Midtown Lunch

So, Yushi’s conveyor belt opens to the public on Monday- and to ensure that they are ready to go they had a free lunch yesterday to test it out and get customer feedback. 3 Midtown Lunchers won spots, and were allowed to bring guests. Here is what they had to say, complete with photos (of course keeping in mind that everything tastes better when it’s free! I wonder what they would have said, had they gotten a bill at the end of the meal):

From “Rosie”:

“I love food but I also enjoy being healthy so I do eat at Yushi often. I love Japanese food and sushi and think that although it is typically pricey, it’s worth it for what you get. I was very pleased to be a part of the conveyor belt experiment, and really enjoyed all the food. The salmon sushi and sashimi was very fresh and for about $5 you get four pieces of salmon (sushi, sashimi or a combination) with a side of seaweed salad. Not a bad price for the quality you get. There were the normal options they have with soups, dumplings and chicken teriyaki, and I have to say they were all flavorful and fresh. We enjoyed seared tuna sashimi as well with a side of seaweed salad, chicken teriyaki rolls, and even chocolate mousse dessert. The people who worked there wanted you to enjoy the experience, so we were also able to enjoy some sake with our lunch on the house. Very much appreciated it. I think all in all, it may be slightly over the $10 midtown lunch limit, but if you go with another person you can enjoy the variety and quality. Thank you for randomly choosing me as a yushi guest— my husband and I definitely appreciated it! Regards, Rosie”

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Just got this email from the guy at Yushi who set up the “testing out their new sushi conveyor belt” free lunch  thing for 3 lucky Midtown Lunch winners: “All done, geez they can eat!” I can’t believe you let them eat all they wanted… I hope you at least imposed a time limit, although considering that lunch was supposed to be at 12:30 and this email came in at 3:30pm- I’d say you may have taken a big hit today. Midtown Lunch represent!!! The photo was sent in by one of the winners, their full report will be posted tomorrow.

You have to give Yushi (on 47th btw. Park+Lex) a bit of credit… although some of their stuff is a little overpriced, and healthy (read: flavorless) for my taste, I’m starting to like more and more of their offerings- and they are definitely trying. They are planning on opening their new conveyor belt to the public on Monday, but want to make sure they don’t suffer the same fate as Sakae Sushi (which was doomed by overpriced, mediocre food.)  They asked me to come try the new conveyor belt food, and give them feedback- but I don’t like taking free stuff from Midtown Lunch places. I will, however, take free food for my readers!  So I suggested they bring in some Midtown Lunchers for the free lunch “focus group”… and they agreed!

I know it’s late notice, but the free lunch is tomorrow (Thursday) at 12:30pm, and they’ve set aside 6 slots for Midtown Lunchers.  Available for lunch tomorrow?  Comment below why you should be chosen for the “focus group”, and you (and a guest) will be entered to win free conveyor belt lunch tomorrow at Yushi. (Make sure to include your email address so I can contact you.  It will not get published on the site.) The three winners will be contacted by 10 a.m. on Thursday morning. Please only enter if you will be available at 12:30pm tomorrow.

The only thing greater than my love of conveyor belt sushi, was my disappointment in Sakae Sushi (the kaiten place on 43rd btw. Lex+3rd that opened and closed last year.) And make no mistake about it, the disappointment had nothing to do with the conveyor belt.  The conveyor belt was awesome.  I think they closed because the food was expensive, and just not that good.  In other words, I’m convinced that conveyor belt sushi can work in Midtown… and apparently Yushi agrees with me.

The belt revealed(!) after the jump…

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I have to commend them for their continued innovations, because
everytime I step into Yushi (on 47th btw Park+Lex) they’ve added
something that catches my eye. Last time it was the Peking duck roll-
this time it was a Thai chicken hand roll, with peanut sauce marinated
chicken wrapped with mango, lettuce, and a Thai chili sauce (which was
tasty, but could have been a tad bit spicier for my taste). At $3 it’s
not outrageously expensive, and washed down with some fresh squeezed
watermelon juice it’s almost like being in Thailand. Actually it’s
nothing like being in Thailand, but as a little after lunch snack, it
wasn’t terrible.

