Trying The Handiwork Of Duane Reade’s “Sushi Chefs”

duane reade sushi counter resize

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.

duane reade soho roll resize

Part of the reason I wanted to actually buy some of the sushi sold at Duane Reade was this post on Serious Eats showing the crazy rolls sold at Walgreens (which now owns Duane Reade). Sadly, the craziest thing sold at this flagship is the “Soho Roll” which looked an unappetizing mess through the top of the container, and was made scarier by the ingredients that included both whole eggs and egg yolk. No thank you! The container of the shrimp tempura roll was still warm, suggesting it was freshly made, but I decided to play it safe and get the tuna avocado roll ($6.99). I’ve got to say the containers with pieces of salmon on top of rice looked pretty good, but pushed the ML budget at $9.99 or more. Plus, one of their rolls contains nine large pieces which is a pretty good deal.

Duane Reade sushi roll resize

And you know what? This drug store sushi was not terrible! The avocado was fresh, as was the fish. My only complaint was that a couple of the pieces weren’t rolled very well and fell apart. It’s nice to know they’re making the rolls at that location and since I saw many people buying them, they’re probably not sitting there for several days. The roll selection’s not the greatest, but for what’s essentially supermarket sushi I thought it was good.

Don’t worry, though. I won’t be reviewing lunch from a drug store again unless CVS starts up a burrito station.

Duane Reade flagship, 40Wall St. (btw. Nassau/Broad & William)

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2 Comments

  • They actually do made to order rolls too as I discovered the other day. I got crab, avocado and cream cheese and it was really good. But you are right, the guys behind the counter don’t do that great a job of rolling the rolls. But it’s one of the cheaper/more satisfying meals you can get out of there.

  • We’re glad that someone else was brave enough to try these! We’ve checked them out a few times but haven’t ever tried. We’ll be sure to give it a try!

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