Midtown Lunch

It’s been exactly a month since Mantao Chinese Sandwiches opened up on 53rd btw. 2+3rd.  I never got a chance to go to Province Chinese Canteen, its original Tribeca incarnation, but I had always heard good enough things that their move to Midtown got me pretty excited.  Plus, I like Chinese food… and I like sandwiches.  What could possibly be bad about this place?

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The fancy signage has gone up for Schnitzel Express, the fast food Glatt Kosher replacing City Burger on 39th just east of Broadway. It doesn’t look like much is being done to the interior, so they hope to be open in a week and a half to two weeks. Of course this news is much less exciting now that the Schnitzel & Things truck appears to be spending Mondays and Tuesdays in Midtown.

As for the new locations of Maoz Vegetarian and Five Guys, those look like they will take a bit longer. Photos and estimated dates, are after the jump.

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The Kosher Oasis cart, which appeared briefly back in December on 44th & 6th, reappeared earlier in the week on the SW corner of 47th & 6th.  I stopped by yesterday to sample their menu of schnitzel, falafel, hot dogs and hamburgers, and they had disappeared once again.  If you spot this cart, let us know in the comments (can you believe they’re not on twitter yet!?!)   I did discover the other day that they are owned by the same people who own the Brooklyn location of Burgers Bar. I had never heard of it, but apparently it’s a very large Israeli hamburger chain which has a few locations here in NYC.  Anybody ever been?  If it’s good, it might bode well for the burgers from this cart… that is, if it ever returns.

UPDATE: The cart parks on 47th btw. 6+7th every day but Wednesdays.  On Wednesday it has been parking on 49th btw. 6+7th.

Photo courtesy of Roboppy

Manganaro’s (along with its unaffiliated next door neighbor Manganaro’s Hero Boy) has been mentioned a few times on the site as a great place (on 9th Ave. btw 37+38th) to get an Italian sandwich. And even though it’s never been officially reviewed (it’s out of bounds, and a lot of things will cost you more than $10), I’ve always considered it an honorary Midtown Lunch. Which is why this post caught my eye on Fork New York, a long dormant blog run by Profiled Lunch’er “Andre Mika”. He resurrected his blog this week specifically to rant about the “bitches” who run the 100+ year old Manganaro’s Grosseria. The story is worth reading in its entirety, but is essentially summed up at the end with this:

“So I guess the moral of the story is, unless you love being abused and crapped on by people who you are trying to give your money to, stay away from Manganaro Grosseria Italiano.”

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The Trini Paki Cart (on 43rd & 6th Ave.) has become the present that keeps on giving.  By now you’ve read about how excited I was to discover all the things they serve in addition to their Pakistani chicken over rice plate, with Trinidadian pepper sauce.  There were the doubles and poulori (which are served every day), the special biriyani on Thursdays, and the pigeon peas pulau on Wednesdays.  But wait… there’s more! And while some of these things might be old news to longtime fans of the cart, now that business has picked up a bit getting some of these special things has become less of a crap shoot.

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Remember that house thing that popped in Rock Center Plaza for Ina Garten a few weeks ago? Well, undoubtedly inspired by the pop up bar in Bryant Park, they’ve decided to leave it up and convert it to a bar/restaurant through September 4th. It’s open from 11am to 10pm daily, and will serve food and drinks. You wouldn’t think there would be anything Midtown Lunch worthy in this news, but this week’s menu (provided by the Rock Center Cafe) includes mini fontina sliders (for $10), and a $10 grilled proscuitto pizza. (There’s also a mini lobster roll for $12, but I don’t like the sound of the word “mini”.)

Next week the food will be taken over by AJ Maxwell’s, and if it’s anything like their $10 special lunch take out menu, that might be worth taking a look at too. Plus there’s a Happy Hour every day starting at 5pm, with two special drinks being offered for $7. All things considered, it might be not terrible…

Sure, there is a Baoguette on Lexington btw. 25+26th that is worth walking out of your way to. But I always hoped we’d get a branch a little closer to Midtown proper.  Well, my dreams of a closer Baoguette have not been completely answered- but this is pretty damn close (and arguably even better!)  Eater is reporting that Chef Michael Huynh is planning on opening O Bao Noodles and Grill on 53rd St. btw. 2+3rd in October. (I’m thinking maybe it’s going to be in the old Bunchberries space?) It will focus on “grilled and barbecued Vietnamese food and a slew of International noodle offerings from China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand.” Between this and the new Midtown Momofuku, the end of the year could make my head explode with excitement.

Related:
Baoguette’s Out of Bounds Banh Mi is Worth the Extra Walk