Midtown Lunch

Restaurants or take out places that serve multiple kinds of ethnic cuisine are always a red flag for me.  Why serve mediocre food from four different countries, when you can serve great food from the country you are from?  Asian places are the worst offenders too.  Thai on the menu at Chinese and Japanese restaurants, Vietnamese food at Thai restaurants, Chinese food on the menu at Korean places, and sushi just about everywhere.

But in the end I am forced to relent.  I think it’s a combination of my love of (and addiction to) all Asian foods, plus that little voice in my head that says, ‘maybe just this once, Pad Thai made in the same wok as beef and broccoli will magically come out right’.  (It hasn’t yet.)  It was this addiction that brought me to Good Portions, a fast food Asian place on Lexington btw. 39+40th.

What I got, and why I need your help (the “you decide” part), after the jump…

Upon entering Good Portions, I got my second red flag:  giant pictures of food hanging on the walls.  Normally this is also a no-no, but in this case they had pictures of dim sum- my ultimate weakness (and a food group not well represented in Midtown).  Granted their menu was limited (pork buns, shumai, har gao, and a couple other things), and each item costs $3.75 (a travesty of justice).  But they had it.  And that’s all that matters.

In addition to the dim sum menu, they also had various Japanese and “Malaysian” appetizers, hot plates of Thai, Japanese, and Chinese dishes, a list of Chef’s specials, a few noodle soups, Japanese bentos, and of course sushi.   For a junkie, it’s a menu that can only be summed up simply as ‘too much to choose from’.

I panicked and went for the Pad Thai, which I’ve been missing since Yum Thai closed.  How great would it be if by some miracle of nature this place with giant pictures of dim sum on their wall, made a mean Pad Thai.  Of course I was disappointed in the dish, due in no small part to the fact that it tasted like Chinese food (think weird Lo Mein with a slice of lime).  I tried the pork buns too (how could I not?), and while they looked perfect, the inside just didn’t taste right.  They probably were frozen.

But like any addict, I’m not ready to write this place off.  I’m sure something on their gigantic menu of Asian delights is a winner.  But I am one man.  And I just don’t have the luxury of working my way through the menu.  (And nobody I work with will walk with me all the way to Lexington).  So here’s what I propose.  You decide.  I normally tell you what I think is good.  With this place, I want you to tell me what’s good.  Have you been?  Is there something edible on the menu?  Post it as a comment.  Never been, but you’re intrigued?  Go.  Eat something.  Post your thoughts.  One person’s opinion about a single dish is not that useful-  but combined, maybe we’ll get a better idea of the place.

I’ll take the comments into consideration, go back next week, try something new, and post about it again.  And don’t worry-  I won’t blame you if you don’t try the sushi.

Good Portions, 347 Lexington Ave. (btw. 39+40th), 212-867-2979