Chiyoda Sushi (aka more Japanese fun!!!)
Right before Thanksgiving I posted a little feature about Pumpkin dishes at Chiyoda Sushi. As promised, here’s a full look at what has become one of my new favorite places in Midtown. It’s located on 41st between Madison & 5th (just east of Bryant Park) right next to Cafe Zaiya– another of my favorite places. In fact, Chiyoda is like a slightly nicer version of Cafe Zaiya, with bento boxes, pre-packaged sushi, and all sorts of little odds and ends. It’s slightly more expensive then Zaiya, but the food is much more refined.
Some places I like to blather on and on about… and some places are best left to the pics:
More food porn, and the +/- after the jump…
Posted by Zach at 9:53 am, December 7th, 2006 under 41st btw. 5+Mad, Chiyoda, Japanese, Sushi.
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.
With nothing in mind to eat last week, I was wandering down 46h St. (btw. 5th & 6th) when I stumbled upon another one of those Kosher versions of the ubiquitous midtown deli. Sandwiches, Salad bar, etc… but a quick look at the menu in the window, and I discovered they had Chinese food! Now, I was brought up Jewish (a reform Jew, so we didn’t keep Kosher at all)- which means I love Chinese food (the goto meal on Sunday nights and Christmas). But what’s Chinese food without pork (and shrimp for that matter)??? I love pork. A lot. As a matter of fact, with all the pork I’ve eaten in my lifetime, I was sort of surprised that an alarm didn’t go off when I walked into Kosher Deluxe.
I bypassed the salad bar and shwarma station on the right, and headed straight to the back, where they serve a variety of sandwiches, dinner type dishes and of course- the Chinese food. The menu had most typical Americanized Chinese dishes (all served with chicken or beef)- like Lo Mein, General Chow’s, Beef or Chicken and Broccoli, Moo Goo Gai Pan, and my personal favorite- Pastrami Fried Rice, in case you had forgotten where you were. The big problem was the price. Almost every Chinese food item was over $12!!!! (And you didn’t even get shrimp!) I did a quick u-turn, figuring that it wasn’t worth the money- but something caught my eye on the way out. On the menu above the Shwarma station I saw it…. “Shnitzel in Pita”. Helllllllo???
Now, I’m a big fan of wiener schnitzel (german fried veal cutlets), so how could Shnitzel be bad??? I spotted some delicious looking fried stuff below the Shwarma, next to the falafel that I was betting was the Shnitzel. I ordered it- and was not disappointed… (It is actually a misconception that wiener schnitzel is some sort of sausage- despite “wiener” being part of the name. 
Well, if you are one of those people who only eats the “best” pizza this city has to offer Time Out New York has just released their Pizza issue. Ironically enough, I was planning on writing about Two Boots today- the New Orleans/Italy (hence the “Two Boots”) pizza place with locations all over NYC (and two in Midtown)… but it wasn’t even mentioned (not even in the “Oddball” category). Anyway, New Yorkers love arguing about what’s the best pie in the city. In fact, the “Best Hamburger” argument that has been raging lately is probably just people who got sick of arguing about the best slice. Rather than re-hash it all, I’ll just point out the Midtown slices worthy of Tony’s mention.
How much are you willing to pay for a hamburger and fries? Assuming that we’re talking about a take out place (not a sit down restaurant), and the portion is decent (not humongous), but it’s made from good meat (not McDonalds). If you are not willing to pay more than $8, stop reading now. Don’t waste your time. The place I’m writing about today will just infuriate you.
WARNING: What you are about to read was not written by a burger connoisseur. That’s right. I said it when I wrote about 
When I first found this amazing street, Cafe Zaiya was like a dream come true. Fun, exciting and packed with tons of amazing foods at super cheap prices. Chiyoda, in contrast, seemed like a slightly nicer sushi place, that was trying to mimic the success of Cafe Zaiya by offering a limited selection of rice balls and bento boxes in addition to pre-made sushi. In the past few months they have undergone a subtle makeover, and have now come into their own- offering upscale (but still inexpensive) treat, including small dishes like an avocado and salmon tartare, interesting looking Omusubi (rice balls) and an assortment of delicious looking salads, tempura, odon and more… all available to go. But more on Chiyoda another time… this is my Thanksgiving post!
I was walking to work the other day and got handed a menu for the 
Now, I will admit that “The Floater” is an unfortunate name. While it may be an Australian term for a pie covered in soup- it has come to mean something far grosser in our frat boyish American culture. (As a matter of fact, when I told one of my co-workers what I had eaten for lunch… he joked that it was also what I “would be making in a few hours”) But you can’t blame these guys… they’re Australian! And it’s still a catchy name, even though the heavy pie doesn’t really float in Madeleine’s hearty pea soup.
What can I say about this place that hasn’t already been said… Margon is a Midtown institution. When I started this blog (and wrote about Margon neighbors 
I put the “Cuban” in quotes because even though the sign outside says “Cuban”, it’s actually more Dominican. The first giveaway is the poster of the Juan Pablo Duarte in the back (one of the founders of the Dominican Republic)… but the real proof is in the Cuban Sandwich. A delicious pressed sandwich of pork, ham, cheese, mustard and pickles- the Margon version also has salami, a strictly Dominican preparation. While some complain that it’s not authentic, it is no less delicious!
Everybody in Midtown has a goto lunch, and although I try to eat at new places every week, my wife and I usually fall back on Cafe Duke. Last week, we hit up Cafe Duke for a quick lunch, and I decided to forgo my usual Bi Bim Bap in favor of a few things from the buffet by the lb. I don’t normally do the whole by the lb. thing, because although I love the variety, I can’t stand feeling the need to hold back. Scooping tiny portions, all the time worrying that my lunch is going to end up costing $17. While loading up with my normal items, something amazing stood out to me. They had these amazing looking Jumbo Shrimp that had me wondering “How they hell can they afford to serve Jumbo Shrimp for $7 a lb.????”
I guess that’s why I wasn’t surprised about the shrimp. Can you imagine if the Jumbo shrimp were real? For $6.99 a lb? Hoards of fat guys (like me) would be crowded around the buffet, loading up on jumbo shrimp… trying to “beat the game”. Thankfully, the fake shrimp were delicious so I wasn’t too upset about being duped. I’m not sure exactly what they are made of, but I’m guessing it is a rice cake type of mixture (or imitation crab meat… although it didn’t have that fake fishy flavor that imitation crab has). The best part about the scam… the “shrimp” are not only colored and shaped to look like shrimp, they even have the indentation where the tail was pulled off. Such detail. It’s like art.