Taki Sushi
Ever since Wu Kong closed on 46th btw. 5th & 6th, I’ve been searching for a cheap sit down Sushi restaurant with a good lunch special close to the office. Sure, Wu Kong was one of those split Asian restaurants, half Japanese/half Chinese (always a bad sign), but the sushi was good, and for under $10 you got two rolls and a miso soup. Their Chinese food specials were good too, they gave you free peanuts while you waited for your meal, and once, awhile back, my wife and I were convinced we saw Lindsay Lohan eating there (that means it had to be good!) It wasn’t the best, but it was our place- and since it closed there has been a cheap lunch special sushi void in our lives.
Well, salvation has come in the New Year. As reported on Monday, Taki Sushi has moved from their 2nd Ave. location into the spot formerly occupied by Aron’s on 48th btw. 5th & 6th. The spot is on the 2nd floor of the building, overlooking 48th st. and has a cute and modest interior. The lunch specials are not only cheaper than Wu Kong, I’m pretty sure they are the cheapest available for fresh made sushi in Midtown. For $6.50 to $7.50 (depending on what rolls you order) you get two rolls, miso soup and salad. The $6.50 rolls are all non-fish rolls (avocado, cucumber, spinach, natto, etc) and the $7.50 choices include Tuna, Salmon or Shrimp with Avocado or Cucumber, California Roll, Salmon Skin, Eel with Avocado or Cucumber, Yellowtail and Spicy roll with Tuna, Salmon or White Tuna.
If Sushi or Sashimi is your thing, they have very nice, generously portioned sushi lunch specials for a pretty decent price. The Sushi lunch is $8.95, Sashimi Lunch is $9.95 and the Sushi/Sashimi combo lunch is $12.95. The table next to ours ordered these and they looked better than average. They also have various Udon Noodle soups ($6.50 apiece), Don Buri specials (sweet Japanese stews) and all the usual Teriyaki, Katsu, Tempura and Negimaki specials you would expect. Everything comes with miso soup and a salad (except the soups, which only come with a salad).
What we ordered, and a +/- after the jump…
Posted by Zach at 8:50 am, January 11th, 2007 under 48th btw 5+6th, Japanese, Sushi.
I have to say I don’t normally eat at or write about places like this (and I don’t plan on starting a trend). Dervish is a sit down restaurant, it’s over $10 and the decor is what you would describe as “nice”. It could qualify for a “business lunch” and it’s not even a buffet… which means it’s not really Midtown Lunch material. But, right before Christmas my boss said he wanted to take me and a co-worker out to a nice lunch as our holiday gift- so I figured I might as well bring the camera along for the hell of it.
Dervish is a Turkish restaurant on 47th between 6th & 7th with lunch and dinner specials that make it an obvious choice for tourists looking for something to eat before going to the Theater. The lunch special is $14.95, and for that price you get your choice of an appetizer and an entree… a pretty good deal if you’re looking for this type of sit down meal.
For our appetizers I think we selected pretty well. The 
I should probably have my head examined trying to eat lunch near Rockefeller Center in December… but I found out that Dean & Deluca has Sullivan St. Bakery Pizza- and had to check it out. The actual Sullivan St. Bakery is on 47th st. btw. 10th & 11th, right around the corner from where I live. (The name comes from the original storefront on Sullivan St. in the West Village). The current location on 47th is where they make all their bread… and delicious flat bread pizzas. Unfortunately, 10th ave. is a little far to walk for lunch- so when I found out they’ve got the pizza at Dean & Deluca I was pretty excited.
Unfortunately, the closest and best known Dean & Deluca is smack dab in the middle of Rock Center (in clear view of the Christmas Tree). Ah… the wonderful tree. You find me someone who works in Midtown, that doesn’t hate that tree… and I’ll prove to you that that person doesn’t work in Midtown. It’s almost like the tree has this magnetic force that only pulls at “I Love NY” sweatshirts, and really bad fanny packs. Lucky for me, I found a hidden Dean & Deluca, for those of you who work on the West Side of Midtown, far enough away from the tree to get your Sullivan St. bakery pizza fix in December.
It’s Chanukah everyone! And in honor of the Holiday, I decided on Friday to go out in search of some Latkes (or potato pancakes) for lunch. I had gotten a few emails from people over the past week asking me where they could find these delicious fried patties of potatoey goodness in Midtown- but I was embarrassed to admit that I didn’t really know. The last time I had latkes in Midtown was a billion years ago at the Stage Deli, and I don’t really remember them being that good. But even if I had fond memories of those touristy, over-priced potato pancakes- I don’t think I’d be caught dead eating at the Stage Deli this time of year. The same goes for the Carnegie Deli. 
There are many reasons I choose to write about particular places in Midtown. First is obviously the food. If a place has great food (and is cheap), I’m going to write about it. Unfortunately, we work in Midtown- so if I limited myself to only places with great food, my blog would be about 7 entries long (see My Favorite links in the right hand column)… and even some of those are just great “for Midtown”. Barring great food, some places get written about because they are serving something out of the ordinary (
I got an 
It takes alot for me to eat at a Midtown Deli. There are so many of them, and they offer so little. They breed laziness in every Midtown worker- and if they weren’t right outside your office, you would never eat there. Just admit it. But, every once in awhile, one of these delis offers something extraordinary… something that sets it apart. 
Well, last week, I hit the motherload. Not only did I find a deli with something beyond the norm- they may have invented a new and unbelievably delicious food! The burrito, stuffed with fried plantains. That’s right. And the place to get it is the Bread Market Cafe (on 52nd btw. 5+6th). A generic make your own burrito bar, distinguished by one add-on ingredient. The sweet, fried plantain. It makes sense if you think about it… at 
Right before Thanksgiving I posted 
I love New Orleans and it seems to come up a fair amount here on MidtownLunch.com. My wife and I were married there, I’ve written about it a few times, and 3 of our Profiled: Midtown Lunch’ers mentioned it as a place they’d rather be (
Now, I’m sure some of you “smart” “observant” people, who don’t walk around with your “head up your ass” might be saying to yourself- “Gee Zach… what are you an idiot?” And to that I say, “Yes. Yes I am.” Alright, so I’m not that quick. I’ve gotten pizza from many of the various Two Boots locations around the city, and in all that time I never really noticed the Po’Boys or Jambalaya on the menu painted on the wall… just the pizzas in the glass case.