Manhattan business lunch deals

[Fat Guy]

I was just out at this new-ish place, Aburiya Kinnosuke (opened '05 I think), on East 45th, a Japanese place that's kind of pricey at dinner but has $17-ish lunch specials that include a substantial entree (I had Berkshire pork cutlet with egg served over rice, aka katsudon), salad, soup, pickles and dessert. This isn't a Restaurant Week thing. This is all year round.

It got me thinking about assembling a list of the best business-lunch deals in town, perhaps for a magazine or newspaper story if I can sell it, perhaps just for our collective benefit: the top-notch restaurants where you can realize substantial savings by going for lunch. For example, the three-course prix-fixe dinner at Jean Georges now costs $98 per person. But you can go for weekday lunch and get two courses -- pretty much the same food as dinner -- for $28 (or you can add a third course for $12).

Again, not Restaurant Week. We're talking about the regular schedule here.

[Nathan]

Perry Street

Yasuda

LB

Tocqueville

EMP

Maze

Aquavit

DB Bistro

etc.

basically...any high end restaurant that offers lunch offers some sort of pretty good "deal"...

this is why RW is such a joke.

[raji]

Well prixe fixe lunches have long been around.... i also believe that RW prompted many restaurants to offer a RW lunch "all-year-round", or at least that was my observation...

So beyond those restaurants on the RW radar, I think FG is looking for the real standouts. AK does not participate in RW but does something that any and every authentic Japanese restaurant does - offer a fairly cheap but nonetheless high quality lunch deal, and AK probably does that concept the best out of NY's japanese. That said, which is the best Indian buffet? Chinese buffet/lunch deal?

A perfect example for me would have been chikubu's friday lunch ramen - it was better than any ramen you could have in the city and while pricey for a ramen, it was a great value at 12. But chikubu has since closed

I'd be really curious to know what the best Italian lunch special is...

[Fat Guy]

I think FG is looking for the real standouts.

Yes, the real standouts not only in price but in quality and diversity of offerings. For example, at Jean Georges -- one of the very best restaurants in the country -- it's 71.429% cheaper to go for lunch than dinner, and you're able to choose from the entire menu (minus a couple of dishes with supplements). I doubt there's any restaurant that can beat that offer when you factor in quality, diversity and savings, but I'm looking for the ones that get close.

That said, which is the best Indian buffet?

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I haven't been in awhile, but when I was more active in that neighborhood the best thing going was Dimple's $7.99 Indian, vegetarian, kosher buffet. Not sure it works for this list, though, because Dimple is so cheap anyway it's not like you save a ton of money.

[mondaybox]

i see perry street has already been listed - great lunch for $24, was there last week! i was to go back, for dinner and lunch. smart marketing move on the part of the jean-georges group to run these lunches across various of their restaurants at, presumably, close to cost.

Edited August 10, 2007 by mondaybox (log)

[Fat Guy]

Yasuda

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I haven't seen a Yasuda dinner menu in so long, I don't know how it differs from the lunch menu. How does it differ? Are the individual sushi pieces more expensive? Are there combination platters available at lunchtime that aren't available at dinnertime?

[Nathan]

Yasuda offers a $24 lunch. it's terrific. add a couple pieces ala carte and you still stay at around $32

edit: basically you get to pick some sushi and sashimi from a truncated list of the day's offerings...(you're still looking at 3 kinds of mackerel, a couple kinds of eel, etc.) plus soup, a roll (the amazing salmon skin roll is always offered) and moji for dessert. for $24!!! and you can even get that at the bar while sitting in front of Yasuda (albeit, I'd be embarrassed to)

Edited August 10, 2007 by Nathan (log)

[Fat Guy]

So this $24 meal, it's not available at dinnertime? What does the meal consist of? How much does the same meal cost at dinnertime?

[Edited to add, in light of your edit:] So this is a $24.07 Restaurant Week offering that has been continued through the year? The last couple of times I've been for lunch I've ordered one of the sushi combinations. These run from around $20 to $34. But I'm not sure they're lunch-only. They may just be on the menu all the time. Not sure. Menupix has a Yasuda menu reproduced but I'm not sure if it's a lunch-only menu, dinner-only menu or both.

http://www.menupix.com/nyc/restaurants.php...ighborhood=%25#

[Nathan]

So this $24 meal, it's not available at dinnertime? What does the meal consist of? How much does the same meal cost at dinnertime?

[Edited to add, in light of your edit:] So this is a $24.07 Restaurant Week offering that has been continued through the year? The last couple of times I've been for lunch I've ordered one of the sushi combinations. These run from around $20 to $34. But I'm not sure they're lunch-only. They may just be on the menu all the time. Not sure. Menupix has a Yasuda menu reproduced but I'm not sure if it's a lunch-only menu, dinner-only menu or both.

http://www.menupix.com/nyc/restaurants.php...ighborhood=%25#

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it's $22 base...with another $2 added for dessert (useful if you're trying to fill up). I think it's basically intended to be a RW thing.

[ulterior epicure]

it's $22 base...with another $2 added for dessert (useful if you're trying to fill up).  I think it's basically intended to be a RW thing.

.... so, this won't be offered in a little over a month, when I plan to visit???

[raji]

Yasuda offers a $24 lunch.  it's terrific.  add a couple pieces ala carte and you still stay at around $32

edit:  basically you get to pick some sushi and sashimi from a truncated list of the day's offerings...(you're still looking at 3 kinds of mackerel, a couple kinds of eel, etc.) plus soup, a roll (the amazing salmon skin roll is always offered) and moji for dessert.  for $24!!!  and you can even get that at the bar while sitting in front of Yasuda (albeit, I'd be embarrassed to)

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Most sushi bars, if open for lunch, offer some sort of a sushi lunch in the $12-$25 range...year round... Shimizu's is very good too. Yasuda's is about 8-12 pieces, right? with a standard assortment tuna, yellowtail/kanpachi, egg, shrimp, eel, mackeral... like that. You'll do well with Yasuda because their level of sushi, even doing the basics, is among the top few in the city.

[ulterior epicure]

Most sushi bars, if open for lunch, offer some sort of a sushi lunch in the $12-$25 range...year round...

Is this true for Kuruma zushi, as well? Or, are we operating a different level over there?

[Nathan]

it's $22 base...with another $2 added for dessert (useful if you're trying to fill up).  I think it's basically intended to be a RW thing.

.... so, this won't be offered in a little over a month, when I plan to visit???

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no no! it's year round! the reason why RW is such a joke is that most RW deals (or equivalents) are offered year round!!!

[Nathan]

Yasuda offers a $24 lunch.  it's terrific.  add a couple pieces ala carte and you still stay at around $32

edit:  basically you get to pick some sushi and sashimi from a truncated list of the day's offerings...(you're still looking at 3 kinds of mackerel, a couple kinds of eel, etc.) plus soup, a roll (the amazing salmon skin roll is always offered) and moji for dessert.  for $24!!!  and you can even get that at the bar while sitting in front of Yasuda (albeit, I'd be embarrassed to)

←

Most sushi bars, if open for lunch, offer some sort of a sushi lunch in the $12-$25 range...year round... Shimizu's is very good too. Yasuda's is about 8-12 pieces, right? with a standard assortment tuna, yellowtail/kanpachi, egg, shrimp, eel, mackeral... like that. You'll do well with Yasuda because their level of sushi, even doing the basics, is among the top few in the city.

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its a truncated list but it varies daily...and there's always something interesting on it....an unusual kind of fluke or three different kinds of mackerel...a couple types of eel...it varies.