Affordable lunch from Cafe Zaiya
For the first time in over a decade, I'm starting to get sick of living in New York City. I never would have thought the day would come where I would utter those words, but here they are. Don't get me wrong, if an alien landed on earth and granted me the superpower to create currency with the snap of a finger, then I'd live in NYC forever. It's still hands down, the best city ever. But damn if it's not a fucking challenge to make life work in this city. It's like the city is really meant for ballers. The rest of us are just paying taxes for the ballers so their limousines drive on paved roads. What are the benefits of living in this damn city? A variety of different ethnic food that can be had for a fair price. Take for example, Cafe Zaiya. You wouldn't find affordable Japanese food like this in other cities in the U.S. Seriously, I bought a chicken sandwich for $4 bucks. That's like two fucking euros! Yes in France, the croissants are one euro, but sandwiches cost way more than two!
There's probably nothing too Japanese about sticking a piece of chicken between two buns, but you gotta give it Cafe Zaiya for putting it out there. It's like getting a delicious fast food chicken sandwich for about the same price you would pay for a fast food burger. Sure, there's the downside that it's pre-made, but it's still a good sandwich to be enjoyed on a nice day in Bryant Park.
You can end your meal with this Japanese green tea cake/muffin looking thing. The cool part of the treat is that it's very heavy on the green tea flavor, and it's actually filled with some red bean paste. It's almost like a cupcake that's filled with red bean. I'm surprised you don't see more of that actually. I don't remember the price of this thing, but it was around $2 dollars I think. Overall this is a pretty good deal for lunch.
This kind of affordability and awesomeness is why I love New York so much. If it's not Japanese food, it's some other ethnic cuisine. You just can't get this kind of variety and price anywhere else, but the rest of the city is too damn costly. I think the depressing nature of how much pressure the city puts on you is hidden a lot of times. I could get into more about how NYC sucks with regards to apartments or finding new jobs, but I tried to do that and it added like one thousand words to this post so I deleted it and I'm going to end it here.
Cafe Zaiya
18 E. 41st St.
New York, NY 10003
212-779-0600
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I love the city because everything is convenient. Bodegas, man. Bodegas.
hungry
September 28, 2011 4:31 pm
NYC ... convenience at a price. After livingin nashville, i've always said i cannot go back living in NYC but to visit only.
Cheap eats = scoring ... how was the chicken prepped? grilled/fried/raw?
nice post buddy!
Steve
September 29, 2011 12:56 am
Agreed so much:
"But damn if it's not a fucking challenge to make life work in this city. It's like the city is really meant for ballers. The rest of us are just paying taxes for the ballers so their limousines drive on paved roads."
With unlimited money, I'd not sure I'd choose NYC, but NYC is a place where having endless cash helps so much more than other more affordable cities
Rex
September 30, 2011 3:23 pm
I could not agree more, it's tough living here, and Cafe Zaiya is one of my absolute fave spots in he city alongside with Bryant park.
Ms.Cherryspoon
September 30, 2011 6:33 pm
@hungry,
Ah yes, the bodegas. The thing is though, in the suburbs, you have pantry space. You just stock up on stuff... you're your own bodega!
@Steve,
My bad on taking so long to answer this, but the chicken was fried. So I guess that's one down side, it's like, not freshly fried. Still good though. The thing about living in NYC, it's hard to think about living somewhere else because of the convenience!
@Rex,
With unlimited money, where else would you pick? I think only worldly cities would be on my list, like Paris, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo and the like.
@Ms. Cherryspoon,
It's nice to have Cafe Zaiya so close to the park for sure!
Danny
October 6, 2011 10:09 am