PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Jeff”

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a Midtown Lunch’er for their recommendations of places to eat lunch in Midtown. Meet Jeff, a recruiter that seems to have a weird way of luring applicants.  Not sure what’s up with the “I’m deranged and holding girl scout cookies, keep your children away from me” picture, but his great suggestions for lunch make it forgiveable… 

Name: Jeff

Age:
32

Occupation:
Manager of Client Services (aka Technical Recruiter)

Where in Midtown do you Work?:
37th btw. 5+6th

Favorite Kind of Food:
Good Jewish Deli, with the prime example being Pastrami @ Katz’s (From the counter, tables are for tourists!) Of course, the answer to this question changes depending on my mood. (Ask me tomorrow, and it could be Dim Sum, Middle Eastern or the mutton at Keanes)

Least Favorite Kind of Food:
The pay by pound salad bar after 3pm

Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown:
Once again, it depends on my mood, but as of late it has been this street meat cart guy on the corner of 5th and 39th. He has a Lamb Schwarma/4 Fried Shrimp over your choice of 3 types of rice. If you ask nice, he’ll throw in a decent falafel ball. It also is just 6 bucks.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: 37th street café. The standard NY deli that is just right downstairs. It’s not great, but not terrible, and ever so close.

Place you discovered thanks to MidtownLunch: So far…. Olympic Pita, Chiyoda (man, those rice balls!) and a return to Daisy May’s after a long absence.

Dream job location, purely for lunch purposes?: Canal Street for Wo Hop (downstairs ONLY). It has the best Chinese in NYC. The Dumplings are unbeatable!

 

Interesting you should mention the Daisy May’s BBQ Cart.  It’s been gone for the winter, but I’ve got the scoop on when it’s coming back- after the jump… 


Photo taken in November, before it went away for the Winter

I talked to someone at Daisy May’s who told me the cart was hit by a car and has been getting repairs.  It was supposed to be done weeks ago, but they’ve been getting the run around.  The hope is that it will be done today, in which case the cart will be back on the street (50th btw. 6+7th) on Wednesday.  No plans on bringing back the other two locations.  It may depend on how good business is on 50th.  I’ll keep you updated…

As always, if you have any Midtown Lunch news or you’d like to be next weeks Profiled Midtown Lunch’er, just email me at zach@midtownlunch.com.

15 Comments

  • Wo Hop, best Chinese in New York? Wow. I ate there once and I don’t have plans to go back. There is so much good Chinese food in New York, but Wo Hop is a throwback to those old-school chop suey joints for American palates. I guess if you like that kind of thing, Wo Hop is the place for it.

  • New Green Bo = best dumplings in the world

  • ps jeffs an idiot

  • Re-read his comment on Wo Hop. There is a huge difference between the upstairs and downstairs, and anyone who eats downstairs knows it.

  • Yo, man don’t be dissing Wo Hop. It is more of an institution than Katz or 2nd ave Deli, more than Peter Lugers. Wo Hop IS NYC. I am third generation NY, and can tell you that with all New Yawk authority. LOL.

    Those in the know go downstairs. Can NOT be beat. IMHO, best dumplings in the city, hands down. Open 24 hours. Many many a drunk night spent there. I have warm fuzzy feelings for Wo hop. The same waiters have been working there for decades. For real, I am not kidding.

    My husband is Asian and he and his friends think it is the best Chinese food in the city. I am not Asian, but have to agree…I love it!

    Yeah, it is a dive. But that is the whole appeal of it.
    It is cheap. It is fast. Greasy, yummy, yum yum.

  • I was talking about downstairs, and I recognize that it has its own old-school appeal. But it’s not Chinese food in the sense that you’d find that style of food in China. It’s Chinese-American food.

  • I look at each place as a unique experience! I love a good burger from Burger Heaven…. But have you ever had the burger at the 21 club? They are both A+ burgers but DIFFERENT Experiences. To paraphrase susan2, 2am, slightly (perhaps more) toasted up, there is no place better. Not only have the waiters been there for ever but they seem to ALWAYS be there! Is Wo Hop (downstairs only!) a Zagats 4 star? No. Is it a 4 star experience both culinary and otherwise, yuppers…. :-)

  • quote from above: “it’s not Chinese food in the sense that you’d find that style of food in China”

    Of course – still it’s fantastic. Can you elaborate then on great China-style food we should be enjoying? I’d love to know what I’m missing…

  • I can completely appreciate the merit of Wo Hop’s greasy food and divey yesteryear charm, especially after a night of drinking. I was just a little taken aback by the “best Chinese in NYC” claim.

    We’re straying from Midtown a little, but since Mok asks, the closest I’ve come to recreating the Chinese street food experience in Manhattan was at Super Taste, 26 Eldridge. If you go, try the beef noodle soup (with freshly handmade noodles) and boiled dumplings. Not haute cuisine, but good and very similar to food I’ve eaten on the streets in mainland China.

  • Jeff really does suck

  • Sorry – “Wo Hop (downstairs ONLY). It has the best Chinese in NYC. The Dumplings are unbeatable!” I dont think SO … only if you’re a whiteee no offence but there are way too many places to name all in this comment.

  • “Least Favorite Kind of Food: The pay by pound salad bar after 3pm” u end up scooping air!

  • WoW! Cool the flaming.
    I don’t always agree with Zach or other posters about his or their “favorite” foods, but I ALWAYS respect other opinions. For example, I hate fried foods..and Zach loves all things fried. If he proclaims some place to have the “best in NYC”, I respect his opinion and don’t call him names or diss him. That is so childish.

    In my opinion, Wo Hop is awesome. Yes, I am a whitee, as I mentioned in my previous post…so that is where I speak from..duh! But my numerous “non-whitee” friends love it too….for what it is. We have our opinion, and you have yours. Accept other points of view, and maybe your mind will be opened a little.

    We have been going there forever. Maybe we get awesome food because we know the staff and treat the staff awesome. Maybe our experiences are different from yours because of that.

    “it’s not Chinese food in the sense that you’d find that style of food in China. It’s Chinese-American food.”. Yes, brother, we live in America…so that is what we get. A flight to China is a little out of the way for some awesome dumplings for lunch every day. LOL! For what it is, I think it is great.

    Trust me, I have been to Asia many times..and nothing beats real food from the real location for any type of cuisine. But, here we are, so no awesome 50 cent yummy street food for us here.

    So JJ, instead of flaming my opinion and obviously the opinion of many many others..how about sharing with the rest of us where you think the best dumplings in NYC are? Name just one or a few at least…no need to name them all. Be useful instead of negative. I am sure whatever you list would be awesome, and we would all love to try your “nonwhitee” favorites. I love dumplings and always appreciate a good find. We promise not to slam your preferences. Cross my heart and hope to die.

  • As a Chinese person, I take offense at you calling Wo Hop “chinese food” without qualification. That’s like me recommending a cheesesteak stand to you as a steakhouse. Then when you object that it wasn’t a steakhouse, I say “hey, I happen to like cheesesteaks when I’m drunk at 2AM, get off my back.”

    And Susan2, we may live in America, but Wo Hop is in Chinatown–there is plenty of real Chinese food spitting distance from Wo Hop.

  • to JJ:
    It has been 8 days. I guess you really never knew a place to get better dumplings in NYC, you just wanted to pretend you were cool and in the know. LOL.

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