Midtown Lunch

Lunch’ers who ventured over to 38th St. btw. 7+8th today expecting a plate of roast pork over rice from Ying Du, or a plate of katsu from Go Go Curry were greeted by this scene.  Both restaurants were closed today, and converted into sets for “All Good Things” a new Kirsten Dunst/Ryan Gosling movie filming on the street. 

Ying Du as the “Times Square Deli” and Go Go Curry as a “Body Rub Parlor”, after the jump… Read more »

When the Caribbean Spice Cart popped up at the end of April on 46th Street btw. 6+7th it had a pretty tall order: to operate a cart selling Caribbean food just 5 blocks away from the Jamaican Dutchy– what I consider to be one of the best carts in Midtown. Sprung from the ashes of Caribbean Spice, a Hell’s Kitchen restaurant that had closed down at the beginning of the year, early reports from the cart were mixed. The first meal I had there was decent, but not great, and Danny from in Mouth reported that the oxtails were just mediocre. Now, with actual signage (when they first started it was just a cart with a piece of poster board) the cart is finally hitting their stride, and while it’s pretty clear they’re not going to unseat the Dutchy, there are two items on the menu that set them apart. Read more »

The rennovation of the 47th St. Japanese Convenience Store between Lexington & 3rd continues on, and I got this look inside.  It’s hard to make out exactly what is going to happen to this place, but as long as they keep all the bentos and fun stuff they used to serve (at fairly low prices) it should be good.  The store, which is owned by the upstairs restaurant Amakusa, has been closed since January.

Major plywood just went up at the original Kati Roll location on 46th btw. 6+7th, covering not only Kati Roll but another location next door.  Still no word on what may be moving into the place… but from the last bit of info I got, it probably won’t be a Midtown Lunch.

Speaking of speculation, info about the Strawberry space in the McGraw Hill plus the Indian buffet on 37th St., after the jump…  Read more »

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Today it’s Siobhan, but you probably know her as “Blondie,” half of the duo “Blondie and Brownie” from the blog of the same name. An avid Midtown Lunch’er, Blondie loves pizza and has been eating her way through the Treats Truck one treat at a time…

Name: Blondie

Age: Mid 20s

Occupation: Freelancing at an ad agency, but my passion lies in the blogosphere (http://blondieandbrownie.blogspot.com)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Grand Central Area

Favorite Kind of Food: Dessert, pizza, peanut butter, cheese, BBQ, and lately (and very surprisingly), Indian

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Metro. It smells funny; I won’t even eat it when it’s free.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I’m a big fan of the chicken pita at Kwik Meal (45th & 6th), and the chicken, rice and beans from Sophie’s Cuban (multiple locations.) Also, I wish I was more to the west so that I could enjoy Kati Roll (on 38th btw. 5+6th) more often.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? My coworkers tend to get Metro and Bistro Gourmet, two places I’d rather starve them eat at. Sometimes my body calls out for nutrients, and I’ll give it some Cosi.

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? I did first hear about the Treats Truck here. Thank you Zach.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? With all the posts Danny on Food in Mouth has been doing about Portland, Oregon, I’d say there. Of places I’ve actually been to, I’d have to go with the East Village.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? It’s summer. I’m hot. Where can I get some bubble tea? (PS Bossman, I know what you want to ask; no they don’t.)

I have no idea what bossman wants to ask… but I’m guessing we’ll be enlightened in the comments. As for bubble tea, I feel like this has been discussed a bit in the past few weeks, but we can re-visit. Check out the milk tea with tapioca pearls I had last week, after the jump… Read more »

With all the talk over Patsy’s (Patty’s?) Taco Truck making a two day appearance in Midtown, it’s not surprising that the two mainstay Midtown taco trucks have been mentioned a bit in the past week. There is the sombrero topped taco truck on 50th btw. 6+7th, and the previously sombrero-less Tacos/Burritos cart on 54th and Madison. I say “previously” because it appears as if this cart has come down with a case of sombrero envy… Read more »

I did a bad bad thing last week.  After reading about Chop’t in the New York Post, I was compelled to go and check out their Po’boy Salad.  Anybody who reads this blog with any frequency knows I have a special place in my heart for New Orleans- and even a generic salad chain like Chop’t can get me to pay attention to them by making something called a Po’boy Salad.  What does that even mean?  And quite frankly, how could I not? 

Walking into Chop’t was a particularly terrifying experience.  As described in the Post article, the place is packed, and very intimidating (the menu is very long and if you don’t know exactly what you want you’ll hold everything up), and while I find salad places to be scary enough on their own- imagine how much scarier it becomes when you put giant machetes in the hands of the people making these salads.  It’s much harder to look at people with derision in your eyes when they’re holding giant salad cutting knives.

Despite being excited mildly interested, I should have known something was wrong immediately when I spotted the ingredient list of the Po’boy Salad.  Fried chicken (that’s good), lettuce (sure), tomato (makes sense), and cheese (???).  Cheese?  I don’t seem to remember cheese on any Po’boy I’ve ever had.  I do remember pickles.  But there are no pickles on this salad.  I don’t know what I was expecting, and I probably would have just turned and walked out right then, if I hadn’t spotted spotted something that actually stirred a bit of genuine excitement inside me.  Something so grotesque (in a good way) that it could actually have a chance of redeeming this monstrosity of a lunch establishment.   Read more »

 
Photograph by nycblondieandbrownie

• The Grand Central Oyster Bar take out counter is serving a Lobster Gazpacho [Blondie and Brownie]
• Two great breakfast ideas from Cafe Zaiya and Sullivan St. Bakery [NYC Nosh]
• Here’s a text coupon for free fries at Pop Burger [8 Coupons]
• You can meet Top Chef contestant Richard at Garrett Popcorn in July [Eater]
• More calorie posting lameness… two Dunkin Donuts, both in Penn Station, two different calorie counts [Tokyohanna]
• Hey… I know that cart!  (And I think our Downtown Lunch correspondent Daniel knows those girls) [Eater]