Good Japanese food is hard to find.  While there is an overabundance of decent places to choose from, I find it oddly difficult to come across authentic Japanese cuisine in Manhattan.

Then I discovered a restaurant on the Upper East Side, at the cusp of Midtown, called Wajima.  It’s an unassuming place — so low-key that I didn’t even know it has existed for three years in my own neighborhood.  But what surprised me was that this restaurant isn’t a typically Upper East Side Japanese joint.  In other words, Wajima is a very traditional restaurant, run by Japanese people, and full of Japanese patrons.  And you know it’s a good sign when the cognoscenti are there.

What makes Wajima great is not just its authentic cuisine, but its $9.95 lunch specials are also an amazing deal.  There are several to choose from, and all consist of a sampling of dishes that arrive on a lacquered wooden tray.  My favorite is the Sanmizen: little bowls of chirashi, tempura shrimp, cold soba noodles, steamed egg custard, and miso soup.  Each dish is delicious and distinct from the others—a veritable Japanese smorgasbord.  I love having a little bit of everything, especially when the price is right, and Wajima is the perfect place to get it.

HEA Restaurant is changing things up a bit by introducing a new menu and giving diners a 20% break on their bill — Tuesday through Sunday from open to close. Chef Ichigaku Gonai, formerly of Bond St and Town has now taken the reins as executive chef and is “wok”-ing up exotic dishes from the Far East. The new menu is Japanese themed with a southern French flair.

Not hungry? HEA’s got a deal for you too. Drinks are half priced daily from 5-8pm. This includes all specialty cocktails. Now that’s my kind of deal! Here’s a preview of the new menu.

Apparently, a brunch menu is also in the works, but we’re still waiting to hear more on that one.

HEA Restaurant
145 E 13th St
New York, NY 10003
Tel: (212) 982-1688
Open Tuesday through Sunday

But the more affordable options can get tired quick — a sad truth when the recession has barely taken its toll yet. So what do you do when the affordable becomes boring, when you find yourself craving sweetbreads, when you want to wholly satisfy that epicurean craving?

You eat lunch.

That’s right — lunch. That meal that falls between breakfast and dinner, the one we tend to eat at our desks, and, if no one is looking, with our hands. The one that during the workweek we barely give thought to, and that on the weekends is replaced with its urban relative: brunch. But lunch is where it’s at these days because, during this economic downturn, that is where you find some of the best and biggest deals on your favorite gourmet haunts. Lunch has its benefits: you can enjoy the same food that you would order at dinner but for a lot less (a nod to the Spanish way of life); you can fill yourself for the rest of the day (and, thereby, substitute your evening meal with a cheaper snack); and you can try restaurants that you otherwise may not be able to afford during nighttime hours.

How to find these deals, you ask? The best thing to do is to visit websites or make a call, but, if that seems like too much work, you can choose from one of these Thrifty Gourmet picks:

Eleven Madison Park: $38 two-course lunch
Gotham Bar and Grill: $31 three-course lunch
Gramercy Tavern: $14 soup and sandwich lunch in the Tavern room
Matsugen: $24 bento box lunch
Momofuku Ssäm Bar: $28 three-course lunch
Tabla: $27 three-course lunch

As the Spanish say, buen provecho!

In this week’s installment of recession dining specials, we explore one of Brooklyn’s few Michelin-star restaurants — Dressler, in South Williamsburg. Sunday through Thursday, Dressler is offering a 5-course tasting menu of its amazing cuisine for only $45.

On a recent Sunday, my boyfriend and I travelled to Dressler to celebrate his new job and raise. We enjoyed every minute of our delicious and impeccably-executed meal. My 5-course dinner included:

• Frisee & Great Hill blue salad
• Housemade gnocchi with hen of the woods, chard and parmesan
• Pan roasted diver scallops with stoneground grits, wild mushrooms and white truffle oil
• Braised short rib with cauliflower, parsnips, butternut squash and Brussel sprouts
• Mini chocolate soufflé with caramel ice cream and sea salt

$45 later, I left knowing I had just enjoyed one of the greatest meals Brooklyn has to offer for a steal a of price.

Happy eating!

Dressler
149 Broadway
(between 6th St & Driggs Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Tel: (718) 384-6343

I love brunch.  But then again, so do a lot of New Yorkers.  This often results in long lines at even the most basic of brunch spots, and if you’re really hungry, sometimes it’s not worth the wait.

Imagine my glee when I found that JoJo offers a brunch menu on weekends. A part of the Jean-Georges enterprise, JoJo is a luxe, contemporary French restaurant, set in a coral townhouse on the Upper East Side.  Dinners can be pricey, but the brunch menu is an absolute steal.  You can order breakfast dishes a la carte, or choose three courses from the $24.07 prix-fixe brunch menu, which is almost identical to their lunch menu.

My eggs benedict arrived with leafy greens and cubed roasted potatoes.  The potatoes were excellent—nice and crisp on the outside, with a hint of butter and rosemary.  The eggs were beautifully poached, laid on thin slices of grilled ham atop a toasted English muffin.  My friend’s goat cheese frittata was equally delicious, its layers of zucchini and shitake mushrooms lightly melding together in a cloud of savory goodness.  We ended the meal with a pear tart, topped with pear sorbet and crème anglaise.  Everything was so good, we decided to come back next month for buttermilk pancakes and French toast.

Though the restaurant was almost full, I’m pretty sure it was the first time I ever had brunch where I didn’t have to shout to make myself heard above the din of other patrons.  Above all, there was no wait, and the service was superb.  So if you’re searching for a delicious, quiet brunch set in plush surroundings, I suggest you try JoJo.

Currently, brunch is not the only deal to be had at JoJo.  The restaurant is also offering a Spring promotion, consisting of $24 lunches and $35 dinners.

JoJo
160 E 64th St
(between 3rd Ave & Lexington Ave)
New York, NY 10021
Tel: (212) 223-5656

Looks like Mondays just got a little more exciting. For the month of April, Irving Mills is offering the “Rye-Fecta” special where $15 get you Ryan Skeen’s Burger, a Pint of Sixpoint’s Righteous Rye and a shot RI 1 Jim Beam’s Premium Rye Whiskey.

Need a more carnivorous fix? Head over to Hill Country Barbecue for the Monday recession special where $30 get you all the bbq you can eat. Add to that $5 margaritas, $2 well shots, $20 for a 6-pack and you’ve found a delicious way to make Mondays fun again.

Happy eating!

Last weekend, I found myself in an area I consider to be a culinary dead zone — Times Square in Manhattan. Chock-full of tourist traps and expensive chains, I rarely eat in this neighborhood. What’s the point? High prices and mediocre food?

Unfortunately, when seeing a Broadway show with family from out of town, eating in the theater district is usually the more practical option. My family is full of steak lovers so while searching for a steak restaurant for our pre-show dinner, I stumbled upon this: Ruth’s Chris on 51st Street has a new “Classics” prix-fixe deal for $39.95.  At a place where $40 barely buys you a steak, this is quite a deal!

We went on Friday and I started with a generous and tasty caesar salad, then had the 6-ounce filet mignon with 3 grilled shrimps, a side of sautéed mushrooms and finished with a dessert duo of fresh berries with sweet cream and chocolate mousse.

It was an amazing deal, the food was top notch and the service was great — Definitely check it out!

Ruth’s Chris Classic Menu – $39.95 for a Limited Time

Ruth’s Chris Steak House
148 West 51st Street,
New York City, NY 10019
Phone: 212-245-9600
Fax: 212-245-0460