Aja

This tranquil new space on 6th Ave. and 11th. Street with a large buddha sitting on a waterfall in the back of the beautifully constucted space has a great bangin' bargain lunch. You are welcomed into the restaurant by a large tank full of fish with a backsplash of stones. The restaurant has walls of carved stones and buddahs which are very pretty. Thai, Vietnamese and sushi are all served here with great, gracious service. Just opened a few months their food offerings are well executed. Lunch specials at $9. offer a main course with a salad, soup, rice and choice of spring roll or shrimp and chicken dumplings. Your order arrives in a quartered plate with all fresh offerings. The thai shrimp was freshly cooked, and well seasoned. Sushi lunches start a $10 and include a soup and salad. I indulged in the sushi lunch which is preceeded by a large mesclun salad and mildly flavored miso. The sushi although serviceable included a california roll with too cold rice, but still a good, quick sushi lunch fix on the cheap.

Bouchon Bakery

I have tried to get excited as some other people about Bouchon Bakery in the Time Warner Center. Though it is always exciting to be in the Time Warner Center an urban upscale mall with sweeping views of Central Park and the posh buildings surrounding it. The mix of international tourists and locals as well as the upscale shops and restaurants within the mall make the Time Warner Center unique. At Bouchon, the tarts, pastries and assorted baked goods are first rate, they almost fail to excite me perhaps because of the inflated costs or the pretense of authentic French pastry falls below expectation and unlike bakeries abroad serve their pricey pastries on cheap plastic. My favorite baked goods here are the dense donuts which they serve only once in a while. Brioche's are sweet though the few times I have had them they are a little dry inside. The soups here are quite good albeit pricey. I have had the beet, and just last night the white bean, kale and country bacon soup. Very tasty as they should be at $8.95. The salads are tasteless and premade with decent dressings.