Sushi ‘Pizza’ and Chinatown Sandwiches

Illustration: Igor Bastidas

On Instagram and TikTok, anything worth eating comes with a line. Whether social-media fame is sparked by an influencer or is the result of a concerted marketing effort to engineer a food’s digital moment, timeline domination does not always correlate to actual quality. With this in mind, our Underground Gourmet columnist queues up each month to try some of the city’s most-shared, most-liked foods to determine what phone bait is actually worth the wait. 

Line 1: The “Pizza Roll” a.k.a. Sushi Sandwich
Hamachi 34, 56 E. 34th St., nr. Park Ave.
After Chelsea Lefkowitz posted a TikTok of her delivery-sushi order at the beginning of the month, one item in particular took off. “Next time I would just get that,” she says after taking a bite of “sushi pizza” in a clip that now possesses 65,000 likes. In the past couple of weeks, many followers were inspired to order the same “pizza,” which refers to the format: four 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 exactly like any other saucy, loaded sushi roll, but the sizable pieces are the point. This is sushi for gluttons — making it the perfect thing to eat in your pajamas at home.
Worth the wait? Yes. Your delivery will be there before you know it.

Line 2: The Chinatown Sandwich
The Sandwich Board, 115 Eldridge St., nr. Broome St.
The sandwiches that you order from this kitchen window are largely inspired by a combination of New York delis and the surrounding Chinatown area, including a torta, an egg-and-cheese wrap with Chinese sausage, and a chicken-cutlet hero with bacon, cheddar, and the LTO trio. Seating is limited to a few chairs on the sidewalk. I went with a Tsangwich, selecting Peking duck over char siu. The duck comes from a nearby restaurant and is as good as can be expected, and the sweet duck-sauce mustard was a nice condiment. My gripe with the sandwich came down to the choice of bread, a pineapple bun, which makes for a very sweet and dense combination that was too much to finish.
Worth the wait? Not for the Tsangwich.

Line 3: The Mother-Daughter Onigiri Cafe
Hanamizuki, 143 W. 29th St., nr. Seventh Ave.
Hanamizuki made onigiri in Chelsea starting in 2012 until the pandemic, when it converted into a dessert shop. After reopening with the original business plan this past October, the pink-and-yellow café has become a top destination for homey, hand-shaped rice balls such as a simply 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 side dish, sesame spinach in my case, and a slice of tamago for $16. It seemed like my order had been summoned from thin air, appearing as soon as I finished tapping my card, which is probably why the line moved so fast. The sukiyaki onigiri was flecked with bits of sweet and savory beef, while the fried chicken had clearly been marinated with soy sauce and ginger and was still quite juicy. Both were wrapped in seaweed that softened by the second around the chewy short-grain rice.
Worth the wait? The combo was a light but complete meal. I’d do it again to try the other flavors.

Line 4: The $12 KFC Deal
K-Bap, 62 W. 56th St., nr. Sixth Ave.
This small Korean restaurant just a couple blocks south of Central Park has developed a reputation for being the best value sit-down lunch in Midtown. Specifically a $12, six-wing plate with flavors like curry and sugary “snow cheese” powder. The unsauced original wings have a thick and crunchy coating that doesn’t fall off the skin. I also liked the sweet and spicy sauce that had a sticky, fruity base. For an inexpensive bite, the service is still supreme, arriving with a plastic glove for cleanliness and small cup for discarded bones, as well as a small side of kimchee, which was an excellent palate cleanser between bites.
Worth the wait? For a quick meal in the area, I would definitely go back.

Line 5: Nothing but Tiramisu
Cafe 2by2, 84 E. 10th St., nr. Fourth Ave.
You’ll be lucky to find a spot among the tables of students chatting and working on laptops over strawberry matcha and 17 different flavors of tiramisu. I decided to try a savory seaweed-pork floss-taro variety, plus a slice of traditional as a control. Both were structurally sound, even after I carried them around all afternoon, with mascarpone mousse that held its sharp corners upon cutting, all sweetened just so. I was unable to get over the sensation of fibrous pork floss being in my teeth at the same time as the soft sponge and fragrant mousse, but I applaud the originality.
Worth the wait? At $13 per piece, it’s worth splitting with a friend.