Rub A Dub II

Smells bad, dirty, dark, gross floor, bad massage. You get what you pay for. Avoid!

Normally I visit another massage place nearby but I decided to give this one a try. I visited this place twice in a week so this is a combination review of those visits. On the first visit I was very displeased with the experience. I had a 1 hour foot massage and I seriously thought that my feet were going to fall off because of the pain. Despite repeated asks to lighten the pressure the person massaging kept using very deep pressure to the point that I finally had to snatch my foot away from her in order for her to understand that she was hurting me. Needless to say that was an excruciating hour and I left thinking that I probably wouldn’t be back. The second time I ended up there was because we were waiting in line for dinner and my companion wanted to kill time. With dread I went back to this place with a reminder to myself to say up front that I wanted medium (not excruciating) pressure. Luckily, I was assigned a different therapist this go around and she immediately asked what kind of pressure I wanted. I actually enjoyed the massage the 2^nd go around and it actually eased some of the discomfort in my feet that the first therapist had created. I can honestly say that I prefer my other place much more than this one but would come here in a pinch if needed. If you’re willing to be very specific about what you want and don’t mind a somewhat off-​putting fishy smell you will probably do okay here.

Looks kind of scary in all respects– but they do a great job and are very affordable. Ask for Linda, but they are all good.

Yet another no frills chinese massage in Hells Kitchen! I got a whopping 2 hours (!) because of a horribly sore back. Of course I should’ve known better, massages may make your back feel great but won’t fix a back ache but that’s my problem. Otherwise it was a very average massage. Like I’ve said its hit or miss depending on the masseuse (who generally don’t speak very good English). I kept telling her harder, more pressure but it was pretty medium throughout so I guess her hand/​arm strengh just lacked to give me a good, hard rub down. That and given my massage was so long i think she ran out of things to do. Like at one point she started giving me a foot rub. I was like, uh no thank you and please stop. I never asked for a foot rub. And in fact that’s a different service on the menu (cheaper too) separate from back rubs so why she would start giving me a foot rub in the middle of my session was strange. Prices are typical for these types of establishments (cheaper the longer you go) with $ 48 for 60 minutes although I didn’t see the same economies of scale for the 90 minute session and the 2 hours that I got which was disappointing.

Yes it is called Rub A Dub II. Yes it looks a little sketchy from the outside. But $ 18 for a 20 minute foot or back massage is not too bad for midtown. If you are waiting for a table at Totto Ramen across the street, this is a good place to go spend your time. Massage then ramen, that is a pretty relaxing evening. There aren’t rooms, just beds separated by curtains. The massage was decent.

No frills, no privacy, no problem! If you need the smell of burning incense and candles, this is not your place. But if you want to get a quality massage for a great price, then enter! The ‘rooms’ are separated my what look like hospital curtains… but the place is clean, hands are strong, and the price is right :-).