Midtown Lunch

Photo courtesy of nycblondieandbrownie

Got this email from Lunch’er FB this morning: “The upcoming Baja Fresh on Lexington between 45th & 46th just got new brown paper covering the windows.  A new sign in the window now indicates it will open in May of 2009.”  Confirmed by Blondie and Brownie.  As we get closer and closer, I worry more and more that this place is not going to live up to my west-coast-Baja-Fresh-loving expectations.

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. My request last week for a St. Paddy’s day themed profiled luncher went unanswered… so you’ll have to settle for Doug, a technology and investment firm guy who can’t understand why anybody would say they don’t like Thai food.

Name: Doug

Age: 24

Occupation: Technology and Investment Firm

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 45th btw. 6+7th

Favorite Kind of Food: Thai (seriously, the guy who “couldn’t handle Thai” is insane; it isn’t even that spicy or heavy), Indian, Mexican (authentic, i.e.: I hate Chipotle), porterhouse steaks, anything with duck, Italian appetizers (mussels, clams, bruschetta, mozzarella), any type of fried rice, couscous, pork and chicken dumplings, turkey chili, brussel sprouts, sushi, any and all types of breads, roast beef, waffles, chocolate chip cookies and muffins. I am also on a constant search for the best hamburger in the city. Right now, J.G. Mellon is probably in the lead.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I really dislike celery and broccoli. I’m also not a huge fan of Korean (kimchee makes me gag) or German food.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Chicken over rice with a side of pita or falafel with extra white sauce from Kwik Meal (on 45th & 6th). Chicken tikka masala with extra white sauce (I have an addiction) from Biryani Cart (on 46th & 6th). Half rotisserie-chicken with rice and beans and mashed potatoes on the side from Tio Pio (on 36th btw. 5+6th). Make sure to pick up extra green sauce. Any oven-baked flatbread sandwich at Café Duke (on 51st btw. 6+7th). Thai fried rice with pineapple and chicken from Wondee Siam (out of bounds on 9th Ave.). I’ll also head to Dishes and get the by-the-pound buffet, but its ridiculously expensive. Just load up on coconut-encrusted chicken fingers and forgo any rice or noodle to get more bang for your buck. Recently started hitting up Minar (on 46th btw. 6+7th) for their two meat, one veggie lunch special.

Read more »

This might be the only day of the year that I would actually recommend staying in your office for lunch (it’s rough out there on St. Paddy’s Day), but if you must go out to lunch, and you must have some corned beef (I don’t care if technically it’s not Irish, as some have pointed out) here are a few places you can hit up in Midtown.  My usual St. Paddy’s day lunch spot is the Blarney Stone (on 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th) but you can also get good corned beef sandwiches at the Homefront Deli (on 41st btw. Mad+Park) and Cafe Edison (on 47th btw. B’way+8th).  If you don’t mind sharing, there is always the Carnegie Deli mitosis idea, and Serious Eats New York says the new corned beef sandwich at Bouchon Bakery is good (although at $10.75 it is outside the ML price range.)  What are you doing to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day?

A New York Post reporter spent an entire day trying to bargain down the price of everything he purchased… and it actually worked at a few places.  At Starbucks they gave him 25% off his coffee, and at Cosi the manager agreed to cut 10% off the price of his sandwich and pizza. Saying “Give me a break… I’m not a tourist” usually gets you a reduction in price at most hot dog stands, but that’s the extent of my bargaining experience during lunch.  Has anybody else tried this before? Post your results in the comments.

From GCP‘s Weekly Newsletter: “Columbia Pictures Industries will be filming scenes in this area for an upcoming feature film entitled Salt [Starring Angelina Jolie and Liev Schreiber]. Crews will be working in the area… through Thursday, March 19. In order to facilitate filming and staging of equipment, the following streets will be reserved for parking beginning today: Park btw 46+54th St., 48th Street btw Park+Mad, 49th btw Lex+Mad, 50th btw Lex+Mad, 51st Street btw. Lex+Mad, 52nd btw. Lex+Mad, 53rd btw. Park+Mad.” Creepy stalkers… engage!

Photo courtesy of Just Jared

I think I’m finally ready to go out on a limb here, and say that Crisp is one of the best falafel places in the city.  That’s right.  The yuppie-fied, way overpriced, unconventional falafel place (on 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th) is serving up some of my favorite falafel in New York City.  Is their bread as good as Olympic Pita (on 38th btw. 5+6th)?  No.  Is their menu as authentically Israeli as Azuri Cafe (on 10th Ave. and 51st). Uh… definitely not.  And yet, each time I go there I really enjoy trying the strange flavor combinations they create.  Sandwiches you cannot find anywhere else in NYC.  And for that they deserve some recognition.

Last week, they introduced their entry into the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge. The Taj: Falafel with mango chutney, lime chili pickles, greens, cherry tomatoes, poppadums, and a cold curry sauce inside a traditional Israeli pita. I tried it on Friday, and it solidified my feeling that Crisp may be one of the best Falafel places in New York City.

Read more »