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Kiku
Restaurant in New York
Reasonable
prices, great food; even investment bankers eat there
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As
I have been saying in the past, eating out in New York City
is a challenge if you don't do your research right. I
have had my share of terrible meals for which I paid a
fortune. So now I do my research before venturing to
eat out and I ask people that I know. This time, I
asked an investment banker though I was afraid that he would
recommend a million dollar meal for me since he specializes
in hedge funds. Well, Kiku (50 W 55th Street) is a well-kept secret among
the bankers. You can eat a great meal at lunch time
for less than $15 but most investment bankers would never
admit it in public that they ate there. What to expect?
- No frills, humble decor, tiny, no views,
and nothing fancy.
- Great food made from fresh ingredients.
- Friendly, prompt service.
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 What did I like about the restaurant?
The company of
investment bankers. No, just kidding. As my banker
friend had mentioned, there were at least four bankers (that
we could easily make out) sitting there
eating in their Armani suits. I found them slightly
obnoxious with one guy refusing to drink tap water (he doesn't
drink tap water; only bottled water, he told the waitress) and the other guy
boasting about his golf, and a third one boasting of the grand
celebration that he had for his wife's birthday. The
fourth one (he looked as if he was originally from India,
seemed quiet and ate his meal basically listening to all
others.
In general,
however, the crowd is nothing to talk about. The
standard office crowd on a weekday. The no-nonsense
service is prompt and your food is prepared fresh. After
eating sushi a million times, I can easily make out when there
is a problem with the food. My companion, who is yet to
acquire a taste for fresh, uncooked fish, ordered a Hibachi
chicken. I tasted that as well and it was delicious.
The prices, as
I said before, are pretty much in line with what the
restaurant offers. In fact, we had first gone to
Onigashima across the street which looks far more exotic but I
was in no mood to spend $25 for lunch.
Since I have
lived and traveled to Japan so many times, I have this
skeptical attitude that the sushi (Related article: Robot
sushi) is not real when not made by
a Japanese. I am slowly getting over it. This
restaurant, to the best of my knowledge, does not have even a
single Japanese employee, and is apparently owned by Chinese,
but you wouldn't notice the difference if you didn't know what
I told you.
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