Dishes

Breakfast: Those spice-​rubbed potatoes mmmmmm. That + scrambled eggs. Be careful loading those onto your takeaway box though. Before you know it, you’ll be forking up $ 15 for breakfast alone!
Smoothies: On point. The tropical one is my favourite.
Lunch: Avoid. Total chaos and mediocre options. Better off getting more flavourful and specialized options elsewhere!
Service: Mixed bag. When I went to get my breakfast muffin pressed, the guys behind the sandwich counter were smiling and friendly. The checkout? Attitude and rudeness alert.

I LOVE the food here. I really do. But what I can’t stand are the lines (there is absolutely no order — or space — in there to maneuver all of the people) and the staff. First, there is not enough staff. That is clear from the discombobulated lines that stretch the salad/​soup/​Asian soup lines. There was NO ONE at the regular soup section so I hopped on the Asian soup line to try and get that staff’s attention. Of course, the folks ordering in front of me had a ton of questions on the noodles and made the poor guy go back into the kitchen to retrieve udon noodles. Wonderful. Then he’s juggling back and forth and getting regular soup for a customer (oh my goodness! I was on «line!»)! This back and forth went on for almost 20 minutes before I even got my medium African peanut chicken soup — from the same guy! Today, I decided to brave it at 11:30AM. Score. Rather empty. I’m one of THREE people ordering a sandwich and the staff seem to be more concerned with fulfilling a catering order. They ignore our orders well after we paid and insist they’re, «making it now.» BS. I can see behind the counter and ALL of the sandwiches being «made now» are going into a bin for a catering order. I spot another guy making the Vietnamese sandwiches for a catering order. Why can’t they just give me one?! One guy finally sees me eyeing it and does exactly that. I’m sure the workers here are pressured to finish these sandwiches and they’re miserable but Dishes, wtf? Don’t leave your other customers hanging. Maybe treat your workers better, staff up and pay a little more; incentivize them! I’m heading to Gotan.

So good! I would keep going up for seconds and third if I wasn’t so pressured for time! Many people comment how the buffet bar is like Whole Foods, but they forgot to mention that it is ten times better. For that, I would gladly pay the higher price. The salads are very good. Even my kids liked it. The sesame noodles impressed my grandma (a food critic at the heart). The coconut chicken fingers were gobbled up by my five year old. I loved going to dishes. However, it isn’t that family friendly, as it is hard to secure tables.

I usually get breakfast buffet here so this review will be just for that.
Holy shit expensive. I know its midtown and all… and because I’m a FiDi transplant I was not used to the midtown prices but fuck is it expensive.
A few tablespoons of scrambled eggs, an ounce or 2 of home fries, and one turkey patty will cost you EIGHT dollars. That amount fills up probably about half of the small takeout container. Sure there are fancier options, like small egg custards or stuffed green peppers etc, but its nowhere near its value. You are paying a sitdown price at a good midtown diner if you elect to eat breakfast buffet here.
But it tastes good and thats why I keep coming back. I’m rich bitch.

Decent lunch option in Midtown East.
Several of my co-​workers come here often so I tag along every now and then to change up my lunch scene. This place offers all the bells and whistles you see at many of its competitors (soups, salads, sandwiches, hot bars, sushi, etc.). It is very clean and they offer seating areas near the back if you do not feel like rushing back to the office. However, it is not always easy grabbing a table given the crowds. It can become considerably congested during lunchtime on weekdays so do not be surprised if you are waiting in lines or trying to dodge people as you try to find and/​or pay for your meal. They do offer catering and online ordering as an alternative.
The food quality is above average when compared to others in the area. My favorite is the pecan chicken sandwich, which is pressed and comes with gruyère cheese and Dijon mustard on Jerusalem bread. Their prices are on the higher end, though, and I tend to wait a long time for my sandwich to be made. I understand this location is busy, but it seems like there are a limited number of employees assigned to meet the needs of walk-​in, online, and catering customers.
Overall, I recommend checking it out if you are patient and looking for a higher quality lunch at a premium.

