Illustration: Igor Bastidas
On Instagram and TikTok, something value consuming comes with a line. Whether or not social-media fame is sparked by an influencer or is the results of a concerted advertising effort to engineer a meals’s digital second, timeline domination doesn’t all the time correlate to precise high quality. With this in thoughts, our Underground Gourmand columnist queues up every month to strive among the metropolis’s most-shared, most-liked meals to find out what telephone bait is definitely well worth the wait.
Line 1: The “Pizza Roll” a.okay.a. Sushi Sandwich
Hamachi 34, 56 E. thirty fourth St., nr. Park Ave.
After Chelsea Lefkowitz posted a TikTok of her delivery-sushi order at first of the month, one merchandise particularly took off. “Subsequent time I might simply get that,” she says after taking a chew of “sushi pizza” in a clip that now possesses 65,000 likes. Up to now couple of weeks, many followers have been impressed to order the identical “pizza,” which refers back to the format: 4 thick wedges of sushi rice pressed with spicy tuna, eel, avocado, and snow crab, topped with heavy drizzles of eel sauce and spicy mayo. It tastes precisely like some other saucy, loaded sushi roll, however the sizable items are the purpose. That is sushi for gluttons — making it the proper factor to eat in your pajamas at residence.
Well worth the wait? Sure. Your supply can be there earlier than you already know it.
Line 2: The Chinatown Sandwich
The Sandwich Board, 115 Eldridge St., nr. Broome St.
The sandwiches that you just order from this kitchen window are largely impressed by a mixture of New York delis and the encompassing Chinatown space, together with a torta, an egg-and-cheese wrap with Chinese language sausage, and a chicken-cutlet hero with bacon, cheddar, and the LTO trio. Seating is proscribed to some chairs on the sidewalk. I went with a Tsangwich, choosing Peking duck over char siu. The duck comes from a close-by restaurant and is nearly as good as may be anticipated, and the candy duck-sauce mustard was a pleasant condiment. My gripe with the sandwich got here right down to the selection of bread, a pineapple bun, which makes for a really candy and dense mixture that was an excessive amount of to complete.
Well worth the wait? Not for the Tsangwich.
Line 3: The Mom-Daughter Onigiri Cafe
Hanamizuki, 143 W. twenty ninth St., nr. Seventh Ave.
Hanamizuki made onigiri in Chelsea beginning in 2012 till the pandemic, when it transformed right into a dessert store. After reopening with the unique marketing strategy this previous October, the pink-and-yellow café has grow to be a prime vacation spot for homey, hand-shaped rice balls resembling a merely salted shio musubi and one containing mentaiko, cheese, and Kewpie, all wrapped in a shiso leaf. My two-onigiri combo included miso soup loaded with fried tofu and soft-cooked onion and a small dish containing that day’s aspect dish, sesame spinach in my case, and a slice of tamago for $16. It appeared like my order had been summoned from skinny air, showing as quickly as I completed tapping my card, which might be why the road moved so quick. The sukiyaki onigiri was flecked with bits of candy and savory beef, whereas the fried rooster had clearly been marinated with soy sauce and ginger and was nonetheless fairly juicy. Each have been wrapped in seaweed that softened by the second across the chewy short-grain rice.
Well worth the wait? The combo was a light-weight however full meal. I’d do it once more to strive the opposite flavors.
Line 4: The $12 KFC Deal
Okay-Bap, 62 W. 56th St., nr. Sixth Ave.
This small Korean restaurant only a couple blocks south of Central Park has developed a repute for being one of the best worth sit-down lunch in Midtown. Particularly a $12, six-wing plate with flavors like curry and sugary “snow cheese” powder. The unsauced unique wings have a thick and crunchy coating that doesn’t fall off the pores and skin. I additionally preferred the candy and spicy sauce that had a sticky, fruity base. For an affordable chew, the service continues to be supreme, arriving with a plastic glove for cleanliness and small cup for discarded bones, in addition to a small aspect of kimchee, which was a wonderful palate cleanser between bites.
Well worth the wait? For a fast meal within the space, I might positively return.
Line 5: Nothing however Tiramisu
Cafe 2by2, 84 E. tenth St., nr. Fourth Ave.
You’ll be fortunate to discover a spot among the many tables of scholars chatting and dealing on laptops over strawberry matcha and 17 completely different flavors of tiramisu. I made a decision to strive a savory seaweed-pork floss-taro selection, plus a slice of conventional as a management. Each have been structurally sound, even after I carried them round all afternoon, with mascarpone mousse that held its sharp corners upon slicing, all sweetened simply so. I used to be unable to recover from the feeling of fibrous pork floss being in my enamel concurrently the tender sponge and aromatic mousse, however I applaud the originality.
Well worth the wait? At $13 per piece, it’s value splitting with a good friend.
EAT LIKE THE EXPERTS.
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