I am all for giving readers a forum to complain about restaurants.  But if a restaurant wants to complain, I don’t have a problem with that.  Yesterday, this comment was posted by the owner of Yushi- a hip Japanese take out place on that I’ve written about twice since it opened.  The first time, I complained that while the food was clearly healthy, it was not filling enough for the price (i.e. I’m fat and need a lot of food.)  The second time, I was a little more gracious… admitting that the place didn’t entirely suck.  The owner chose to respond to my second post:

Mr Midtown Lunch,

I have only just seen your July 17th comments, i’m not even sure owners are mean’t to write here but what the hell. You initially said we were too expensive when we opened, FYI:

1. We haven’t raised prices in a year, unlike the rest of the world, even though rice has doubled in price, tuna is up 30% and salmon 25% etc

2. We set up My Yushi, it’s like a coffee card for sushi, basically a 10% discount without all the hassle usually associated with this kind of thing, you should try it

But wait, there’s more…  Read more »

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 »

With my hosting company in full meltdown mode this week, and Midtown Lunch’s server on the fritz I realize that one cannot underestimate the restorative power of venting.  If only I could have complained to somebody at my hosting company (or punched one of their employees in the face) it would have made me feel so much better.  In that spirit, I’ve decided to post two emails I received this week.  (If the Eater Complaints Dept. would like royalties, I’ll be happy to pay up…)

First up is Yushi, the upscale Japanese healthy bento place on 47th btw. Park+Lex:

Zach- I wanted to give you a rundown of today’s Yushi encounter… I know, it’s super expensive and kinda on the healthy yet measly side. But I met my boyfriend there for lunch… he got a seared salmon salad and I got a seared tuna nicoise salad. The salads were just under $10 each but with drinks I ended up plunking down $25.67 (number burned on my brain and in my credit). Grumbling at the fact that my $9.95 tuna salad only had four TINY slabs of tuna in it, I sat down, prepared to savor every last morsel of that shit.

Anyway, today they had several girls walking around with trays of samples.  Don’t know if this is a regular occurrence, but snaps for freebies. Boo and I finagled two prime beef/shiitake mini meatballs with teriyaki sauce each from one candy striper (delish and more filling than an entire $10 salad), then we were also given shot glasses of their tasty firecracker miso from another girl. All seemed well… until I noticed a third long-haired minx of an employee strolling the aisles with what appeared to be coupons in her hands. She seemed to be silently judging the inhabitants of each table she passed, while tapping the pile of coupons against her fingertips. Iactually WATCHED this girl hand coupons to table after table after table of males, explaining with a smile the complimentary miso they’d receive upon their return, yet she skipped two tables of women in between!! To add insult to injury, the chick glided past our table unfazed, offering little more than a selective sideways glance and a slight sneer. As we put on our jackets to leave, I was determined to give her the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps it wasn’t blatant discrimination or an aversion to her own gender, but maybe she was planning on gifting us with a coupon at the door, or maybe she was legally blind in her left eye.

Either way, the minx was camped out near the door with her stack of discounts, so I beelined straight toward her with an inviting”where’s the candy” look on my face. Don’t you know it, but this girl smiles cattily (perhaps my over keen female sensory picked up on this?) while continuing to click the pile against her fingertips, taunting us, and said smugly, “buh bye now.” And that was it. No coupon?! No thanks for my $25.67 and ten-block trek? I’m still appalled. I knew Yushi was bourgy and too leather-laden for its own good, but this sheer disregard for me as a return customer worthy of a free cup of soup really just chafes me. Thought it pertinent that you know. And if nothing else, perhaps you find this little rant amusing.  Cheers, Profiled Midtown Lunch’er “Shauna”

I don’t find anything amusing about missing out on free stuff, Shauna.  Hope that the public display of your rant will solace you as much as that free coupon would have. 

A 100% true Treats Truck complaint/public service announcement that everyone needs to read, after the jump… Read more »

After doing this site for over a year, I have become the go to guy for lunch recommedations at my work.  And while I’m usually pretty good for a decent suggestion, there is one request that has, and will always stump me.  “Where can I get something healthy?”  I’ve been to a ton of places in Midtown, and they all have one thing in common.  None of them are healthy.  (Look at my flickr page for proof.  It’s not a pretty sight.)

What can I say?  Fat guys don’t eat healthy food.  If we did, we wouldn’t be fat anymore, and then we couldn’t make jokes about how fat we are for the amusement of people who read our websites.  Plus, you’re not going to trust a skinny guy to tell you where good food is.  I guess I wouldn’t mind eating healthy, if it tasted good- and they gave you more of it.  Healthy food is always less filling.  Maybe if they had healthy food, in an all you can eat buffet form, I’d be down with it.

What did you just say?  Buffet form would automatically make it unhealthy?  Oh.  Well, that sucks.

It’s just unhealthy food tastes so much better.  Well, Yushi is trying to change that.  It’s a new “Bento Bar” that opened up on 47th btw. Park & Lex, serving healthy bento boxes.  You know I love a good bento, so last week I headed over to check it out.

What they’ve got, healthy bento porn and the +/- after the jump… Read more »