Midtown Lunch

This awesomeness popped up on the corner of 3rd Ave. & 43rd St.  What exactly is Crisp you ask?  No info on their website, but we get two clues:  “Fast fresh food that syncs your taste with your conscience.”  And, “It’s not what you think.  It’s better.”  Hmm… that’s interesting.  So it’s not an organic version of a generic salad bar/Midtown deli?  It’s better.  Can’t wait…

Just around the corner, on 43rd btw. Lex+3rd, the first Manhattan location of Camille’s Sidewalk Cafe has opened up, a chain with most of its locations in California, Oklahoma, Texas & Florida.  With a menu of fancy wraps, salads, pizzas and panini, I was slightly intrigued by their Bangkok Thai Wrap, until I saw that they add water chesnuts (meh), and provolone (huh?).  Oh well.

Blue Pig says goodbye, while Pinkberry says hello, after the jump… Read more »

******************THIS PLACE IS NOW CLOSED***********************

What kind of price do you put on having a fun meal?  It’s not a new question.  For example, are you willing to pay $50 to eat mediocre roast chicken with your hands?  That doesn’t sound like a good deal.  What if there are grown men jousting in the middle of the restaurant?  Hello!  Or perhaps you’d like some chicken and steak stir fry for $30?  I can get that for $7 at any food court.  What if a “Japanese” guy named “Jimmy” prepares and cooks the food right in front of you, throwing the shrimp tails into his giant chef’s hat?  Now that sound likes fun!

In the end Sakae Sushi is no different then Medieval Times or Benihana.  They’re asking how much extra are you willing to pay for sushi when it moves around the restaurant on little colored plates.  Not enough fun?  Let’s throw in computerized ordering!  This sounds awesome.  I love conveyor belt sushi!  And, I also love weird rolls.  And mayo.  And I don’t have to know what I’m eating to eat it.  And that’s what Sakae is all about.  If you like crazy rolls that pair fried stuff with cooked stuff, topped with raw stuff and smothered in some mayo based sauce, then you’re golden.

Loves conveyor belt.  Check.  Loves weird rolls.  Check.  Loves fun.  Check.  I should have loved Sakae Sushi.  Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work out that way.  All the reasons why, after the jump… Read more »

Have you figured out yet that I’m excited for conveyor belt sushi from Singapore?  It’s not open yet, but after much begging, they finally let me into Sakae Sushi (43rd btw. Lex+3rd) last night for a first look at the conveyor belt and computer system (which they’ve been putting together all week). 

The belt itself, which snakes in a u shape around the entire restaurant, carrying little small plates of sushi to every table, doesn’t actually go back into the kitchen- where all the food is prepared.  There are no sushi bars either.  All the food is made in the back, and brought out by servers to be placed on the conveyor belt.

For those “crazy” people, who don’t want to eat sushi off a conveyor belt, there is a mouse operated computer at each table you can use to order anything off of the menu.  This not only includes freshly made small plates of sushi, but larger things that don’t fit on the conveyor belt as well.

A look at the complete menu after the jump, plus an update on their “Friday” Grand Opening… Read more »

It looks like we are just days away from the opening of Singaporean conveyor belt sushi chain Sakae Sushi on 43rd St. btw. Lex+3rd.  Already enormously popular in Asia, this will be their first location in the USA, complete with signature computerized ordering and hot water spouts (for refilling tea) at every table, plus the main event… little plates of sushi ushered from seat to seat via conveyor belt.   

