01.07.09
Review of Tsushima, Wednesday December 2008 lunch
141 E.47th St. & Lexington/3rd Aves., 212-207-1938
Great for: yummy cheap lunch, business lunch, big parties
I saw in Serious Eats that there was a special limited edition Wednesday ramen place in midtown. But they only serve thirty bowls of it, starting at noon. When I found myself in midtown at 11:45 one Wednesday, I knew exactly where to find lunch. I went about 10 blocks out of my way and I’m happy to say it was worth it. They actually do specials every weekday and the other food was good enough to warrant a non-ramen-centric visit. (Hence its own review outside of the Ramen Roundup.)
One of the waitresses took pity on me hovering outside in the rain and let me come sit down a few minutes before they officially opened. Even before I was allowed to order she brought green tea and a salad. I didn’t realize that the ramen comes with a bowl of rice and ikura, so I got an appetizer of shrimp shumai (they don’t offer gyoza). Each had a whole shrimp on top and there was a dainty bit of minced jalapeño on the side. I loved it.
The shio ramen came with two slices of not-too-fatty pork and one giant straight-out-of-the-shell scallop. The noodles were lovely, chewy and sticky, with lots of scallions and bamboo slices on top. The scallop looks weird but is nice. As a whole it was not that salty and I really liked it. I noticed there wasn’t much extra stuff like at other ramen houses but honestly the soup didn’t need it. Besides, I had a whole bowl of rice and ikura (salmon roe) to help hold my attention. It was also only slightly salty, even a little sour in a good way. They were surprisingly generous with the eggs. I can’t believe all that was only $13.50.
Everyone was very polite. I especially liked that the waitress didn’t argue when I over-ordered; I hate when servers assume that I won’t want to eat much because I’m a small woman. OK, maybe not that small, but I’m certainly no Amazon. I just eat like one sometimes. The resto itself is quite large, though from the outside it looks tiny. The pretty, plushy, white leather chairs that look a bit like handbags are amusing. They go well with the blond wood scheme. I was pleased to see that the clientele was almost all Japanese people. By 12:05 there were already ten people eating the ramen, so you should definitely not dawdle if you want to get some of that shio goodness. You also have a chance on Fridays with miso ramen.
Rating: 8 / 10
My cost: $25 (special for $13.50 + app)
Noise level: sushi temple hush
Chance of walking in: decent, there is an upstairs as well.
