Midtown Lunch

A little over three weeks ago, New York Magazine released their 101 Best Cheap Eats issue and I wrote about the dissing of Midtown… clearly snubbed in favor of more chic neighborhoods.  Others took notice too (not so much about the Midtown thing… most people see it for the wasteland it is).  There was also apost on Chowhound  that was dedicated to discussing the non-cheapness of some of the choices (namely Momofuku Noodle Bar, Lupa, Casa Mono and Alta).  Well apparently TONY was paying attention…

Time Out New York’s answer finally hit the newsstands yesterday with a direct shot at NY Mag.”The Real” Cheap Eats, as it is labeled, goes out of their way to flaunt the superiority of their criteria (Under $5 for breakfast, Under $10 for lunch, and under $20 for dinner).  There’s also none of that “the quality of the food at Lupa make it a real value” crap.  Oh… and their cover looks pretty similar too.  Coincidence?  Um… I doubt it. 

But aside from the “Cheapness” the real jem of the Time Out NY piece is that they separate everything by area, and meal which means…. there are whole sections dedicated to places for eating lunch in Midtown!!!  As a matter of fact, 5 of the 11 sections are either partially or entirely in Midtown.  A midtown coup if you will… and the best part is- the East Village was totally snubbed!  It’s like they are reading my mind… (or maybe they’re just reading my blog)

Check out what lunch places in Midtown made the cut in TONY’s Cheap Eats issue after the jump…

This list is not complete… it’s only the places that were singled out for lunch, and are actually in Midtown. 

Penn Station:

• Norimaki. Sushi. 35th btw. 7+8th
• Woorjip. Korean.  32nd btw. 5th+Broadway
• Kebab & Grill.  Indian/Pakistani. 36th btw. B’way+7th

Times Sq.

• Kashmir.  Indian Buffet.  8th Ave. btw. 39+40th
• Cafe Edison.  Jewish Deli.  47th btw. 7+8th
• Green Symphony.  Health Food. 43rd btw. 7+8th
• ‘wichcraft.  Sandwich/Salad/Soup Kiosks.  Bryant Park

Grand Central

• Grill 44.  Middle Eastern Pita Pockets.  44th btw. Lex+3rd
• Menchenko Tei.  Japanese Ramen Bar.  45th btw. Lex+3rd
• Cafe Zaiya.  Japanese Bakery/Bento Box Place.  41st btw. Mad+5th
• Oms/b.  Japanese Omnusubi.  45th btw. Lex+3rd

Columbus Circle

• BOS BBQ & Noodle Shop.  Chinese Noodle Soups.  55th + 8th Ave.

Lexington Ave. & 59th St.

• Katagiri Japanese Grocery.  59th St. btw. 2+3rd Ave.

Here are some honorable mentions which were not included above because they weren’t listed under lunch, or might have been slightly outside my radius. Margonwhich was listed as notable for breakfast but really is great all the time.  Whole Foods in the Time Warner Center was also listed for breakfast, but is a great place to grab some lunch (they also have a Jamba Juice inside).  GoodBurger on 43rd and 2nd was listed under dinner for some unknown reason, and finally Dimple, an Indian restaurant on 30th btw. 5th and Broadway.  The picture of the Kachori Bhel looks good enough that I might have to travel the 18 blocks to try it!!!

So there it is… kudos to the folks at TONY who came up with the genius idea of listing places by neighborhood and type of meal.  Amazing how little things can make a “Best Of” list go from arbitrary to usefull!

Here’s an arbitrarily usefull list of links:

• Time Out New York’s List of Cheap Eats
• New York Magazine’s 101 Best Cheap Eats
• Chowhound Discussion of NYMag’s List
• Gawker’s Comparison of the Two Covers
• My Post about Midtown Being Snubbed by NYMag