Midtown Lunch

I’ve eaten sushi from a drug store, surprisingly good sushi, and disappointing sushi from a place with sushi in its name. However, I’d never eaten a sushi crepe before so when Tous Crepes opened its doors with this item on the menu I decided to sidestep the long list of more conventional iterations. What happens when you substitute rice for a buckwheat crepe? Find out straight ahead.  Read more »

At this point, there are few Japanese spots we have not checked out in Downtown Lunch territory, save the ones that don’t have lunch specials below the $10 mark. One that I had walked by many times but not tried was Akimoto Sushi on Church St. (btw. Duane & Reade streets). A look at the lunch menu showed the usual bento boxes, donburi, noodles, fried rice and noodle dishes as well as maki rolls. On a warm day, sushi sounded good, but in the end I was a little disappointed.

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It’s hard finding sushi lunch specials downtown that are the right balance of quality and price. Often you pay $8 to $10 and get two skimpy rolls with an iceberg lettuce salad or cup of miso soup, and you’re hungry again in an hour. Or you just have to break the $10 barrier so you’re not in search of a snack right after lunch. I’m happy to say that if you work within walking or delivery distance of Sun Cafe on Reade St. (btw. Broadway & Church), I think you’re going to be happy with the size and price of the sushi rolls you get.

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Ever since Sushi by Bento Nouveau (which is now called Bento Sushi) remodeled its store at Broadway & Cortlandt St. I’ve been going there more frequently, mostly for udon soup or one of the protein over rice dishes. The other day when a craving for sushi hit I couldn’t be bothered to go to a restaurant and wait for food so instead decided to go check out Bento Sushi’s pre-made maki rolls. The place is constantly busy which is a good thing since the sushi you grab from the refrigerated case is likely to not have been sitting there long in frigid purgatory (where good sushi rice goes to die). I grabbed a sushi combo on one visit and later went back for a California roll. Sadly, it looks like the hot items are the way to go here rather than the sushi namesake.

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The somewhat grubby Sushi By Bento Nouveau at Broadway & Cortlandt St. closed at the beginning of February to get a makeover and the results were revealed on Monday as it once again opened for business. I didn’t actually go inside, but it has a sleeker new look and seems to sell the same pre-made sushi rolls along with rice bowls and some noodles, although it looks like they’ve pared down the offerings and aren’t emphasizing the udon noodle soups as much. I’ll take a closer look soon, but if you were one of the people checking it out, let us know the good/bad in the comments.

When the Duane Reade flagship store opened its fancy-pants doors on Wall St. (btw. Nassau & William) I marveled at the fact that they had guys making sushi rolls a short stroll away from the pharmacy. Also on offer is a juice bar and various grab-and-go items as diverse as quinoa salad and Fat Witch brownies. The other day when the parade for the Giants made working in the Financial District something akin to hell, I didn’t want to have to walk far for lunch, and that’s when I decided to check out the sushi rolls sold by a drug store.

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There are many sources of maki rolls in the Financial District, and many of them involve refrigerated cases in stores like Zeytuna or the swanky new Duane Reade (shudder). There are a couple of places that offer lunch specials with two rolls for less than $10 but most limit you to the more pedestrian varieties like salmon, tuna or California. When I noticed Taste of Tokyo on Beaver (nr. William) had a two-roll special for $8.25 I took a look at the menu and noticed some more exotic rolls were included in this special. Omelet roll anyone?

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