Conveyor Belt Sushi!
The commercial space on the ground floor of my building has once again been filled, this time by a Singapore-based conveyor belt sushi joint called Sakae Sushi. There have been many previous tenants who have set up shop with grand hopes, only to be killed by the high rents, so I'm hoping this one can pull in enough customers to at least break even because it's actually GOOD ... unlike the last Chinese-themed "restaurant" that sold oddly seasoned sweet & meat-filled pastries called Bings and stunk up the entire building by souring vegetables illegally in the basement! Eek. So far, there are no fishy, oily or any other unsavory scents wafting out of Sakae Sushi. I have gotten take-out - crunchy, spicy tuna rolls three days in a row for lunch and am considering a fourth visit today - but have yet to sit and eat in the conveyor belt-driven restaurant where customers get to choose what comes out of the kitchen via computer screens set up at each table.
Sakai Sushi gets an A for their fresh and delicious tuna rolls and I have my fingers crossed that they won't go under...
Sakae Sushi
135 West 3rd Street
New York, NY 10012
Hours: Noon - 11PM Sun - Thu; Noon - Midnight Fri & Sat
Phone: 212-228-9100
Skip the hair dessert at 5 Napkin Burger.
Saturday night we checked out an opening of a group photo show, where a friend of ours was showcasing his work, and then headed to dinner in Hell's Kitchen with the always silly Sara at a place called Five Napkin Burger, where I had the lamb burger with fries. It was okay -- it's no Stand -- but it's serviceable, the waiter was good, the atmosphere wasn't too noisy and the fries were crispy, if not very flavorful. But skip dessert -- we shared the 7 layer chocolate cake and were extremely disappointed with the stiff, plastic-like frosting, the flavorless cake and the HAIR I FOUND IN THE CENTER LAYER.
Five Napkin Burger, the slightly beaten down step child of Nice Matin, gets a C+ for delivering a mostly average burger.
5 Napkin Burger
630 9th Ave. in Hell's Kitchen
Hours: 5PM - Midnight everyday (call for lunch schedule)
Phone: 212-757-2277
I finally saw Wall-E last night. What a sweet, funny, creative movie. I could go on and on; I don't think I know anyone that didn't like it and most people I have talked to have seen it twice. The doom and gloom vision of the future had me really startled, particularly the thought of eating nothing but curiously flavored protein shakes day in and day out. Can you imagine?! The horror!!!! That alone is reason enough for me to get more involved in spreading the word about cleaning up the environment before we're all forced into eternally drinking health shakes. No fries! No cupcakes! No chocolate chip cookies!! No spicy Szechuan! Oh. My. God!
And speaking of that, we paid a visit to our favorite Chinese joint in New York, Grand Sichuan (24th Street 7 & 9th Ave location), to feast on double-cooked pork and tea smoked duck. It was just what I needed after a lengthy visit to France, where we ate amazingly well, but there's nothing even remotely like this there, and the French are terrified of spicy food...
On that note, Friday afternoon we tried a new Thai restaurant that the Times raved about. And so do I -- the food at Rhong-Tiam is fabulous, flavorful, unpretentious and I'm so happy it's located just steps from my house! Why did it take so long for Manhattan to get a good, authentic Thai restaurant?! WTF??!! We ordered several things that the Times review covered -- Pork on Fire, Larb Gai, Pad Ki Mow, (with duck) and Herbal Shrimp -- and ALL were fabulous. We also ordered a beautifully prepared and delectable version of cashew chicken. The spices on the larb and the pork nearly took my mouth off, but it was a happy pain and I couldn't stop eating. I'm not going to say another word about this place other than to go ... just go! NOW!
Rhong-Tiam gets an A for fantastically delicious Thai food served simply and beautifully in a surprisingly comfy setting. And thumbs up to the classic jazz soundtrack playing softly in the background!
Rhong-Tiam
541 La Guardia Place (between W. 3rd & Bleecker)
New York, NY 10012
Hours: Sun 5pm - 10:30pm; Mon - Thu Noon - 10:30pm; Sat & Sun Noon - 11pm
Phone: 212-477-0600
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