Let's Play a Game
and stuff our faces with AYCE sushi
May has been a very busy month for me and June is shaping up to be the same 😵 I’m going to Toronto with my brother for a few days, so next week’s BCLF might be shorter, feature some Toronto highlights, or not exist at all. Who knows!! But I would like to give a shoutout to past me for baking these blueberry corn crumb cakes that I brought to a park picnic last weekend (and shoutout to for the recipe). I brought a bunch of leftovers to the office (they were devoured) and have also been eating them every day for breakfast. I’ve finally finished them and plan to make more ASAP.
Also, just a shoutout to the Substack algorithm for serving the shit out of my Note about…literally checks Notes…doors? It’s always a mystery to me why some Notes/Posts of mine take off and I’ve honestly just given up trying to understand. I met someone at an event this week and mentioned my Substack name and they said “oh I saw that post of your about doors on my feed today!” What a strange first impression to have of me. But I also met someone at that event who wanted to start a Substack, but wasn’t sure about the whole “growth, monetize, etc bs” and I’m so sorry I forgot your name, but if you’re that person I’ll reiterate what I told you IRL: just do the damn thing. Doesn’t matter if tons of people read your stuff or if you just send it to family. Write what you want to write if it makes you happy. Or consider posting photos of doors!
For this week, even though I have a big backlog of stuff I told myself I’d work through, I instead chose to write about some recent explorations. Last weekend was a Fancy Beef Dinner weekend, but instead of going fancy, we sort of went campy instead. My old office was near the Squid Game Experience so I passed by everyday and imagined myself beating the game and claiming the glory. I managed to strong arm Beef and Lorenzo into participating with me and I even convinced them to get conveyor belt sushi with me afterwards. Like I said, this was definitely more of a campy Beef Dinner than a fancy one. Read on to learn if I would recommend either!
Squid Game Experience 32nd St and 6th Ave, 100 W 33rd St, New York, NY 10001 Neighborhood: Ktown (sort of?) Open: Thu - Mon Cost: $39 - $75 pp
Remember when Season 1 of Squid Game came out on Netflix? We were all still stuck at home and it seemed like the public latched onto anything Netflix came out with because we just didn’t have anything else to do. Squid Game was actually a really interesting concept though (and not just entertaining schlock like Tiger King). It’s popularity probably had something to do with our collective malaise towards capitalism and our struggle to retain a sense of humanity under a system designed to strip it away and encourage competition rather than compassion…but what do I know 🙃
This isn’t a review of the tv show though - it’s a review of the Squid Game Experience, the pop up experience based on the reality game show "Squid Game: The Challenge," which was based on Squid Game, the tv show. Now “experiences” in NYC vary wildly. Most of them tend to be insta-playgrounds filled with photo ops and cheap giveaways of stuff I don’t need. Every once in a while, though, there’s a diamond in the rough, an experience that actually leaves me with fun memories and not just an awkward photo in my camera roll (ask me about the egg pop-up I visited 🥴). And honestly, Squid Game kind of delivered.
We opted for the cheapest ticket because the VIP experience really didn’t seem like it was worth the extra money. If you do choose to upgrade your ticket, you get to cut to the front of the line (we got there 10 min early and were at the front anyways) and you get access to the VIP Lounge + a free mocktail (I can’t imagine the mocktails are anything special, but in the lounge you get to watch everyone competing as if you’re one of the rich people from the tv show, so that’s kinda cool). While waiting in line an employee dressed in a suit and holding a briefcase was standing so uncomfortably close to me that I finally awkwardly said “…hi?” I was quickly challenged to a game of ddakji, which I lost spectacularly. I was then publicly shamed and made to apologize to everyone in the building for losing, but at least my loss didn’t put me in debt financially!
Just before the actual game began, we were all given wristbands with numbers and symbols on them. The symbols never actually came into play, so I wonder if they rotate the games inside or if they were part of a past game. In any case, just pick whichever number calls to you because it doesn’t actually matter. Once our game master yelled the rules at us (they took their jobs very seriously, which I appreciated), we all went inside to take our player photos. The whole inside of the game area kind of reminded me of a haunted house with the lights on. All of the walls were flimsy and would probably fall over if you leaned on them too hard and the wallpaper had fake blood splatters all over. Sure some of the decor looked a little cheap, but the actual games made up for the fake walls.
Surprise - the first game isn’t red light, green light with the creepy doll! For our first game, we had to cross the glass bridge. The green squares lit up for a few seconds at the start (first photo) and we had to memorize them because those represented the safe path across. Once the lights turned off, our game master yelled “go!” and we’d have to step onto what we thought was the next green square. If we stepped on a red one instead, we were out. I got so freakin lucky with my route - every other square was green so my safe path was very easy to remember. Me, Beef, and Lorenzo all made it safely across and got to scan our wristbands to get points.
