Midtown Lunch

While many places are struggling to remain open, it looks like Crisp the overpriced (but admittedly pretty tasty) falafel place on 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th is expanding.  They have a second location opening up in March on 40th Street btw. B’way+6th, in what seems like a microcosm of what’s happening more and more these days in Midtown. While this overpriced falafel place (which clearly has hopes of becoming a larger chain) expands, just one avenue away an old school Midtown falafel/kebab institution shuts its doors. If the current trend holds, it will probably be replaced by a Chiposimetromcpaxuropamanger.

The New Year’s carnage continues, as we receive word from the “Bronx Briner Gal” that Sahara Grill, the small Turkish take out place on 7th Ave. and 40th Street, has closed. Known for its doner kebab and falafel, the Sahara Grill is a place that you may not have eaten at- but you’ve definitely walked by. It will be missed by many.

Photo by Food in Mouth

I had a couple of stupid titles ready and waiting for my post about Danku, the new Dutch/Indonesian fast food place on 57th btw. 5+6th. I narrowed it down to “Danku But No Danku” and “Danku Shame”, but sadly it looks like I won’t get to use them. Is Danku good? No. But it’s also not so bad that I feel the need to publicly humiliate them on the site. How good or bad it is will also depend on who you ask, and what you order. After my first visit to Danku, on their opening day, yielded pretty terrible results, I decided to step back and give them some breathing room. Let them work out the kinks before returning to give them their full +/-.

Well, 6 weeks is plenty of time and last week I returned with a serious group of Midtown Lunchers, waiting to pass judgement on this new fast food chain: Danny from Food in Mouth, Blondie and Brownie (from the blog of the same name) and Bartender Extraordinaire Don Lee. I was actually surprised Don was willing to come, since he accompanied me on the first trip to Danku- and was less than thrilled with his decision.

We were able to try most of the menu, but with eaters like this Danku would have to bring their A game… and I’m not sure they were up to the challenge.

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Photo courtesy of Word of Mouth

You know we love their super cheap, and super large burger. And their corned beef sandwich is my go-to St. Patty’s Day lunch.  But apparently the brisket sandwich is the way to go at the Blarney Stone (on 3rd Ave. btw. 44+45th) according to Peter Cherches:

The corned beef is good, but it’s cured Irish style, and I prefer Jewish deli style. But the brisket, now that’s my weakness. A brisket sandwich for $7 may not be the humongous monster you’ll get at Katz’s or the 2nd Avenue Deli, but it’s more than ample and less than half the price of those establishments.

This might have to be my new go-to Rosh Hashanah lunch… that’s a good brisket holiday, right?

Being a man of my word, I headed over to the new Walgreens in Times Square to try one of their *ahem* sandwiches.  Now, let me just say this: on the walk over there, a lot of thoughts went through my mind.  “How do I get out of this?” “I don’t really have to do this, do I?” “There are good excuses I could make”  But I finally settled on this… I was going to do it.  Why not?  Sure, daring me to eat a sandwich at Walgreens is kind of against the spirit of my initial deal to eat anything in Midtown I was dared to eat… but that’s ok.  My stomach has been through worse… it could handle a crappy, pre-packaged deli sandwich from a pharmacy. Right?

That of course was before I knew what I was up against…

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So yesterday I was walking down 48th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue and had a flash of brilliance.  I had just passed the original location of House of Pita, a little take out window that used to serve falafel sandwiches and bourekas to big crowds every day at lunch. Surprisingly it has been vacant since November of 2007, leaving a prime piece of Midtown Lunch’ing real estate completely unused.  I’ve walked by the dark window many times and thought “isn’t there anybody who would want to use this space to serve hard working Midtown’ers something delicious for lunch?”  Well, yesterday the perfect idea came to me:

Bring… back… the… Ssam!  Notoriously, Momofuku Ssam Bar in the East Village (which recently was awarded 3 stars from the New York Times) actually started off as a fast food Korean burrito place (think Momofuku meets Chipotle), which sold take out burritos, and their now famous pork buns.  I thought it was brilliant (and super delicious) but there wasn’t enough lunch business in the East Village to support the venture… so the current incarnation of Ssam Bar (which we now know and love) was born.

I think it’s time to bring the ssam back, but in a neighborhood that could totally support it! Here me out on this…

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Last week I swung by the latest addition to the Kwik Meal empire, Kwik Delight on 3rd Ave. and 45th Street.  I was interested in sampling their brand new chicken shawarma, which isn’t offered at either of the other two Kwik Meal carts (how could I not, right?)  In a Iot ways, I feel like chicken shawarma is chicken shawarma (much like gyro is gyro, if leave it on the spit long enough), but the white sauce and hot sauce are what Kwik Meal is known for, and they clearly make the difference.

As for their famous lamb, a few commenters remarked that it was chewy… but for those who are unfamiliar with the Kwik Meal carts, it kind of goes with the territory. 

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The Village Voice’s Choice Eats event is back again for a second year, featuring over 50 restaurants hand selected by Robert Sietsema and Sarah DiGregorio.  Unlike other tasting events, which often cost hundreds of dollars, and feature bits of food from expensive restaurants- Choice Eats is a very cheap $35, and features the kind of places we like to eat at: cheap, interesting, and from all 5 boroughs. Last year, Margon represented Midtown (along with honorary Midtown Lunches Tiffin Wallah & Albert’s Mofongo House) but as of now there are no Midtown restaurants on the list.  I’m guessing by the time it is finalized we’ll get a little chaat action though, since Sarah DiGregorio wrote up Taj Delhi Chat, Sukhadia and Indus Express this past year.  Even just one would be a welcomed addition!

Even if no Midtown Lunches end up getting added to the event, it’s still pretty awesome and worthwhile.  It all goes down on March 31st at The Armory on 69th & Lex. from 6:30 to 9:30pm.  Tickets are on sale now, and cost $35.

Related:
Margon Does Midtown Proud at Choice Eats