As much I love meat on a stick, I admit I haven’t been back to Kushi Q (on 3rd Ave. btw. 45+46th) since they first opened almost 3 years ago. I liked it enough, for a fast food-under $10 yakitori spot, but it’s always tough for me to revisit a place. What can I say? Midtown lunch is a tough a gig. :-)

But when I heard they had opened a new location in the CitiGroup Center basement food court (on 53rd btw. Lex+3rd), I figured it was a good excuse for some fast food meat on a stick action… and it turns out they’ve made some positive changes in two years (go figure!)

My biggest complaint on the first visit was that 3 skewers isn’t enough food.  Well, I don’t know when they made this change but they now offer 5 skewer combo meals, which can be under $10 depending on what you order.  If you want all chicken, it’s only $8.80 (and comes with a soup and salad or rice) or you can spend $10.20 and choose any 5 sticks you want (not counting the shrimp.)  I know it breaks the rules by 20 cents… but whatever.  Fat man want five sticks.

Nothing crazy… from bottom to top, I went with fried chicken, beef, chicken, Japanese style berkshire sausage (aka mini hot dog!), and fried gyoza.  The chicken was less dry than I remember from my first visit, but I’m sure it’s a crapshoot every time you visit depending on who is working the grill.  Beef was good, and how could the fried chicken be bad?  They dip every stick into sweet teriyaki glaze that is tasty, and not too sweet.  The “Berkshire sausage” looked and tasted just like a mini hot dog, which could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how much you like hot dogs. (I like it, natch.)  As for the fried dumplings, they were fried- so clealy they weren’t terrible.  But they didn’t have much flavor. Truthfully I was just curious what fried dumplings on a stick looked like. The combo comes with a miso soup (which tows a very very fine line between decent and dishwater… although leans slightly more towards dishwater) and rice or salad, but they’ll give you half and half if you ask.  With the five skewers, rice and salad it is now a completely filling Midtown Lunch.

Not everybody is down though.  Lunch’er “Andrew” went last week and filed this report in the comments:

I went today for lunch, and it was not awful but it was disappointing. The wait was long even though there were only a couple of orders in front of me. It looked to me like perhaps their grill was not hot enough, but also that they had not kept loading the grill up with raw stuff as the cooked stuff came off. As I stood there they finally loaded up the grill with lots more skewers although I don’t know who they were planning to sell those to because there was no one behind me.

I wouldn’t have minded the wait if the result had not been some pretty bland chicken. The meat seemed like ok meat, not dry, but it just needed some seasoning. They give it a dip in some sauce before it goes in your box, and the sauce has some flavor to it but there just wasn’t enough sauce on their to rescue the dish. I’m curious to go back and try the salmon or pork but I won’t bother with the chicken again.

The bento box comes with salad, which was fine, and miso soup, which was the worst version of miso I have ever had – it reminded me of the dishwater that seemed to be dripping off the disgusting dumplings I once tried from the Rickshaw cart. I didn’t think it was worth $10 for five skewers of bland chicken and some salad and some dishwater soup. When I go back I will try ala carte.

The key to Kushi Q is expectations. If you’re looking for a quality yakitori lunch, Yakitori Totto’s newish $10 lunch special is as good as it gets (on 55th btw. B’way+8th).  Expect the same from Kushi Q and you are going to be pretty disappointed. But for fast food, I’m totally down.

They’ve also added two new menu items… curry rice and steamed lotus bun sandwiches. I”m definitely interested in going back to try both. They’ve been selling out of the sandwiches before lunch, but I suspect they’ll adjust to accommodate demand.

The +/- is pretty much the same as it was 2 1/2 years ago… but boils down to this. Go in with really high expectations, and you’ll find plenty you could critique. But if you love mall food court cuisine (which I do), you could do a lot worse than this tasty Japanese meat on a stick chain.

Kushi Q (Two Locations)

• 723 3rd. St. (btw. 45+46th), 212-682-5238
• 153 E. 53rd St. Atrium Level (btw. Lex+3rd)

Related:
Kushi Q… A Proper Review (with some tech porn for the Nerds)

It’s been awhile since we mentioned Kushi-Q, the Japanese fast food yakitori place on 3rd Ave btw. 45+46th. Apparently they are doing well enough to expand… the plan is to open this 2nd location inside the Citigroup Building food court on 53rd btw. Lex+3rd sometime in September.

