Midtown Lunch

Some people take their medical advice from oh, I don’t know, a doctor, but when I have a cold I know the only things that are going to help me kick it are rest and plenty of fluids. And by plenty of fluids I mean a giant bowl of spicy soup. And when I need a giant bowl of spicy soup recommendation in Midtown, I head straight for the ML forums.

Lunch’er “Shivery McPickles” found herself in a similar predicament last fall. When I saw that she had commended the cold curing properties of the Hakata Ramen from Menchanko-Tei, I knew I finally had to give the reigning ML Reader’s Choice for Best Japanese Soup a try.

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Photo courtesy of Profiled Lunch’er “Amy”

Sad news from 45th Street btw. 2+3rd Ave… Midtown’s only place for Filipino food, Bayan Cafe, closed over the weekend. It was no Iwahan or Renee’s, but we were big fans. In other words… this ain’t Jackson Heights! So unless you planned on hoping on the 7 train and taking a 2 hour lunch, Bayan Cafe was the best you were going to do for some adobo or lumpia.

Just down 45th Street to the west, Lunch’er “Michael” sends word of a far less teary eyed shuttering.

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A few weeks back Always Hungry scouted out the best pizza joints around the Empire State Building. But what about those cheap bastards among us who feel that nobody should have to pay more than $1 for a slice? Lunch’er “Rachel” has just the news you were waiting for: “New deli place in (I think) the old Golden Krust spot on 33rd btw 5th and Madison advertising 99cent pizza. Haven’t tried yet, but thought you should know asap.” Nice… thanks for the heads up!

Related:
Squisito Declared Best Pizza Slice Near the Empire State Building

The twitter feed that belongs to the Steak Truck (on 47th and Park) has been on fire this week, giving customers the lowdown on their brand new biriyani offerings. They even sold out yesterday! Is it just us or is Biriyani everywhere these days? Biriyani Cart… Trini Paki Boys… Fahima Halal… and now this. Biriyani is the new black! Has anybody tried the Steak Truck version? Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.

Related:
Twittpocalypse: Steak Truck is Now On Twitter

• Eat $65 worth of food at Hill Country in under an hour and your meal is free! [Eating Outside of Midtown]
• Let me tell you about swiss cheese… [Midtown Connections]
• Udon West serves a good egg topped pork cutlet [Midtown Eating]
• Ernest Klein (on 6th Ave.) has a decent steam table [Midtown Eating]
• The Bacon Explosion is now available through mailorder [Miscellaneous]
• It looks like the next ML Happy Hour is going to be at Stag’s Head [Midtown Connections]

Less than a week to go before Daniel Boulud, Paul Liebrandt, Michael White, and Alain Ducasse hit the streets of New York in a food truck, and NBC is now running a slick ad promoting the whole thing. (Thanks to Lunch’er Robert for passing that along.) It doesn’t give you any of the extra info (like the fact that the truck will be parked on 49th and 5thand that it will be serving a burger topped with pork belly!) but it’s still fun to watch. Kind of got us excited… until we remembered that only 500 people are being served and you have to win your way in.

Related:
Boulud Truck is Not Open to Everybody
Daniel Boulud to Hit the Streets in a Food Truck

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 Anthony, a consultant who loves mole and is willing to trade info about small hidden restaurants that nobody knows about…

Name: Anthony

Age: 25

Occupation: Consulting (I make confused people less confused)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: By Carnegie Deli

Favorite Kind of Food: Everything! My tops are ocean critters.. I once had some freshly caught octopus off the coast of Spain, the quality brought tears to my eyes. Anything with heat, the hotter the better. I always had a thing for Mexican, and the non-fish Japanese sub-cuisines (of course I like Sushi). Oh, and cheese and mustard and French Macarons.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Food made without love…tacky diner food, bland Latin food, red meat cooked more than medium-rare, overcooked fish, and last: Take-Out Chinese.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Men Kui Tei (on 56th btw. 5+6th) for Ramen, Sapporo (on 49th btw. 6+7th) for the Tonkatusu, Pret for the occasional sandwich, H&H for soup, Daisy May’s (on 50th btw. 6+7th) for the Brisket chili, I think I want a burger from Burger Joint (on 56th btw. 6+7th) today… Tehuitzingo (on 10th Ave. btw. 47+48th) for tacos (the closest to Mexico in Manhattan as far as I’m concerned), Tina’s (on 56th btw. 5+6th) Cuban sandwich, and the Halal Guys on 6th/53rd for street meat.

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