Very clean place! Unusual food choices, not weird just not your usual find. For lunch they are always packed, lots of grab and go also.
I’d say all of the professionals from this area come here.
I’d say the only down side is if you get here later than 1:00 your choices dwindle down substantially.
If you want as much choice as possible get here starting at around 12:00 for lunch. I have been here after 3:00 but the earlier the better because EVERYONE grabs all the good stuff as early as possible.
They do breakfast too starting at 7 am but I haven’t tried that yet, I bet that’s awesome too!
They are meticulously clean, you can see that since their décor is mostly white. That is what originally attracted me to this place to begin with.
I hope you try it out, everyone I’ve sent here loves it and thanks me for telling them about it maybe you will love it too, hope so.

For me, this place is overpriced and not good. The food is as greasy as any other cafeteria, and that’s just what this place is, a nicer looking cafeteria. The service is adequate. The single star is primarily for the prices. Honestly there’s nowhere healthy and decent to go in the blocks surrounding grand central. If you’re in the middle class, just bring your own lunch, let the executives fight over the buffet line.

DIshes is my go-​to place when I want to treat myself to a delicious lunch. Fridays is my go to day because they have sushi. Come early (1pm is usually a crazy busy time) if you can because hoards and hoards of people come for the sushi!
My review is solely for the hot/​cold buffet. They have something for everyone and the quality is consistently very good (kind of hard to find for this area). The coconut chicken tenders are my absolute favorite! I love that I can have chicken tenders with a side salad (Caesar, greek, etc), some fresh garlic broccoli, cold sesame noodles and Portobello mushrooms. It’s pay by weight, so beware cause it could get costly if you’re filling up the entire box!

When I feel like spending a little more for a buffet lunch in midtown, Dishes is where I go. I am boring and usually get the same things every time, but any and all of their hot pasta is delicious. I always get their coconut crusted chicken fingers and deviled egg salad and other salads. I usually treat myself to a chocolate cream cheese brownie which is so tasty. I can never spend less than $ 12 for lunch but I am always satiated.
Don’t be intimidated by the line, it goes pretty quickly. Overall, they have plenty of options and use fresh, higher quality food.

you can’t go wrong at dishes. it’s an upscale deli with banging options at their buffet.
a tad pricier, but the food is awesome, so totally worth it.

The soup noodle line is awful– or at least the phở option is. Ordered beef phở only to find that the broth they used is entirely devoid of flavor. It tastes like beef stock + star anise and no other ingredients whatsoever. Also, the dude behind the counter was throwing handfuls of MINT LEAVES into the phở. …MINT LEAVES. for all the white people reading this, it’s usually basil leaves that you add to phở broth. Fisting in a handful of mint leaves makes the already crappy broth even worse.
Props to the guy regardless though, he was stuffing the ingredients into the soup container like it was his last day on the job.
Oh, and $ 3 for a dried up tasteless cookie? Comeon guys. Comeon.

This place literally can do no wrong. Doesn’t matter what you decide to get… create your own Salad, by the pound prepared food or noodle soup … You cannot get a bad dish. It’s more expensive than the regular delis but that because it’s way better. I’m a huge fan. Their delivery is prompt too!
I read the other posts on here regarding customer service and crowds and there is some truth to it. That said, if your purpose to go in, get a great lunch and eat it, you’re fine. Try it, love it, you ll see.

One of my favorite places to grab a quick lunch in the city. Some of the highlights are the cold sesame noodles with tahini, the coconut chicken fingers, and whatever warm specials they have. As a heads up, if you are going for lunch, you should get there before Noon. If it was slightly cheaper and the lines weren’t as crazy, I would have given them 5 stars!

