Just a short update today for the Columbus Day holiday, from the NY Metro list…
Tebaya, on 19th St. nearest 7th Ave., advertises itself as a purveyor of Japanese chicken wings. According to the takeout menu, the wings are fried twice in soy oil, coated in a special garlic sauce and then sprinkled with black pepper and roasted sesame seeds. Sounds good, and they taste good, too – I’m not much of a fan of chicken wings, in general, but these were flavorful, meaty, and not too fatty.
However, there’s a lot more to the menu – the teriyaki chicken burger (geez, it must have been about 10 years since the last time I tasted teriyaki) was huge, and came in a lunch combination with two wings, a perfunctory salad featuring an oilier version of that slightly bitter orange salad dressing that seems to always be served with Japanese food, and a soda can. The chicken burger wasn’t as flavorful as the wings, sadly; to think what they could do if they used the garlic sauce from the wings! The Portuguese-style roll was slathered in mayo, too, which I can generally live without in lieu of some other kind of bun-moistener, and I always feel like the layering roll/mayo/lettuce/meat is the least appetizing structure possible (can we work on moving the mayo opposite the lettuce?).
I don’t mean to impugn the place, though – it was promising enough to merit a repeat visit, which will likely consist of me ordering chicken katsu over rice, or perhaps the intriguing fried chicken skewers that are available in a combination (not a lunch combo) with fried potato cakes. If these dishes pass muster, I’m ready to declare Tebaya a winner, beyond being merely a place to order tasty wings.
At $6.75, the lunch combo is a fair deal – wing-lovers might want more than just 8 wings, but the chicken burger is a gut bomb. Worth mentioning too that I smile benignly on places that, like Tebaya, print prices with tax included – makes calculating the budget much easier.
Happy Columbus Day – go eat some Italian!
Twenty Bucks A Day 