Midtown Lunch

When the weather gets disgustingly hot, sometimes the idea of eating anything above room temperature sounds as appealing as eating a certain lobster salad sandwich. So this week I didn’t want to walk too far to get lunch, wanted something light and after considering a banh mi instead ended up at JR Sushi 2 on W. Broadway (btw.  Chambers & Warren). You may know it as “that place that sells bubble tea” as that seems to be what they advertise the most. They also have a decent selection of lunch specials for less than $10 and I headed into the air conditioning to get a bento box.

It’s a tiny store, but newer and nicer than the nearest lunchtime competition Shinjuku Sushi on Church St. (at Park Place). While I was waiting for my food a gaggle of high school kids came in to order the boba yogurt drinks that seem to make up a good part of the business. There are three bento boxes to choose from for $8.95 that come with the usual miso soup, bit of salad, rice, pork shumai, pieces of California roll and choice of main. As tempting as tempura shrimp sounded, I instead decided to leave my arteries alone for once and get four pieces of sushi.

This was a fair amount of food and a pretty good deal for the neighborhood. Just like at Shinjuku, the fish and California rolls were made to order and weren’t just plucked from a refrigerated case. Not pictured is the soup which was scalding hot and didn’t taste much like miso…or anything for that matter. Definitely not too refreshing in heat and humidity.

While the shumai were surprisingly decent the star here was the pieces of sushi which were surprisingly fresh for the price I paid. The California roll wasn’t half bad either in that the vegetables inside were fresh and the pieces didn’t fall apart when I picked them up with chopsticks.

If you work nearby and want something a little lighter in the summer months this is a decent deal for a bento box. I would probably stick to Shinjuku for my maki roll needs, even though there’s no bubble tea to be had there.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• There’s a good variety of lunch specials under $10.
• I can get a sushi roll and bubble tea in one convenient location.
• The sushi is cut/rolled to order.

THE — (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• The amount of food in the bento box isn’t going to fill me up.

JR Sushi 2, 86A W. Broadway (btw. Chambers & Warren), (212) 233-8338