Midtown Lunch

Even though they have been opened for a month now, Washoku Cafe (the new Japanese bento place on 37th btw. Mad+5th) is celebrating their official Grand Opening today.  The inside looked pretty much the same as it has looked for awhile now, but they are selling rice balls for 75 cents now through Friday.  They also coupons at the very front of the store, one for a free miso soup (which a few commenters have mentioned as being really really good) and another for a $5 lunch combo (normally priced at $8.50).  Enjoy!

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 Lou a audio guy who likes steak. But can we help him find good BBQ?  Yes we can!

Name: Lou

Age: 38

Occupation: Audio Post Production Engineer

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 45th btw. 5+6th

Favorite Kind of Food: Cowboy bone in Ribeye Steak

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Seafood

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The katsu curry with sausages from Go Go Curry (on 38th btw. 7+8th), all the baked goods from Cafe Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th), The bacon/pepperoni slice from Little Italy Pizza (on 4rd btw. Mad+5th), the kati rolls from the Biryani Cart (on 46th & 6th), the butterscotch pecan blondie from the Treats Truck.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Park Italian on 45th and 6th. We go there mainly when we’re in a rush or are feeling lazy since it is right downstairs. That said, the food is low priced, heros are good sized, and they have good assortment of hot Italian food everyday, like chicken parm, sausage and peppers, stuffed shells and so on.

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Photo by calculat0r

Lunch’er Danny, author of the blog Food in Mouth and frequent Midtown Lunch contributor, hit up Kebab Grill the other day- a Latin/Indian/Pakistani combo deli on 36 btw. B’way+7th. According to him, the naan is a little crispy, the kebabs have a “nice spicy kick”, and the goat stew (at the Latin food counter) is an acquired taste.  “You could tell the stew was cooked low and slow because the bones were all hollow. No marrow action. This meant all the goatiness was cooked into the stew. One small problem. It was way too goaty for me.” (And coincidentally enough, according to commenter DubbinBklyn there is a TV in the back– where you can watch the Inauguration.)

 
The televisions of Cafe Duke (on 51st btw. 6+7th)

I’m kind of curious what lunchtime in Midtown is going to look like today. Do you take a 2 hour lunch break and find a place to eat and watch the Inauguration?  Or do you watch it at work and then head out to lunch at 1:30pm?  Your boss kind of has to let you watch it, right? (If they don’t, I feel like I should ask the same question I asked yesterday.) There are all sorts of special parties and deals happening around the city, but none of them are in Midtown… so if you are looking to go the 2 hour lunch break option I have a few suggestions:

There are tons of bars in Midtown with televisions, but the only one I can think of that is a worthy Midtown Lunch option is The Australian on 38th btw. 5+6th.  If that muffuletta from the other day looked good to you, I guess you could go to the Bourbon Street Bar & Grill on restaurant row (they have a ton of TVs). If you want to go for the hardcore Midtown Lunch- Cafe Duke on 51st btw. 6+7th has two big TVs, although seating is tough even on a normal day. I’m pretty sure the CyberCafe (on 49th btw. 7+8th) has a big screen in the back, but it’s a Tuesday so no Madeleine the Crepe Lady (she only comes Weds through Sunday.)  Gothamist says Oren’s will be playing it on the radio at all of their locations, and select Starbucks locations will be showing it on MSNBC (but I’m not sure which ones.)  And finally there will be a large TV courtesy of NY1 on 47th Street btw. 7th & B’way in Times Square (just a short walk away from the Biryani Cart on 46th and 6th.)

There must be more Midtown Lunch’ish places with televisions, right? If you think of any, post them in the comments, and if you go out at lunch, send photos from your phone! (zach@midtownlunch.com) What are you planning on doing?

Unlike Oren’s, who is only giving away free coffee tomorrow for a couple of hours, FreeFoods NYC is offering a coupon that will get you free coffee every day this week at their new location on 52nd btw. Lex+3rd.  (Click on the coupon to print it out.)  But more exciting is the news that they are having a contest to give away a whole month of food for free:

To enter simply submit a 250 word or less email, no later than this Thursday, with the subject: “Why I deserve FreeFoods for 1 Month” and send it to eatfree@freefoodsnyc.com.

You know what?  I think I’m going to go for it.  Why shouldn’t they give the prize to a meat loving, expensive lunch hating, fatso like me? My award winning essay is after the jump.

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If you are reading this at work, I have one question for you. Why does your boss hate black people?

Lamb pita from Kwik Meal (on 45th & 6th). Photo by bionicgrrrl
 

• Just because the temperature is in single digits doesn’t mean you can’t get street meat from your favorite cart [Bionic Bites]
• The Village Voice’s Robert Sietsema hits up Udon West [Fork in the Road]
• If you can’t finish the Dessert Truck’s hot chocolate, put it in your freezer to make a fudgesicle [SENY]
• Another fancy Asian sandwich shop is opening just outside the Midtown Lunch boundaries [NYT]
• Groups of tourists in Midtown can sometimes look like Nazis (?!?) [NYC Tourists]
• A look at some of the sweet options at Dainobu Japanese Deli [Dessert Buzz]
• Artisanal launches a new recession inspired grilled cheese sandwich menu- but it’s still too expensive for Midtown Lunch [Grub Street]
• The places people ate in Midtown in 1959 [Lost City]
• Dave Cook tries the marocchino from Zibetto Espresso Bar [Eating in Translation]
• Danny attempts to make the chocolate cake in the microwave… twice [Food in Mouth]
• Hooters has Wi-Fi!!! [Blondie and Brownie]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap. This week she heads to Desmond’s because another commenter told her not to.  (That’s how things work around here.)

In my last review of Subway Inn commenter Goats remarked, “If you write about Desmonds next or my beloved McCormacks, I’m seriously gonna hunt you down!” Well, what can I say? I couldn’t help but get his ‘goat’ by moving this bar up to the top of my list of happy hours to write about.

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