Ladies (and Gents) Who Lunch

My husband and I have been on an unusually long respite from work due to some accumulated vacation days and confluence of holidays. During our staycation, we tried to eat lunch at a few restaurants we would usually avoid for dinner due to weekend crowds and, frankly, the cost. One of my favorite things about living in the city is that I can check out trendy restaurants that are too packed on Friday/Saturday nights to be enjoyable on odd days and times where you can get a truer feel for the place. Some of the most famous restaurants in the city have great deals for lunch. Unfortunately, this blog was not in existence when we had our second amazing lunch at Perry Street, Jean Georges' more casual restaurant, which offers a lunch deal where you can get two entrees plus a dessert for $24.

Today, we went to a less lofty but tasty Japanese restaurant called Momoya in Chelsea, just a few blocks from our apartment. Momoya fits nicely into Chelsea with its slick decor of brick, white walls and floor-to-ceiling windows. I generally prefer more cozy restaurants but the decor was right for a sushi restaurant and not too over-the-top. The choice was my husband's, who has been craving fish for days, which is around the same time that I decided to limit my intake of mercury.

Thankfully for me, Momoya had many non-sushi choices, including a delicious eeldon -- broiled eel with rice. The dish was flavorful, rich but not too filling. As one might expect, taking an appetizing photo of eel is quite a challenge but I have done my best for this post. My husband got a sashimi box that came with very fresh fish, miso soup, rice, and a seaweed salad. Overall, Momoya was a good choice for one of our staycation lunches.