Ashbox

This place will only take cash which is sketchy to begin with. Don’t want to pay taxes or report your income? Super shady! I walk in with 2 hundred dollar bill, a 20 and 5 singles… My bill comes to 32 dollars. They won’t take my hundred even though I’m in there all the time. They instruct me to take money from the atm 2 blocks away that has a 3 dollar fee. They take cash only but won’t take my cash. Shame I’ll never go there again, I like the food. The owner got all flustered right away and walked away from me. So unprofessional and hugely disappointing. Apparently I need to follow guidelines to give them my money in exchange for food. Shame on you Ashbox!!! Shame!

A frequent lunch spot for me when I used to work in Greenpoint! Cute little place with the sweetest customer service.
Always get a salmon (with spicy mayo, of course) rice ball and some genmaicha tea. If you’re a fatty (like I am!), order 2 rice balls. Then take your food and sit at the end of the block near the water and people watch!

I don’t know how I haven’t come across this place until now (maybe because it’s hidden at the very top of Manhattan Ave), but I’m really glad I did! The café is sweet and cozy (though not really comfortable), though it’s size means that it can be easily crowded with just a few people.
I love the food options. Trying to find a healthy, light breakfast/​lunch is pretty difficult when eating out, but Ashbox has it! A mix of Japanese and American, their wraps and sandwiches are simple, but not lacking. The smoked turkey on wheat I ate was 10x better than what I’d expected! I’d love to come back here for breakfast or try their little wraps or onigiri rice balls.
Keep in mind they’re cash only!

Very cute interior, great place to read or work, food is cheap (basic Japanese diner fare)

This place was really very nice overall and I came really close to giving it a full five stars. The Menu consisted of several sandwiches and traditional Japanese dishes including half a dozen varieties of onigiri.
Pros:
The décor is cute and quaint and really makes you feel good.
The bathroom is really clean and nice.
The onigiri were large and tasty overall.
There is a large array of other traditional Japanese treats.
Cons:
Cash Only. Not a huge con, but can put a cramp in your plans if you are not prepared for it.
The bread on the turkey sandwich was very touch and chewy. It did not impact the flavor but contributed to the sandwich being relatively mediocre overall.
The rice in the best onigiri I have had had a wonderful flavor from being seasoned with rice vinegar and flame grilled. Comparatively the rice in the onigiri at Ashbox was not particularly flavorful.
The overall quality of the establishment is wonderful. And despite the mediocre quality of the sandwiches the onigiri are really good. So give this luttle hole in teh wall a try!

All of their food is very nice quality and tastes great.

I think for starters, I ordered the wrong thing. The pork sandwich was not too good. It was bland and too much mayo. The rice ball was great and I think this place probably excels at Japanese stuff. However, the biggest downfall was that this lovely spot didn’t have wifi! So sad. I had to leave immediately!

Ashbox is one of my favorite spots in Greenpoint. It’s a very tranquil Japanese café where you can have a tea, onigiri, or a miso soup and read a book or magazine. I could go here by myself or with my roommates who liked the spot, too.
I like that it’s a little bit way out of the way and close to the water and bridge. The café is never crowded or loud; I love that. It’s like a cozy hideaway.

Really lovely little place. No wi-​fi and cash only. Has an old-​school feel to it and cute décor. The rice balls are awesome, you can pick from a bunch of different flavors, which are all tasty. I had some of the sandwiches as well, which were for the most part very good. Lots of seating and generally not crowded. The coffee is hit-​or-​miss, but the green tea latte is above average. The eggs are nothing special, wouldn’t have them again. Service is friendly. Prices aren’t too high, we usually pay around $ 20 for breakfast for two. Great spot for a low key meal.

I really wanted to LOVE this place. Coming inside it gave me a warm cozy feeling. But the rest of my experience gave me something otherwise.
This is not a place to study in. There are minimal outlets and NO wifi.
The food here was mediocre at best and left me with a weird aftertaste. I ordered a matcha latte hoping for the best but it literally tasted like nothing. I could’ve made a better latte at home. So disappointed considering it’s a Japanese joint. I don’t think I will return. There are better options for cafes.

