PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Jamie”

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Meet Jamie, a future law student who works on the outskirts of Midtown, and thinks bacon, pigs in a blanket, and tequila qualifies as “healthy” food. She actually sent in two photos, and insisted I posted both because they “capture her essence.”  The before photo is below (I cropped out all her friends, but they’re about to start drinking). The after the drinks photo is after the jump.

Name: Jamie

Age: 23

Occupation: Non Profit Paralegal (with a food blog)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 33rd & 10th (and you think you have it bad!)

Favorite Kind of Food: A pretty impossible question, I tried to break it down into categories. Jew: sour pickles, pastrami/corned beef sandwiches, matzah ball soup made by my mother. Healthy: wings, crispy duck skin, bacon, tequila shots, pizza, pigs n a blanket. Japanese: takoyaki, miso soup, katsu, hakata ramen. Korean: fried chicken, bulgogi, kalbi, kimchee. Chinese: dim sum, dumplings, congee. Malaysian: roti canai, beef randang. Vietnamese: pho, summer rolls. Spanish: arroz con pollo, sancocho, lechon asado, ceviche, arepas. Eastern European: borscht, pierogies, stuffed cabbage, lagman. Also, can’t forget French, Italian, Burmese, Thai, Greek, seafood, spinach, soup… this is harder than the LSAT, I’m spent. (I also enjoy a nice piece of cheese and a well plated dessert.)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Half sour or dill pickles, super bitter things like grapefruit and arugula, and I do not love offal- I recently tried gizzard and wish I hadn’t.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The special noodle with brown sauce (ja jang mein) at Hyo Dong Gak on 35th btw. 5+6th is probably the best midtown lunch dish around. It’s a huge portion of noodles with a thick brown sauce made with pork, onion, and zucchini for $8 that easily lasts me two lunches. I recently enjoyed curried goat roti at the Best of the West Deli on 34th and 9th. I always get the sweet and sour pork at Woorijip (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th), the eggplant at Pick a Pita (on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th) is delicious, and I like the chorizo torta at Las Poblanitas (on 38th btw. 8+9th.)

The rest of Jamie’s answers, plus the “after the drinks” photo, are after the jump.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? We used to go around the corner to the Skylight Dinner; clearly boring, except they do make fabulous fries. Now I have convinced everyone that the 30th Street location of Mooncake Foods is a much better venue with sandwiches, salads, and platters with an Asian flair for under $10. I also coordinate the office happy hours and have a few suggestions for Mamacita’s column, if I may: Café Andalucia for sangria, tapas, and $4 well drinks, Chef Yu for $4 old school cocktails, Blue Ruin is a dive that just opened with 2 for 1 on already dirt cheap drinks and a bartender that breathes fire, and Bourbon Street Bar & Grill (on 46th btw. 8+9th) which Zach has mentioned for awesome $5 hurricanes and juleps and a tasty alligator in a blanket appetizer.

Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Go Go Curry (on 38th btw. 7+8th), Woorjip, Kati Roll (on 39th btw. 5+6th), 6 Ave Newsstand (6th Ave. btw. 37+38th), and there is nothing better than the free or totally cheap ass lunches from the Volstead, Sophie’s Cuban, and Toloache– my coworkers and I thank you for letting us know about those!

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Flushing, Queens! Golden Mall for liang pi, White Bear for hot oil wontons, Corner 28 for $1 Peking duck, Joe’s Shanghai for soup dumplings, Flushing mall for hand drawn noodle soup and fried calamari, Gala Manor for dim sum, Little Pepper to clear up my sinuses, Sweet n Tart Café, and the grocery stores with fresh, cheap produce and seafood. I am obsessed with Flushing for as long as I have memories.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? Well, I am moving to Philly in August for law school (don’t worry, I plan on being the good kind of lawyer). Any recommendations for midtownlunchish food, food carts, and adventures I can go on to make me miss the food of NYC less?


And as promised… the “After” Photo

I don’t know nothing about Philly, except you should eat a pork and rabe sandwich at least 3 times a week (but trying to pick the best place for that is like arguing about the best slice of pizza in New York.) Anybody have a suggestion? Put it in the comments… and as always if you want to be next week’s Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate), email me at zach@midtownlunch.com.

63 Comments

  • FREAK OF THE WEEK

  • Since you’re in Philly soon, you gotta visit the multiple meccas to their local cheesesteak. I’m not from there but I really like Jim’s Steaks. And Wow! to the after pic. ;-P

  • I like this girl’s style. Flushing?? **swoon**

  • My advice? Don’t go to law school!

  • Is there such a thing as “good kind of lawyer”?

  • Mad props for her affinity for the asian cuisine.

  • is that me you are eating/licking in the after photo? ahhh, the good life.

  • another jew with a pork fetish that wants to be a lawyer. so cliche.

  • Damn, we really could’ve been something special until you decided to leave me for Philly.

  • Talk about food porn…

    Just reading about Flushing makes me hungry.

  • I like how alcohol-centric this profile was! It also included two of my favorite words “cheap” and “sangria”

  • Lovely looking girl!

    The things i can do with photoshop with that 2nd pic……….:)

  • look how she gently cups the base of the pastry while lightly licking the tip. egad that is first rate technique.

  • There’s tons of great food at the Terminal market and one of my favorites there is the amish pretzels. w/mustard. so freakin good.

  • Just graduated from Penn law and frequented the carts around Penn’s campus. Most of the good ones are in undergrad territory across the campus green. Hemo’s is over there and is classic for their grilled chicken hoagies with Hemo’s sauce. One cart near the school that’s pretty good is Magic Carpet. Pretty decent falafel.

  • Going to Philly for law school? If you’re going to Penn or Drexel you’ve got some decent choices.

    First, check out the food trucks around Penn’s campus. There’s a falafel guy on 40th and Locust who really knows what he’s doing and a Chinese truck under the 38th street overpass who could give Hop Won a run for its money. Also, don’t underestimate the pleasures of a Wawa hoagie (36th and Chestnut).

    Next, head down to the area around 30th and Market in front of the former main post office, where you’ve got a good number of more food trucks, most specializing in soul food and Caribbean choices. Authentic and good.

    In Center City, check out the Reading Terminal Market, especially the Amish counters, the bakery, and the Italian hoagie place. Avoid the cheesesteak place. APJ Texas Weiners around the corner on 13th north of Market puts together a damn fine dog. DiBruno Brothers on Chestnut has beautiful Italian hoagies, the biggest cheese selection I’ve ever seen and — most importantly — free samples throughout the day.

    Finally, forget the guys down on Passyunk (Ginos and Pats) if you’re looking for great cheesesteak. The best I found was John’s Roast Pork, all the way down on Snyder Ave and Delaware Blvd in South Philly. It’s tiny and has a line out the door every day — always a good sign. You know what else is good at John’s Roast Pork? The roast pork.

    (I don’t know the area around Temple all that well if that’s where you’re heading, and if its Villanova, I’ve got nothing for you. One other point: It’s been a few years since I’ve been down that way for any length of time, so things may have changed.)

  • Feed the beast.

  • this is by far the best profile done yet.. expect the part about not liking delicious grapefruit…as for philly I suggest some good bbq and bacon wrapped dates with stilton cheese…its addicting

  • What do you get when you cross a jewish lawyer with a food blogger and send her to Philly?

    A girl who only stops typing and talking long enough to go down on a cheesesteak.

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