For June’s Happy Hour, Midtown Lunch attendees went to 3rd Floor Cafe to partake of their Tuesday happy hour special – all you can eat and all you can drink beer. Not a bad deal; I was unable to attend and wound up meeting up with them later, and we headed off to nearby Ichi Umi to continue the drinking. The basement is a lounge/bar (which most of the group was surprised to discover), and it was really empty on this Tuesday night. (Actually, it’s usually pretty empty, but the one time I tried to go before that, they all but said to my friends and I “We don’t want you here” even though we were four girls… so I’m not that fond of them.)
In any case, though everyone had been eating before I arrived, I was starving and quickly ordered off the menu. There were a lot of things that looked halfway interesting but I wanted something fast to calm my raging stomach (“YOU HAVEN’T FED ME IN FOUR HOURS, ARE YOU INSANE???”) and picked chicken nuggets. $10 gave me the above portion – nothing small, but a teeny part of my brain said “If you went to Mickey D’s, you’d have gotten 50 of those bad boys and you know you love them!”
And these… which were clearly previously frozen – I’d expected them to be, though – were fine. More “chicken” than chicken, and lots of breadiness to the innards, but as I said, it’s what I expected. The worst part – after the price – was the little amount of sauce they gave coupled with the inattentive service. When I ran out of sauce halfway through (it’s like a honey mustard, and these are not the type of nuggets so juicy you can go without dipping), I had to get someone’s attention before I could ask for more. That took a good 5 minutes. And for some reason, it took another wait before the sauce came, though the place remained relatively empty the entire time we were there.
Yvo says: I’ve been here twice now, both times where the addition of the group I was in just about doubled the number of people in the establishment. Both times, however, I have been given first downright horrible, rude, unnecesarily terrible service and this time, middling service where our server distinctly gave off the “I wish you weren’t here” vibe. He totally wanted to just chill with his friends who were talking to him on the other side of the bar. And that’s fine, but you know what? Pass. I won’t be returning and it’s entirely because of the service. If I wanted to be treated like a second class citizen, I’d spend more time at home, thanks. I don’t care if the beer specials are super cheap.
not recommended
Goats says
There was food? I don’t even remember there being food! I do remember paying 9 bucks per captain though…pricey! But i was too drunk to care.
Feisty Foodie says
Haha, yes, you were having a good time. There were menus on the table; I think H and I were the only two to order anything though.
BeerBoor says
They stayed fairly attentive to our empty glasses while sitting at the bar, but I can’t even remember someone deigning to grace you with his presence at the tables twenty feet distant. $5 pints or no, it’s not a place I need to return.
Feisty Foodie says
Agreed. This IS a combination of my first experience AND this experience, btw. The first time was just downright awful.
Hungry says
There was an awkward vibe to the place and service. Glad I split early.
Feisty Foodie says
It’s a very weird place… I think they prefer a certain type of clientele and neither I nor you fit into that group.
BeerBoor says
Then who are they looking for? Unattractive, quiet Asian females?
T.C. says
Are those Tyson or Perdue nuggets?
Def. Mickey D’s nuggets FTW!
Corinne says
Ten bucks for pre-frozen nuggets and there’s not even any garnish on the plate?
WEAK
chakrateeze says
Yeah, Feisty, that place is sooo not worth your time. Maybe, once they go belly up they’ll figure out that good customer service = $$$$$$$$!
Guess I’ve been lucky. because every Japanese person I’ve ever met has been super-friendly. Waitpersons included. .
Tracie
Feisty Foodie says
Thanks Tracie! Despite its name, Ichi Umi is actually Korean owned & operated.
CheeeeEEEEse says
I remember getting some of Hungry’s edamame and downing a hot sake or 2. It was meh. Would I go back, probably not. Is it cool to metion that there is a secret bar under Ichi Umi, yeah.
Feisty Foodie says
FoodForFel’s edamame actually
CheeeeEEEEse says
It was a while ago. I forget these things. Didn’t Hungry eat something too?
Feisty Foodie says
Gyoza.
Chris H says
At risk of sounding douchey, I go to Ichi Umi quite often to meet my friends for drinks – they prefer the clientele to be Korean, as is the case with most Korean venues (3rd flr, Circle, etc). Molla, I won’t lie that my peeps can be racist to white peeps, or even other Asian races, but I remain a huge fan of this place.*
* For the record, i’ve never actually had the food here, just drinks which are quite strong and fairly priced for the area.
Feisty Foodie says
Eh, the food wasn’t really the focus of my post – I wasn’t expecting anything more (though nothing less, either) than what I got above. It just isn’t the place for me, but I don’t think they’ll miss me, for the reasons you mention 🙂
deanlo says
Yeah, I was there too when I saw them turn you four girls away. That waiter didn’t handle it correctly AT ALL. Unfortunately, I can’t really say that they’ve changed because I never get table service anyway.
And I know a few of the bartenders beyond a basic customer/server relationship… It’s completely true. They can all be a bit biased at times toward their friends/repeat customers instead of chatting up lonely people at the bar like they should.
@Chris — actually they took off all the Korean items from their menu *because* the owner wanted to attract a more diverse clientele. It’s not really working… go figure. haha
With all being said though, I’d still frequent this place. All of my friends go here. And their oyster happy hour is unbeatable — 6 blue points for $4. Sometimes they’ll serve Glidden Point (which they mistakenly name Golden Point) which are meatier and not as briny.
Feisty Foodie says
Both you and Chris have valid points for going; I don’t. I also don’t begrudge others their choice of hangouts, just feel no need to join when it’s a place that so clearly isn’t interested in my business.