After ten days of eating giant Hawaiian lunch plates consisting of lau lau, kālua pig, Portuguese sausage, ham, and bacon, I’ve been eating light since I got back. (Why everyone in Hawaii isn’t obese is beyond me.) Yesterday, lunch was a Yakisoba Sandwich ($3.25) from Panya.
Noodles in a sandwich may seem wrong on every level, but when you want something light, but still tasty, it gets the job done. Especially at Panya where the yakisoba sandwich is practically meat-free, and isn’t drenched in mayonnaise and yakisoba sauce. Composed of stir-fried noodles, crunchy cabbage, carrots, and topped with shredded pickled ginger, seaweed sprinkles, and bonito flakes (meat!) in a soft slightly-sweet roll, it’s more of a snack than a meal, but after more than a week of pork stuffage, this was just right for me. A few tips though, first, redistribute the ginger and bonito flakes before eating. The ginger is always clumped on top or at the end, and the bonito flakes always at the end. Second, eat a big fat steak for dinner. Devoid of much nutritional value, your body will probably need and/or crave it.
Panya
8 Stuyvesant Street (b/n 9th St & 3rd Ave; map)
NY, NY 10003
212-777-1930
Tags: cheap, Japanese, NYC, Panya
