BEYOND SUSHI
134 W. 37th St., New York, New York
Hours: 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday; 11:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday; noon-10:30 p.m. Saturday; noon-9 p.m. Sunday.
Menu: https://beyondsushi.com/uploads/1550501447387-95531550501447387-9553.pdf
Suitable for: Vegetarians, vegans, lovers of cool sushi
LeeLee and I have just returned from 48 jam-packed hours in New York, and when we weren’t taking in a Queen concert – the reason we were there! – or a taping of “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” we were … eating. And walking, too, but mostly eating. (Which was in essence the reason for the walking.)
Upon rolling into town behind the mighty engine of an Amtrak train, we sought out our first mealtime stopoff. Surprise! It was lunchtime. And surprise! We were hungry. We wanted something hearty, but not heavy. Something that would carry us through our evening date with Seth Meyers, but that would still leave us angling for dinner after the cameras stopped rolling.
We found all of the above at Beyond Sushi, which has locations scattered conveniently across town. We anchored to the 37thStreet location, just a few blocks from our hotel, and made a beeline for the dining room.
The first thing you’ll notice upon walking into the restaurant is that it looks NOTHING AT ALL like you think it’s going to look from the outside. From the sidewalk, it seems like a tiny waif of a storefront, maybe something more conducive to a takeout joint than a sit-down establishment. But walk in and another world expands in front of you. This restaurant may be narrow, but it is LONG, and it carries with it a minimalist chic that is at once enticing and, strangely, warm.
Sit down and peruse the menu. If you’re vegetarian or vegan, prepare to take a minute or two to soak it all in. Let me be clear: You can eat anything you want on this menu. There is no fish. It is all for you. There is a certain power in this feeling, a heady response to having to select between an avocado or cucumber roll for years and years and years. Goodbye to all that, at least for the day, and hello to options upon options upon options.
As we were there for lunch, we allowed the meal specials to help dictate our decisions, or at least narrow them down somewhat. LeeLee and I both went with Lunch Special 2 – a sushi roll with a rice paper wrap – and added a starter of dumplings to the mix, just because.
With that behind us, we came down to the next big decision(s): Which dumplings? Which roll? And for the love of all that is holy, which rice paper wrap?
The dumplings were decided upon first. At the recommendation of our server, we elected to enjoy the Fun-Guy (fungi? Get it? I didn’t, at first, but then … well. I said aloud again and … well. Moving on.), a spicy mushroom-packed set of five dumplings that set our mouths to watering straight away.
Next came the rice paper wraps. That was an easy choice. LeeLee chose the Nutty Buddy and I selected the Spicy Shroom, thereby covering the wrap section and allowing us to split the orders in half for tasting purposes. Neither of us came out the loser. The Nutty Buddy carried with it a savory, peanut-laden taste with an undertone of umami to give the dish body. The Spicy Shroom had enough zest to make the wrap interesting without overwhelming the savory mushrooms within.
Finally, we settled on our sushi rolls. After much discernment, I arrived at the La Fiesta, a black rice roll stuffed with avocado, pickled jalapeno and chayote with black-bean puree and tomato guajillo sauce atop the proceedings. It proved to be an excellent choice indeed, with the black-bean puree adding a surprising creaminess to the roll in a way that was immediately addicting.
LeeLee, meanwhile, chose the Favacado, featuring avocado, beets and asparagus wrapped in four-grain rice and topped with, yes, a fava-bean puree. A lemon saffron sauce puts the extra zing into the dish and the flavors sing the opera when coming together as they do.
We left Beyond Sushi exactly as we intended: Full, but not stuffed; nourished without being overfed. And we’re already eyeing another one of the restaurant’s outposts for our next trip to town! In the meantime, I’ll be working on perfecting a home version of that black-bean puree.