Related:
Kushi Q… A Proper Review (with some tech porn for the Nerds)

Not discouraged by all the early negativity, I headed over to check Kushi Q out last week…. and was pleasantly surprised.  It’s not without its problems- but the potential is there.  What I got, the +/-, and pictures of futuristic machinery necessary to serve fast food yakitori- after the jump…

Technically Yakitori refers to various chicken parts on a stick, but Kushi Q has more than just chicken.  The grilled chicken is the signature skewer, but there is also fried chicken, bacon, salmon, beef, Japanese berkshire sausage with pineapple, tofu and vegetables.  You can order skewers ala carte (prices ranging from $1.50 to $2.50), or as a Bento Set which comes with rice or salad, miso soup and pickled radish.

Much like Oms/b, there are many different combinations available, and it takes some deciphering to figure out.  If you don’t care about variety, the chicken yakitori bento set is the cheapest way to go ($6.50).  The most expensive is the set that allows you to choose your own 3 skewers ($7.90).  The skewers are not huge, but with the rice and soup it can be filling.  You can always add extra skewers, or a side order to complement your meal. 

You can get out of Kushi Q for under $10, but it is going to be on the high end of the Midtown Lunch price scale, and you are not talking about a rediculous amount of food for your money.  But, when compared to most Yakitori places in Midtown (where skewers start at $2.50), it is very reasonably priced.  The quality of the meat is not going to be as good as the sit down places where the skewers are grilled to order- but that’s why Kushi Q is slightly cheaper.

In the end if you go expecting super cheap, meat on a stick, American style (aka big chunks of chicken breast)- you are going to be disappointed.  Too expensive, and not enough food.  On the other end of the spectrum, if you go expecting Grade A yakitori, you will also be disappointed.  The price is right, but the quality and expertise of the grilling will not be there.  Kushi Q lives somewhere in the middle.

The one thing I can complain about is the sweet potato fries.  I was very excited about these for a few reasons.  #1.  They are sweet potato fries!  #2.  They were only $1.50 (for a snack size order).  #3.  They come covered in honey and black sesame seeds.  I know it’s the first week, but the fries were a big let down. 

The first thing…  don’t expect yams (the red potato that one usually thinks of when you think “sweet potato”.  The sweet potato they use is a Japanese variety called Kotobuki, and is a lightly colored potato. This wouldn’t be a big issue if they tasted good… but they didn’t.  Kotobuki are drier and less sweet than traditional Sweet Potatoes, but I don’t think that was it.  I’m not sure if they were undercooked, or what… but I feel pretty confident in saying they were terrible.  Do I just not know what Japanese fries are supposed to taste like?  The honey and sesame seeds touch is amazing, so I’m hoping my order was just an anomaly because they were rushing.

Finally, the coolest part of the place.  The machinery!   The first thing you notice when you walk into Kushi Q, is the chicken skewer dipping mechamism.  Sort of like a conveyer belt of meats on a stick, it rotates in a oval, dipping the skewers in a marinade on either end, while cooking them as they come down each straight-away.  I’m not exactly sure if it serves a purpose (the skewers get brushed with sauce and cooked on the flat grill in addition), but it’s a pretty mesmerizing contraption.

The second contraption is when you pay.  They write your order down on these scantron looking bubble sheets (remember those from Junior High?), and then they slide them through a reader to determine how much you owe.  I’m always concerned about price when eating lunch (I’m fat, and can sometimes get out of control with the ordering), but the scantron machine adds that extra layer of stress while you remind yourself that you’re not being graded on your ordering.

Scantron machines and meat on a stick conveyer belts may not make the lunch worth the extra money (for some), but if you are looking for something fun and different to do on your lunch hour, that involves meat on a stick- Kushi Q is a great addition to Midtown Lunch’ing!

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

• Japanese style Meat on Stick… at lunch time!
• If you are willing to pay for it, it’s great variety
• Cheaper than a sit down yakitori place in Midtown
• It’s fun!
• There’s nothing else like it in Midtown, for lunch
• It’s grilled, so it’s reasonably healthy compared to a lot of Midtown Lunches

THE – (what people who don’t like this place would say)

• Depending on what you order, it can get pricey
• It’s not enough food
• The quality is not as good as real Yakitori (where’s the char grilled taste!)
• The chicken is not pure white meat chicken chunks (American Style!)
• Depending on when you go, you can either get sticks fresh off the grill, or the ones sitting awhile on the plates (but as it gets more and more popular, I think everything will be fresher)
• The sweet potato fries are terrible!!!!  (At least mine were…)
• The vegetable skwers are a little weak for the price.
• Too expensive, and not enough food (did that get mentioned???)

Kushi Q, 723 3rd. St. (btw. 45+46th), 212-682-5238