Two emails were sent out today about the place, with both Urbandaddy giving the impression that the place is already open (it’s not), while and Thrillist are reporting a Friday grand opening (albeit without hot water spouts, which they report will be installed in the next month).  (Urbandaddy did make a fleeting mention of the Friday opening, so I’ve modified the post to reflect that.  I just didn’t notice it when I read their email.) The photo above was taken at Sakae Sushi today at 2pm, and our sources are saying they *hope* to be open on Friday, but if not Friday- then ”probably” Monday.  With the way red tape works in NYC, I’ll believe it when I see the conveyor belts fired up, and moving little plates of raw fish.  Either way, as soon as I know, you’ll know…

I may be too excited to type out this post.  Sushi.  On conveyor belts.  In Midtown.  Oh my lord,  my prayers have been answered.  No, not the one where David Chang starts serving Korean burritos out of a cart on 49th St. & 6th Ave,  or the one where Saigon Banh Mi opens a Midtown branch, but doesn’t change their prices.  It’s the dream, where I’m sitting in a Midtown Japanese restaurant, and all the food is circling around me, there for the taking, around and around, each plate begging “Pick me!”  “Take me!” “Don’t I look good?!?”

That’s a good dream.  And hopefully by the end of the year, I will finally get to visit this place while I’m awake.  Sushi Sakae, a very large and famous Singapore chain of Japanese (go figure) Conveyor Belt Sushi restaurants is opening their first U.S. location here in Midtown.  It’s going up on 43rd btw. Lex. & 3rd Ave. and they are hoping to open it by the end of November.

Conveyor belt porn, and a sneak peak, advance look at the U.S. take out menu- after the jump… Read more »

There are some things that are such an awesome deal they supercede quality.  In fact the occurance is so rare, that when you find the deal, you are so excited, you forget what the thing you’re eating even tastes like.  The under $10 buffet.  Steak & Eggs in Vegas.  Taco Bell in the old days.  And of course… 99 cent pizza.  Pizza is everywhere in New York.  Good pizza is everywhere in New York.  But you never see a slice below $2.  And in Midtown, the price is sometimes jacked up to a ridiculous $2.50 a slice.  Nevermind wanting toppings or a drink.  The pizza is good… but a lunch ends up costing you $7… for pizza.  Enter 99¢ Fresh Pizza to save the day!

Anyone who has ever been behind the Port Authority on 9th Avenue has seen the 99¢ pizza place.  Always open, and always a line- this window churns out cheese pizza slices like nobody’s business.  The slices are hot, fresh, and for 99 cents a real steal.  Living in Hell’s Kitchen, and shopping at the various markets down there I’ve partaken in the 99¢ pizza many times, usually as a post grocery shopping snack.  In fact it has spawned a snack or meal argument between my wife and I on numerous occasions.  My claim… “If something costs $1 (i.e. a slice of pizza), it is automatically a snack”.  Her claim… “You are a fat bastard.”

Well, on Monday I was excited to find out that 99¢ Fresh Pizza has expanded East, opening a new location next to Grand Central Terminal, on 43rd St. btw. 3rd & Lex.  Pics of the pie and the +/- after the jump.

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It’s been a few months since I last ate at Chipotle, and the craving for a burrito is back in full force.  “I could really use a burrito.  I’m sure Chipotle is not as bad as I remember it!  Look at the gigantic lines!  Everybody loves Chipotle… i’m sure it will be delicious!”  Luckily my original post serves as a reminder of how I feel (“Free Chipotle is the only good Chipotle“), and I decided instead to hit up Burritoville with a friend from work.

I tried Burritoville once before (the one on 9th ave.), when I first moved here from L.A.  Seeking a substitute for the burritos I could get on the west coast, I knew I wasn’t going to replace the real deal authentic burritos- but I was at least hoping to find a replacement for Baja Fresh (My go-to work lunch in L.A.  There was one across the street from my office, and I probably ate there 2-3 times a week). 

At the one on 9th ave. I got the “Holy Mole” burrito, and was pretty underwhelmed.  It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great.  I probably should have known that I wasn’t going to get a great mole from a place that felt the need to add funny names to their burritos.  I remember thinking “This place isn’t that bad.  I probably am disappointed because I just moved here, and I’m used to the good stuff.”

With that in mind, I returned to Burritoville- hoping to find a Chipotle substitute for when my Burrito addiction rears it’s ugly head.  Pictures, and the +/- after the jump…

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