Yuzu Kitchen

Found this hidden gem when wandering around the city today. Definitely worth your bucks. Very neat place, cozy atmosphere in midtown. So sad we can't eat in the restaurant. Their chicken katsu(fried chicken steak) is a must-try, the initial seasoning was so good( you can taste the savory together with umami) and juicy, outside is crispy. With their special Kosho Mayo was a five star~ In addition we also ordered Gyudon bowl + pork katsu bowl. If you miss the authentic Asian Gyudon, this one is your best bet in Midtown. Pork katsu is also good but not as mind blowing as chicken katsu. If you happen to walk pass midtown or is wondering what to have for dinner/lunch, this is the place to try.

Nice small place for some quick lunch, I really wanna get some bento so I pick here. The tofu bento are so freaking good! And the pork one are acceptable, the point is it’s only $13 in NYC!!! Yes yes, why not, I think it’s good enough for a lunch.

Ordered the Koji Chicken Bowl which should have come with Char-grilled Koji marinated chicken thigh served w/ wild rice, cherry tomato, diced cucumber, carrot, furikake corn, fried crispy sweet potato & boiled eggs. White rice, no corn, cucumber, carrot, tomatoes crispy sweet potato. And only one egg. I paid 13.50 for a couple of pieces of cold meat, white rice some greens to cover the big space empty spot with no good and half an egg! And no sauces. Horrible if I could give them zero stars I would. Edit: in response to the owner I have added a copy of the receipt. I ordered a chicken curry plate in addition to the chicken bowl. That came with white rice, meat and the curry sauce on the side. Again the Koji chicken bowl was missing all mentioned above. I don’t know if they ran out the sides and decided to just make an empty bowl basically an empty bowl or if they made a mistake and give me the wrong bowl. If you order pickup here make sure to look inside and confirm your plate before you leave. Very disappointed.

Staff was not friendly. They took the orders not in first come first serve. Taste is fine, soft-boiled egg is good.

Very authentic Japanese cuisine. The combination of flavors are unique and soothing. I felt bad that the staff was shorthanded, but the wait was well worth it.

I highly recommend Gyudon. It was very fresh and good. The staff was very kind as well.

Waited 20 min for my order, but the chicken came out completely raw. Would not advise.

I feel bad I'm the only 4 star review but here goes: What a strange but also fantastic experience it was to eat here. The place looks like they put a bunch of effort into design which is lovely, but then it was also oddly empty once I walked in. No tables, hardly any chairs - it was very uninviting despite the bright lights, the colorful walls and sleek swoopy counters. Then as I walked to the food counter, everything was either covered or seemed empty. I wouldn't have been surprised if someone came out and told me the place was closed, but they weren't and they didn't. The menu looked good, and I saw all these good reviews so I thought 'that must mean something right?' After ordering they asked us if it was ok that they only had white rice, to which my friend and I agreed was fine. Once the food came (which was relatively fast by the way) it was with brown rice, which again was fine, just odd. The food however was the biggest saving grace of the whole experience. It is served in a casual style brown paper bowl, as seen in some of the pictures of other reviews. And the food is delicious! So much better than even I was expecting from all these great reviews. The chef knows what they are doing here and if it wasn't for the front of house experience, I would have certainly given 5 stars