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Manhattan Notes -
Restaurants
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Monday, 12 January 2009 18:56 |
East
With every new customer that walks in, the chefs rolling sushi in the center of this Murray Hill restaurant shout "Yokoso!" ("Welcome!") as if to remind everybody that this is a party, damn it, and we love our guests, so enjoy yourself or else. The yelling is okay with me, because East offers my kind of New York (sushi) experience: fast, cheap and easy. There's a tiny bar studded with all-year Christmas lights to have a drink if you have to wait for a table, which may be likely, and I've experienced the full range of seating experiences here: twosome tables upstairs for a quieter meal; counter dining where you'll end up chatting to the fascinating character at the next stool (there definitely will be one, and be warned, he probably won't shut up). The best is a regular booth with more space for filling the table with miso soup and vegetable tempura and snitching all the ginger from the bottomless bucket on the side. If I can't be bothered to hold out until the wait staff arrives, I just grab one of the tempting plates right off the conveyor belt that carries freshly made sushi around the restaurant like it's Charlie's Chocolate Factory for grownups. Spicy tuna and Philadelphia rolls are standard, but the Dragon Roll is the best treat here with avocado and a heavenly sauce. Topped off, of course, by the perfectly chilled pre-wrapped red bean buns off the conveyor. You can't linger too long at this busy spot, but the prices are just delicious. East is one of those places to return to again and again. It's kind of like a boyfriend of many years: predictable... but in a good way.
East Japanese Restaurant, 366 3rd Avenue between 26th and 27th Streets.
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