Midtown Lunch’er) Crazy Legs Conti and a few of his competitive eating buddies, how could I say no!?!

The play by play of our meal, their pearls of wisdom, and a photo of every plate put down by Crazy Legs… all after the jump.

It’s no secret that my dream-my “goal in life” if you will-is to strike fear in the heart of every buffet owner whose establishment I step into.  I even created a “Guide to Beating the All You Can Eat Chinese Buffet”; a life’s work (if you will) that consists of my rules for attacking a buffet. But, truth be told, I am a fat man… but not *that* fat.  And I’m short.  And while I can eat like a champ, I’m not an imposing figure.  What I’m saying is, no buffet owner is going to be afraid of losing his business after one of my visits.

These guys?  Now that’s a different story…

Beautiful Brian Seiken, Nasty Nate Biller, Crazy Legs Conti (Leon Feingold showed up later)

First sign I knew I was about to eat with professionals?  The original meeting time was set for 1:30pm… until Beautiful Brian set us all straight.  “The place fills up with too many people by that time.  We should get there for the opening bell.”  Awesome.  11:45 it is.  (We planned to meet at 11:30, just to be safe.)

Just walking in to the place with Brian, Nate and Crazy Legs made me feel like a champ.  It was like being part of some secret Las Vegas card counting team. As we were being lead to the table, all I could think was “this place has no idea what’s about to hit them.”

I was glad to see that the quality of the food had increased with the price.  It was more expensive than 2 years ago, but the sushi was much better- borderline very good.  Getting there early ensured that we had the pick of all the best stuff. And they didn’t do the classic sushi buffet trick of overloading each piece with rice.  In fact, the ratio of fish to rice was better than many sit down restaurants where you are paying by the piece.  I have to say, I was kind of impressed. They even had sea urchin! Alot of the hot food looked great too, so for my first “feeler” plate I did the classic “take a small bit of everything that looks good.” I did a good job on staying away from the sushi rolls, and focusing my seafood eating on the piece of sushi (which had less rice.)

When you are a mere mortal, portion control is very important.  You don’t want to load up on any one item that may or may not be good, because then you may end up wasting valuable space in your stomach on stuff that isn’t as tasty.  For competitive eaters, with bottomless stomachs, fear of getting full is not really an issue.

Nasty Nate Biller’s strategy was pretty simple.  Start from the left side of the buffet, load your plate up, and then work your way down the line, trip by trip, plate by plate.  He only eats 1 meal a day (sometimes 1 meal every two days) so this is it for him.  “Getting full” off the wrong items isn’t really a concern.  His first plate was all sushi from the far left hand side of the buffet.

Crazy Legs Conti attacked the buffet from a different mind set.  Like me, he does a walk-through before taking any food, just to survey the scene.  See what’s going on… and develop a plan of action. He also liked to group his plates into categories.  Here they are, in chronological order:

Plate 1: Crazy legs called this “Breakfast”. He also said he doesn’t like going immediately for the big money items… and yet his first plate was chock full of them. Stuffed clams, mussels, and two servings of tuna tartare (strong!).

Plate 2: Then he dippes his toe in on the sushi side…

Plate 3: And back again… for one of every single sushi roll.

Plate 4: My favorite quote of the day… as we were surveying the buffet at the beginning “Crazy Legs” spotted a couple of whole fish, which usually get cut up into pieces by the buffet-goers. His remark “Oooh. Whole fish. We’ll definitely have to get one of those.” Unfortunately, by the time he made it back to that part of the buffet, the fish had already been torn into, and he had to settle for just the tail portion. I really wanted one of his plates to have an entire fish on it. Oh well… you do what you can.

Plate 5: The Best-Of plate. Or what I like to call “my second plate.” My buffet usually breaks down like this. First plate is the feeler plate (little bits of everything that looks good), second plate is a best of plate. Third plate (usually 1/3 to 1/2 full) is those last few things I just can’t resist stuffing myself with (this plate often will include one last chicken wing and one last onion ring.) Crazy Legs’ “best of” plate was Plate #5. Clearly I have a lot to learn.

Plate 6: The palate cleansing “salad plate.” I usually don’t waste any of my stomach space on salad, but it’s hard to criticize a guy who ate 3 times as much as I did.

Plate 7: At this point Crazy Legs really had to get back to work, but unable to complete the meal without a little bit of dessert… he had one piece of jello. It may have been more for comedy than anything, but it still resonated with me on a very serious level. I don’t know why, but I must end every buffet trip with a little bit of jello.

Now, I know what a lot of you are thinking… actually that’s not true. I know what the fatso/buffet king crowd is thinking. “I expected him to eat more.” Well, in fairness to Crazy Legs, he had to get back to work- and technically their “Major League Eating contracts disallow ‘eating for time, speed, or quantity’ in unsanctioned conditions.” So for these guys, it was just a casual lunch among friends… and I’m pretty sure none of them left completely stuffed. I on the other hand, had to be rolled home.

Todai, 6 E. 32nd St. (btw. Madison+5th), 212-725-1333

One final note: The buffet is $18.95 Monday through Thursday. On Fridays the price goes up to $21.95. Also, Todai is about to change their name to Ichi Umi for some unknown reason. The lady at the front said that it would be the same food, same price, and same owners… just a different name. So don’t get confused when they put the new signs up.