Midtown Lunch

Oaxaca (Wa Ha Ka) Grill (on 47th btw. Park+Lex) opened its doors yesterday and as the official Mexican food correspondent I was right there in line with all you munchers, I mean lunchers ready to sink my teeth into a hot chubby burrito. Are my standards for a burrito high? Por supuesto. Are my standards for “NYC burrito” high? No senor. I know burritos in NY are never going to compare with abuelita’s cooking. I try to avoid being that obnoxious person that always says ad nauseam, “Mexican food is so much better in California.” I’ll leave all that gloating to Zach now that he’s on the west coast. I went to Oaxaca Grill simply to find out if they had a good burrito at a good price that any typical ML luncher would enjoy. So what did I think? Well, I think Zach might have been somewhat right when he said, “Another day… another Chipotle knock off.”

Take a look after the jump….

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Onya Japanese Noodle (on 47th btw. Lex+3rd) is having a “Special Thanks Week” where udon lovers can indulge in extra chicken or beef for free! Not sure why they are thanking us, but we’re not looking a gift horse, err I mean udon horse (?) in the mouth. So if you’re in the mood to get your noodle on, head on over and indulge for free on some extra meaty thankfulness.

Related:
My First Taste of Onya Japanese Noodles

Last month Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5+6th) launched a contest to design one of their special monthly sandwiches, and the first one debuts today. The duck sandwich with cilantro, a bit of hoisin sauce and a dab of chili, topped with cucumber and pickled radish strips was created by Lunch’er Cindy (aka ChubbyChineseGirl) and she got a special preview of her creation on Friday. Naturally she gave it a 5 star review, but we’re curious to hear what you unbiased lunch’ers think (and how it stacks up to the duck pastrami sandwich from FreeFoods NYC.) Early adopters, let us know in the comments. The sandwich costs $8.95, and will be available Monday through Friday until the end of the month.

Related:
Cer Te Wants to Name Their Sandwich of the Month After You
PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Edward” (aka “The Cer Te Sandwich Mastermind”)

Monday mornings are always hellish affairs (especially when it’s rainy, windy, and sick passengered like mine was last Monday) but leave it to Joe and the Art of Coffee in Grand Central to give me a mood uplift from Tumbador Chocolates! Yes, it’s almost time for Valentine’s Day and I have fully gotten into the spirit (I already have a box of special Valentine’s Funfetti!) So when I saw the little red foil hearts in the usual Tumbador Lil’ Devils/Ring Dings jar, I was super excited to try one. Making a mental note for myself to come back during lunchtime turned out to be a near fatal move. I popped back in around 1, and more than half the jar was emptied of red hearts! But thankfully I did get one.

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Here we go again… was on my way to Oaxaca Grill and noticed this madness outside of the newly opened Mapo Tofu (on Lex btw. 39+40th). The restaurant claims there is no connection between them and Wu Liang Ye (the former tenant), but clearly the protesters disagree. This all stems from a lawsuit in which Wu Liang Ye employees claimed to be mistreated. We’re not sure who is right or wrong, but the cops have shown up.

Check out that photo after the jump…

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By now it’s no secret that the Godfather of Midtown is leaving us for the left coast. Like you could somehow find a pocket of deliciousness in L.A. that rivals Midtown Manhattan. As if! The one thing that we should all remember about the Godfather is that he has a penchant for cheap Chinese food. Those crunchy, left coast, salad eaters won’t ever convert him. He’ll always be a fat man at heart. There’s plenty of evidence pointing to Zach’s love of cheap Chinese food, so when an email from Lunch’er “Ethan” recently recommended the General Tso’s chicken from Alpha Fusion I knew it would make the perfect jealousy inducing post for Zach’s first day away from Midtown.

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A quick reminder that Oaxaca (Wa Ha Ka) Grill (on 47th btw. Park+Lex) is opening today. Though the menu screams out more Chipotle then Oaxacan cuisine I’m still temped to try their filet mignon burrito. Early adopters give us your opinion in the comments, and I’ll see you in line!