Courtesy GLAZE Teriyaki

GLAZE Teriyaki, located at 638 Lexington Avenue,  is going to knock your socks off. That’s right. Take you by surprise and make you a regular. Where else in Mid Town Manhattan, or anywhere in NYC for that matter, can you get seriously delicious farm to table freshly grilled chicken, steak, salmon and even tofu – all  with mouth watering teriyaki sauce made fresh daily. AND (yes, I know not to start a sentence like this, but the AND is really important here). Every item on the menu is under $10!

The Gourmet Review

I love chicken teriyaki. At GLAZE, I can indulge all of my favorites. Choose any two teriyaki entrees on one of the Combo Plates. I personally love the salmon and steak combination. Bet you didn’t know that the same vendor that supplies Peter Luger’s Steakhouse supplies GLAZE AND it’s all under $10. Guess I mentioned that already.

The Gourmet Review

My husband loves salads. First, he tried the cold soba sesame and loved it. Next, he tried the grilled chicken breast salad plate. He considers himself something of a salad conoisseur, so I was anxious to hear what he had to say. He couldn’t help himself and tried all the salad dressings made fresh daily. Choose between the sesame and carrot ginger or honey lemon dressing (don’t tell him that one is gluten-free)? It was a toss up. Should he have chosen grilled organic salmon or tofu instead? Guess that will be our next visit.

The Gourmet Review

Now comes my favorite part. I could actually survive on side dishes or appetizers, so I felt compelled to try every one of the sides. My favorite was the shishito peppers. You’ll find these at Nobu for a whole lot more money.  I don’t like super spicey food, so it was a bit of a gamble to try these, but I can say that these smokey, succulent peppers are my new favorite food. Next time I go to Nobu, I’ll remember GLAZE Teriyaki and the $5.00 price.

The Gourmet Review

Next up was the cucumber salad. None of this thinly sliced cucumber at GLAZE. Nice big chunks of cucumber with a light seasoned rice vinegar dressing and sesame seeds. Or maybe some  BBQ pickles?

The Gourmet Review

Crispy gyoza – your choice of chicken, pork or veggie with dipping sauce. Mmmm. Could make a meal on this one.

The Gourmet Review

Then we tasted the teriyaki plates, which come with your choice of white rice (a secret mixture of several blends) or brown rice, and salad with choice of dressing. All the meats and fish are boneless and skinless. Dessert is the chef’s home made toasted almond rice pudding and it melts in your mouth. I don’t normally like rice pudding, but I’m a convert now.

The Gourmet Review

Don’t forget the wok sauteed vegetables with lemon yuzu sauce. Maybe combine it with a chicken thigh, pork loin, beef sirloin, chicken breast, salmon or tofu. For those who can’t get quite enough, you can order double portions and these all come with rice and salad. If you love spicey, the extra spicy teriyaki sauce will require a fire hydrant nearby to recover, or so says my husband.

The Gourmet Review

GLAZE puts its priority on serving the freshest of ingredients. Dennis Lake, the chef, let me watch the teriyaki sauce being made one Sunday morning. I am sworn to secrecy, but I definitely saw fresh pineapple and apples, along with lots of fresh ginger in that sauce. Dennis has put his spin on every dish.

The Gourmet Review

Drinks are fun and a perfect match to the teriyaki. Are you kidding? Fresh coconut milk? That’s right. Pick your coconut, watch as they cut the top off, add the straw and voila! Again, it is the little touches that make Glaze Teriyaki such a gem.

The Gourmet Review

For those who like gluten free, try GLAZE’s Honey Lemon Salad Dressing. Love your tofu? Try the tofu teriyaki. Or get creative and get one of the combos – Combo l is a double choice of teriyaki with two teriyaki entrees or Combo 2 with any one teriyaki + l side of crispy gyoza, cucumber salad, or wok sauteed vegetables for just $2.00 more. I LOVE this food.

GLAZE is a healthy, quick fast way to satisfy your teriyaki cravings or discover a new world of teriyaki. Read some of the press GLAZE is garnering, from the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, a feature from CBS and Mid Town Lunch blog.

NOTE

The story of GLAZE Teriyaki is a fun one. The owner, Paul Krug, a native of Seattle, where teriyaki is on virtually every block, missed his hometown food specialty. He couldn’t find a single restaurant in NYC devoted to teriyaki. Paul and Chef Dennis Lake spent a weekend in Seattle going to the top teriyaki restaurants in the Pacific Northwest. They tasted every sauce before Dennis created his own blend of ingredients and spices. They needed a hungry ex college football player to join them tasting and eating all the food from their tasting weekend!

GLAZE Teriyaki’s motto is “Seattle ….. New York …. The World.”  GLAZE has elevated teriyaki to a  whole new gourmet experience at affordable prices and great service. The atmosphere is inviting and the music fun. All in all, whether you eat in or have the food delivered, it’s a fun dining experience. The lines are long at lunch time, so make sure you go early. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

-The Gourmet Review