Midtown Lunch

Left is Mine, Right is Hers

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…

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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…

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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.

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I am usually staunchly against eating lunch at your desk, and mostly against bringing your lunch to work (it would be the death of this site), but in these economic times even I admit that it’s tough to eat out every day. If you love sushi, it’s even harder. Lunch’er Jacob comes to the rescue with this awesome suggestion, co-opted from another commenter:

I love Yagura (on 41st btw. Mad+5th). What a treasure. Their curries are awesome. The udon/soba is so cheap and tasty. But, this week, I decided to take Ubu Walker’s advice and I have been making two sushi rolls and a few bite-sized rice balls for under $5 at work. I bought vinegar, soy sauce, a package of roasted sesame seeds, wasabi, and nori. Now each day I just go in and buy some sashimi meat and rice. You can get enough spicy tuna for two rolls for about $2 and rice for $1.50, or enough plain tuna for two rolls for about $4.

Your ideas are intriguing and I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter. Photos please…  

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Fresh on the heels of yesterdays post on how to make a complete Midtown Lunch out of free samples comes this ridiculousness.  Free sushi samples, on the street, in the hot sun, from a pizza place.  No joke.  Yesterday, Madrit’s Pronto Pizza on 55th btw. 5+6th added a sushi bar to their establishment, and to generate interest they were giving away free samples today in front of the store. I’d like to pretend like I didn’t try it, but I’m a gross man, and couldn’t help myself.  Luckily I’m still alive to type this…

I don’t think I’ll ever be getting the sushi from Madrit’s Pronto, but they do have a pretty sweet outdoor seating area in the back, so I may have to go back for a slice.

Photo by seraphim1970

Thanks to Gen from Foodies R Goodies for passing this info along.  Naruto Sushi, the take out Japanese place on 49th btw. Mad+5th is now Shinbashi 49.  Operated out of the back of the upscale sushi restaurant of the same name, Naruto was originally designed to be its own separate store, with its own management.  The owners decided that wasn’t working, so now it’s being run by the same people who run Shinbashi on 48th btw. Mad+5th.

I may be on crack, but it looks like there may have been an improvement in the quality of the rice since I wrote about Naruto.  I didn’t try anything, so I don’t know for sure… but if you work in the area, and are looking for decent take out sushi, you could probably do a lot worse than this place.  If you check it out, feel free to comment below.

And for more photos, check out Gen’s post at FoodiesRGoodies

Seeing as I am addicted to all Asian food, I was pretty excited a year ago when Yushi Bento Bar opened up on 47th St. btw. Park and Lex. Maybe that explains why I was so disappointed to find pretty bland, overpriced bentos, in a setting where salad and low calories seemed more important than taste. I called it “style over substance”, meaning that clearly they were more concerned with making beautiful food than filling you up. There is no question the bentos are made with quality ingredients, and they have a wide array of sauces to spruce up whatever you order- but with so many other great Japanese bento places in Midtown, this expensive bento bar just didn’t seem to make the Midtown Lunch cut.

That is until last week. It’s been a year since I’ve been inside Yushi, and I decided to just pop in and see what was going on. And that’s when I noticed this: “Peking Duck Roll.” Oh yeah? Delicious roasted duck, in sushi form? Expensive or not, how could I not try it? Read more »

My search for decent (but cheap) sushi in Midtown has been well documented, and while I think Aoki on 48th btw. 7+8th is probably the best quality to price ratio (even with their recent increase), it still isn’t truly a Midtown Lunch. You have to sit in a pretty nice restaurant and order from a waiter, or order in advance, and take the food to go. I still haven’t found a true take out sushi place to fully get behind, and it’s that quest, which took me to Norimaki on Monday.

Situated in a long and thin, oddly antiseptic storefront on 35th btw. 7+8th, there is still a lot to like about Norimaki. You order from a counter, but they have a number of tables, and a long bar with stools for you to eat your sushi at. They have pre-made rolls, or you can order your food to be assembled fresh, and everything is sold in very small portions (mostly 3 pieces) so you can mix and match for optimum variety.    Read more »