The next game sort of combined two different games from the tv show - dalgona and marbles. Those who safely crossed the glass bridge got to enter and have first pick at the tables, which all had different symbols on them: triangles, circles, and umbrellas. We chose a triangle table, though in retrospect I think a circle table would be the best choice for this game. We each took turns throwing our marbles into the shape. If a marble landed inside (or on the line), then we got to take it back. If a marble landed outside, then it would stay on the board and the next person would toss their marble. If their marble landed inside the shape, then they got to take all of the marbles on the board. I got incredibly lucky with one throw because we went around a bunch of times with no one’s marble landing inside the shape, so when my marble landed inside I got to pick up a ton of marbles floating on the board. At the end of this game, we dumped our marbles into a counter, scanned our wristbands, and were awarded points accordingly. I ended with 10 marbles and was in 3rd place overall - unfortunately for me it was all downhill from here.
The next two games would spell the end for me. After Marbles, we were told to separate into two groups: green and pink. Beef and Lorenzo both chose pink and I chose green because I like green ok! Turns out I chose poorly because the next game required us to work together to play battleship and I’m so sorry if anyone on my team is reading this, but y’all were dumb AF. Each ship had a captain who would actually “shoot” the other ships and one guy on my team shot the same spot for three turns, essentially wasting two of our shots. I will never forgive this man. I commandeered our fleet once I realized my team was useless but it was too late and 3/4 of our ships were sunk by then.
After a demoralizing Battleship run, I was excited to see that Red Light, Green Light was next. I was sick at this game as a kid, so I figured this was my chance at redemption. The field has a bunch of gift boxes scattered about as obstacles, and if I did this again I think instead of weaving around the boxes I’d go all the way to the side, which allows a thin, but obstacle free path to the finish line. After the first round of RLGL, over half of our competitors got out. I was feeling good. Second round, even more people got out. In the third round I ended up right next to Beef and I was fucking hyped. But then they called it - 63 - my number. I don’t think I moved after they called green light, but I was breathing heavier than my cat does when I say “breakfast time” so I think my lungs betrayed me. Beef ended up making it to the end, which put him in second place overall!
The final game was a bit anticlimactic, if only because the game mechanics didn’t make much sense. The person in first place got to sit at a special table, but then their dining partner was chosen at random from the entire group. I think it would have made more sense for first and second place to be up there or for the process to be a bit less random so everyone could feel more involved. After that the lights in front of us would randomly light up and we got to choose which of those two diners would have to crank the jack-in-the-box handle. After a mystery number of cranks, the jack-in-the-box popped open and we had a winner. As far as I could tell, the winner got a glittery mask and probably some coupons and then we were all ushered out. So like I said, a bit anticlimactic.
So would I recommend the Squid Game Experience? Honestly, yeah. I think it would be more fun if you went with a large group, like maybe for a birthday or a work thing. Competing with strangers was fine, but I think it would be more fun to trash talk and form alliances with (or sabotage) people you know. For $40, this gave me a solid hour of entertainment and in NYC, I feel like that’s a great deal. If anyone would like to help me get better at ddakji, I’d love to go back and try to win. Oh my god, is this what they wanted??
Kaiten Zushi 276 5th Ave, New York, NY 10001 Neighborhood: NoMad Open: Daily, 11:30am-10pm Dining Options: AYCE ($50) or A La Carte
There’s something to be said about walking past a place so many times that eventually you feel compelled to enter. That was the case with the Squid Game Experience and also with Kaiten Zushi in NoMad. I must have walked past their giant doors so many times, simply assuming that the building housed a bank or something similarly boring. However, when I realized there was a all-you-can-eat conveyor belt sushi place inside, it went on my to-try list and it was close enough to Squid Game to make for a nice accompaniment. I was also tired of bringing Beef and Lorenzo to nice sushi places only for them to complain that they’re still hungry afterwards 🙄 All You Can Eat Sushi, FTW!
Kaiten Zushi takes reservations, but when we went there around 1pm on a Saturday there was literally only one other group seated. The space around the conveyor belts is huge and they actually have another table service space up front that didn’t quite look open. All in all, the restaurant kind of has a weird vibe. I would have thought a conveyor belt sushi place would be bright and fun, but Kaiten Zushi managed to look somewhat corporate? But corporate or not, you can’t argue with $50 AYCE sushi. Our host sat us down, pointed to the iPad on the table, and told us to go nuts with our allotted 90 min. Now if you’ve gotten to know Beef at all, you know he takes AYCE seriously, so he wasted absolutely no time in queuing up tons of orders. Sushi started zipping over to us so quickly and with so many plates in succession, that we had to briefly take away his iPad privileges.
