I wish I remembered the name of this restaurant, but it's right on 9th Avenue directly across from Route 66, between 55th and 56th Streets. This has to be the #1 best bang for the buck for Japanese food on the West Side.

I got the tofu salad, which consisted of a veritable mountain of romaine lettuce, surrounded by a few tomato wedges, and capped with a gargantuan portion of tofu. I'm talking about three huge rectangles. You have to integrate it into the salad yourself, but that's fine. The ginger dressing was great.

The "small" portion of edamame was enormous--I could only make my way through about 1/4 of what had to be well over 50 pods.

The eel avocado maki was excellent. The rolls were not quite as large and vibrant as you'd find at Kodama, but they were still tasty.

Here's the kicker: a lunch I couldn't finish for $8.30. I can't remember the last time that happened. I'll definitely be back on those hot and humid July days, if not before.