PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Phil”

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Phil, a musician who loves soup.

Name: Phil

Age:
28

Occupation:
Temp/Musician

Where in Midtown do you Work?:
48th & Broadway

Favorite Kind of Food:
Any good soup, grungy Chinese food, fancy sandwiches, Mediterranean/Israeli, diner food, anything really REALLY spicy, In-N-Out Burger (alas), breakfast, mac and cheese, pad thai…

Least Favorite Kind of Food:
Anything even remotely related to coconut, anything that has been in the same store/warehouse as a coconut, most Vietnamese food.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown:
The Outpost in the Viacom building on 44th and Broadway (all their soups are amazing), Chipotle burritos very occasionally (trying to avoid that pre-30 heart attack), that natural market on 54th and 8th (Powerbars and lentil soup), the teriyaki bar just above the M&M store on 48th and 7th (the soba is not terrible).

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Belly Delly. Damn. Also, Hale & Hearty (wayyy too expensive, but the soups are not too bad).

Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Actually The Outpost. So cheap it makes me dizzy.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? 79th and Amsterdam, so I could eat at Shining Star Diner every day, interspersed (on paydays) with the mac and cheese from Fred’s. Wow. Alternatively, in Silverlake in LA, because of the Brite Spot.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? Oh man, YES! Where can I get blow-your-mind-amazing takeout soba soup in Midtown? It’s got to be takeout, too – I only get about 15 minutes for lunch… Thanks in advance!

Wait just one second here.  Teriyaki Bar just above the M&M Store?  What the hell are you talking about?  When you say above, do you mean below?  Are you talking about Teriyaki Boy?  Or is there some crazy-ass hidden Japanese place above the M&M Store. Please do not play with my emotions sir!

As for your soba question, I admit to not being a soup expert, and I don’t think there is a soba recommended on Lunch’er Grace’s Soup Post… so I guess we’ll need to turn this one over to the commenters.  Got a soba recommendation for Phil?  Put it in the comments.

And as always, if you want to be the next Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er, or you’d like to nominate somebody in your office email me at zach@midtownlunch.com

51 Comments

  • Please don’t mind my husband, folks – he’s just overly agitated from having had to recently register as a sex offender and pedophile. He even had to throw out his entire beloved collection of young boy’s briefs and pop warner jockstraps. He also had to buy a much higher powered zoom lens for his camera after the judge increased the distance he must keep between himself and local elementary schools by an additional 100 yards.

  • Wow… OK, a couple of responses:

    1) The picture is cut out from one of my bands’ press shots – these guys (www.myspace.com/atomictom). We were kind of going for the “dirty rock star” look – I usually shower and shave, trust me. When Zach asked for a photo, I was on my work computer and didn’t really have anything else to upload…

    @Liz in the City – I actually AM a bassist! Impressive…

    2) Shining Star – it’s right near my apartment, and I think I just like having a place where I know what to eat, what not to eat… I dunno! No defense here, just a preference. Same as Fred’s – I have to say, the mac and cheese doesn’t taste frozen at all, though it absolutely does not beat my mom’s. And I completely agree about the Upper West Side being a foodie wasteland, but I guess that just means I need my horizons expanded!

    @Zach – sorry, should have been more specific about the soup bar: it’s just NORTH of the M&M’s store. “Above” was an idiotic way to describe it… :)

    3) John Krasinski? OK, he’s a good looking dude, I’ll take that! Just saw the season premiere the other night, fantastic.

    4) I’ll fully admit I don’t know very much about good food, but I do have a few things working against me: not enough time for lunch (freaking finance), not enough money for lunch, and not enough time spent in the area in general. But that’s what this blog is for, right? I continue to be educated…

    PS – If you all are curious, I’ve got my own blog at angularmomentum.tumblr.com – links to the artists I play with on the right hand side. And to those who had actual food suggestions (and who remarked on my cuteness): a hearty Thank You.

  • It’s two “l”‘s and it rhymes.

    Did you all see Crazy Leg’s Conti is entered in the Movie Watching World record thing?

    http://www.newsday.com/services/newspaper/printedition/friday/news/ny-nyflix195848896sep19,0,7704400.story

  • I don’t ever ever do this. But, boy, you’re cute.

  • Young man, have you considered “Hair Club for Men?”

    They can do wonders these days.

  • @Rudy McBagel- “I think the trauma he went through on mount doom may of aged him.” Though I find nothing wrong with Phil nor his post, the Dominic Monaghan reference is amazing.

    @Phil- “I’ll fully admit I don’t know very much about good food… But that’s what this blog is for, right?” Agreed. I think ML has captured the hearts of the teeming midtown masses because of its egalitarian manner of juxtaposing the voice of bona-fide food writers with that of “borderline street urchins” who subsist off the kindness of street vendors. At the end of the day, we all work in midtown. We come to ML to share our tales of survival.

    @Doc Chuck- you are my favorite writer on this site. Why were you not inspired to comment on my post?

  • @ Mamacita: SAL AND CARMINE’S!!!! a hidden treasure. I have no idea why it hasn’t been in the TONY pizza countdown yet, but am glad that: it exists, I have eaten their pizza, and I will continue to eat their pizza for as long as possible.

  • La Caridad is the best thing going for the UWS (know what to order). Cheap Cuban[esque] with Chinese for any boring friends.

  • Digger, what do you order at Caridad, I’ve been curious about that place.

  • @The Indisputable First Lady of Fruit — Dominic Monaghan was not on Mount Doom. He was with Billy Boyd and the rest of the valiant army at the gates of Mordor, drawing The Eye from Sean Astin and Elijah Wood, who were on Mount Doom. Not sure which one Phil is supposed to be, but Rudy’s comment made me laugh out loud! And yes, I am a nerd. And yes, I also think Phil is cute.

  • @codenamekaren- Point taken. I was going more with the way he looks (i.e., like Dominic) but you are definitely correct. Your memory of the LOTR movie plot is far better than mine. I wonder whether Rudy was comparing him to Elijah or, ahem, possibly Rudy?

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