You’re able to order 4 items at a time (though you can place an order of 4 and then place another order right after) and you’ll be charged for anything you don’t finish. I recommend pacing yourself; we did not and got full about 40 min in. But we did manage to try a lot of the menu, so here’s what’s good and what I’d skip:
Good - Octopus nigiri, Tamago nigiri, Salmon nigiri, Tuna nigiri, Aburi salmon mayo nigiri, Unagi nigiri, Sweet potato roll, Fire roll
Bad - Honestly, anything else. the tempura was oily, the yaki udon was not super flavorful (but it did contain the tiniest scallops which were nice), and a lot of the sushi was very mid
But let’s be real - the conveyor belt is what you’re here for. Orders came out very quickly and it was so fun to watch them roll over to us. If the restaurant was more crowded, I think it would have been fun to see orders zipping by more often (though apparently then we’d run the risk of sushi terrorism). Also, the AYCE deal is pretty good if you’re going for quantity over quality. We reviewed our receipt after and between the three of us we’d ordered about 50 dishes. Nigiri typically cost about $5 each, so we already came out at least $100 under what it would have cost if we’d ordered a la carte, and that doesn’t even include the noodle and tempura dishes in the equation (I won’t do more math for you, sorrynotsorry).
So what’s the verdict here? I think it depends what you’re looking for. If your goal is to crush as much sushi as possible and not spend a ton of money, go here. If you’ve got a big group of friends and you all wanna chill for 90 min and watch your sushi zoom over to you, go here. The food quality is decent enough overall and if you order off of my “good” list, you’ll be happy. If you’re looking for really high quality sushi though, just go to an omakase place instead. Or alternatively, try Kura in Tangram Mall in Queens - they offer a more traditional take on the conveyor belt sushi trend and the reviews I read said that the sushi is pretty good, too! I love Tangram so I’ll definitely be trying Kura to compare.
My hair salon is having a Craft Cult Fair this Sun June 8! Head to their fancy new Ridgewood location for vendors selling cool tchotchkes, drinks & @spookyphysics doin’ donation based cuts.
The Renegade Craft Fair is also back this weekend in Brooklyn. They’ll be popping up at Zerospace in Gowanus and will feature 150+ vendors selling all sorts of handmade goodies. Last time I went I picked up the cutest little ceramic egg dish that I currently use as a spoon rest.
I think everyone needs to go to The Met Cloisters, but this weekend in particular is a great time to visit because on Sat June 7 they’ll be having a Garden Festival. I love their little garden full of all sorts of plants used not only for medicinal purposes, but also to create the colors used in medieval art. You’ll get to learn all about the plants through tours, performances, art-making activities, and more.
The Museum Mile Festival is back next Tues June 10 from 6-9pm. Participating museums will allow free entry for these 3 hours and there will be additional events and food vendors outdoors. Your best bets are to hit up the museums with the highest price tags - Neue Galerie (reg $28), Guggenheim (reg $30), Cooper Hewitt (reg $22), and Jewish Museum (reg $15). All of the other museum are pay-what-you-wish for NY residents, so just go to those on a regular day!
Think you’ve got what it takes to be the next Miss Subways? Applications are open thru June 25! You’ll get to compete by representing your subway line of choice through costume and performance and all ages(18+)/body types/gender identities are welcome. This looks so fun!
Pride Month is officially upon us (stay tuned for some NYC LGBTQ history in BCLF soon) and this Fri June 6 there’s a Drag Wrestling event in Red Hook! If we’re being real, I think all wrestling is technically drag wrestling to some degree, but I digress. Tickets are $25.
For a free Pride event, may I recommend crossing the river to Hoboken and attending Puppies & Pride? Organized by
, you don’t have to be Queer or have a dog to attend, you just have to like looking at dogs in rainbow tutus, and who wouldn’t like that?Do you have a dad? Do you wanna make him a cool Father’s Day card? Then stop by Bowne & Co at South St Seaport to make a cool printed card - for free!
Green Tile Social Club dropped their Summer Mah Jong calendar. They’ve got events for all levels, speed dating, and various community meetups.
The Guides Association of NY (GANYC) is offering a bunch of free tours later this month. Sign up now before all the spots are gone! I’ll be attending the FiDi Night Photography and Murals of Spanish Harlem tours.
Typically how crowded is the museum mile festival? My dad is visiting that day for early Father’s Day and we’d love a free father-daughter museum trip but not if it involves the type of lines seen at the frick or MoMa on free Fridays