This is my go-​to lunch spot in Midtown East. Everyone in my office loves it and sushi fridays are incredible. Its kind of a frenzy in there with the large crowds but totally worth it– their sushi is extremely fresh and I’m a big big fan of the salmon and cream cheese roll. The hot buffet is also great, coconut chicken fingers with the green dipping sauce, the grilled eggplant salad, and the seaweed salad are all personal favorites of mine. I would recommend this place to anyone, the only downside is the price. I probably go here once a week for lunch because it is close to my office and should come back for their breakfast

THIS PLACE IS TRYING TO KILL ME!
I just came back from the 45^th street location with my lunch, was eating at my desk, and suddenly found a twisted piece of metal in my mouth from my pumpkin bisque!
BE SURE TO CHECK EVERY SPOONFUL, GUYS!

Overall, not bad.
The buffet bar is like Whole Foods quality but it’s more expensive per pound at Dishes. It adds up so quickly to $ 10+ if you want to get a decent amount for a meal.
The salad bar is probably my favorite thing about this place. The ingredients are fresh and they offer a variety of things, from curry tofu to artichokes. It usually end up being a $ 10+ salad too…
This place gets so crowded during lunch time but the line moves pretty fast so it’s okay. There’s no customer service at all — they are always in a rush.
Also, I do feel like it’s a rip off when I take some heavier stuff from the buffet bar and a pasta with veggie meal ends up to be $ 20. I could have gone to a restaurant for that money. Anyway, that feeling at checkout sucks.

POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE.
My company always order from you guys. 2 – 3 times week. usually about 100 bucks each time for the past years.
YOU GUYS ALWAYS MAKE MISTAKES ON ORDERS. 8 out of 10 times. I’m either missing an item or two and I call back and they would send it to me. I never gave the staff a hard time. but just because you resend the order that you fail to put into the bag before leaving isn’t my problem. We would have to wait for another 30−45mins for the missing goods. 1 hour delivery becomes a 2 hour delivery. And I was nice, I never file a complaint. things happen. people make mistakes. One thing tho, they never offer to give anything extra or to give me a discount. I DON’T EVEN THINK A SORRY WAS SAID.
Today at 3÷19÷2015 at 12:45pm a girl called me and told me shes out of watermelon cup and asked me if i want to switch to a fruit cup. and still change me 1.50 + tax difference. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? I placed my order already on the webpage. IT WAS CONFIRMED. if you didn’t have watermelon cup. THEN TAKE IT OFF YOUR WEBSITE. you are the one who is wrong here and still cant just sub my watermelon cup THAT I technically already PAID for by credit card. PAID AND CONFIRM ON MY RECEIPT, which means if you don’t have it, you have failed to fulfill your service that you were giving out.
Your restaurant will not last long if you keep this type of crappy service up!
Have a good day.

GREAT FOOD — If you can get to it. Amazing breakfast selection — very fresh. Lunch is a little too busy. The ingredients used in the offerings at the buffet are fantastic and everything is usually delicious and more or less healthy. The only con about this place is that the lines around the buffet at lunch are about 3 people deep and it gets VERY pushy. They also run out of food a lot and when a new plate is put down it’s like bees descending on a hive. The pricing for lunch is moderate to pricey… but very worth it. Overall, worth the lunch crowd push or just wait until 230ish and have a pleasant dining experience. Also, the dining areas is nice and in a separate room from the buffet which is nice — limits the noise.

This place is a FEEDING FRENZY during lunch time. Although there are ample signs suggesting that people do not form lines around the buffet table, people do anyway. What inevitably happens is that the «cutters» get into fights with the «liner-​uppers». Crazy, just cray. I have seen properly dressed professionals getting ready to roll up their sleeves and duke it out.
That said, the food here is great. The food has a gourmet touch and is unique. Come here for lunch and be adventurous. I recommend trying their chicken pecan blt, coconut chicken, sesame noodles, and pasta. Also be prepare to spend $ 10+.

Very gourmet quality, nothing you can get around here. But prices are definitely an arm and a leg. I tried to be stingy with my wallet, but I always seem to leave the place with a $ 8 meal and still not be full. I only come here when I want a little splurge.
The buffet selection is huge, and all are quality food. Fridays are known to us as Sushi and Fried Chicken Fridays. Sushi is a big hit, and they usually go really quickly. They do stock it rather quickly. Overall it’s great, but I can’t afford such an expensive lunch.