Very cute and cozy place! Good coffee, good service, affordable prices. It’s a perfect place to work/​study as they have tons of seatings with accessible outlets. I went on a Friday afternoon so can’t say how busy it is on weekends. The only reason it’s not 5 stars is because they don’t have wifi.

I love Ashbox! They’re a bit out of the way, and remember to bring cash (or hit up a deli nearby), but the food is awesome. Light options range from miso soup, to homemade tofu and seaweed wraps. They’ve also got a sandwich and salad menu. Service is pretty speedy.
My go-​to order? I get the homemade tofu with bonito flakes, avocado salmon seaweed wrap, and miso soup. It comes up to around $ 10, but more importantly, I don’t feel bogged down for the rest of the day. The food is simple yet delicious and filling.
When the ladies at Ashbox call my name to let me know that my order is ready, I know that I’m in for a treat.

Clean, healthy and rice-​filled, Ashbox is a cozy Japanese café with a delicious light menu. It is also a great breakfast spot as they open early and serve relatively quick.
The café doesn’t have wifi, discouraging people from treating the place as a work café. A great place to get that zen on, especially after a crazy work week.
We went there on a Saturday afternoon for lunch and ordered happy rice (with salmon), tofu salad, and two ornigris with salmon roe and salted kelp. All were really light, yet filling. The portions weren’t huge (as expected from the price), but allowed us to sample a variety of their food I highly enjoyed the tofu salad.
Ashbox definitely resembles a feel good spot from its food to its ambience.
FYI: Their menu is much larger at the store than what is posted online!

Best place to get lunch, if you have cash on hand. From the amazing onigiri, huge salads, and tasty sandwiches, it’s pretty much infallible. The lunch specials are really good price-​value, and the atmosphere is really nice. The southampton tea blend is insanely comforting to me.

This is a super cute spot for lunch. Great teas and sandwiches. It’s a nice combination of Japanese offerings and American food. Sandwiches for about $ 6.
They have a daily lunch special for $ 6.50, which is always good and an easy way pick your lunch when you can’t be bothered to think about it.
There’s no wifi, so it’s not a great spot to do work, but laptops are allowed if you don’t need access to the Internet.
The only thing that’s bad about it is that it’s WAY up in Northern Greenpoint, so unless you live or work nearby, it’s not very convenient to get to. :-/

Ashbox is a great, quiet little coffeeshop. We visited on a rainy Saturday morning, and I got a cappuccino. We grabbed a table and played a board game, and no one seemed to mind. The coffee was great, but the food menu looked super interesting, and I want to go back for lunch one day.

I came because Unilocal said there was free wifi but there’s not. So in-​spite of that, they don’t accept cards so that makes things even more interesting. I love the atmosphere. The bell on the door makes it feel especially fun. They have comp water as well as milk and sugar you can add yourself once you get your coffee. The restroom is actually really cool. Wifi and card acceptance would make it 5 stars in my opinion.

I am fan of their Rice Balls. I think it is the best in NYC.
Compared to what you can find in Japanese grocery stores like Sunrise Mart, they are made fresh, they use half brown (Haiga) rice and far better.
I also like their salads, they come in 2 sizes and you can get large for under $ 8 and they are huge.

A decent little lunch spot. I am a big luncher, so I like finding restaurants that do only that and don’t worry about dinner.
I had the lunch special — pork bagel with a salad. The pork was thick and tender, and the bagel was nice and warm. The meat was served on the salad so you could construct your own bagel, though I wish it had been assembled for me. I was really taken by how tasty the dressing on the salad was. A good portion size as well. And with my tea, lunch was still under $ 10. Pretty good deal.
I’ll definitely be back — want to try their soup next.

I’ve never had any of their sandwiches but I have had their Japanese offerings. Onigiri, miso soup, rice dishes, etc. It’s a small selection of delicious Japanese foods, but worth. The onigiri and miso are some of the best I’ve had!
Everything is fresh and healthy here. The staff is sweet, and there’s places to sit down with your friends.
Recommended walk to in Greenpoint. :)

Avis aux amateurs de bons thés, de superbes sandwichs et de bon accueil !
Ce petit café planqué dans le quartier polonais de Brooklyn est une merveille !
(Dailleurs il y a aussi une ribambelle de restos polonais très sympas où l’on mange de bons plats comme à la maison dans le quartier !)