Midtown Lunch

It was with a heavy heart I left my apartment with one last kiss goodbye to my boyfriend. The future ahead of me looked dim, but the task before me demanded courage and strength of will. I had to put on my big girl pants and face the Duane Reade sushi challenge like a true gastronomic gladiator. My arena would not be filled with salivating spectators, but with bright florescent aisles packed with cosmetics, junk food and pharmaceuticals. In fact the DR pharmacy might play a vital part in the aftermath of this challenge. Dios mio man! Will Mamacita meet her maker at the hands of ptomaine poisoning? Find out after the jump!

Read more »

If you’ve been wanting to try the Chubby Chinese Girl, Cer Te’s February sandwich of the month, but didn’t want to leave your desk they will now deliver it to you.  They originally wouldn’t deliver the sandwich because they couldn’t keep up with demand, and didn’t think it would hold up well… but now that things have settled down a bit it looks like they’re going to try. Welcome news considering the weather, and the fact that there’s only one week left before the sandwich goes away forever!

Related:
Cer Te Hits Pay Dirt Again With Chubby “Vietnamese” Sandwich

• What’s everybody doing for Lent? [Midtown Eating]
• Get 15% off In N Out rip off Fresh N Fast Burger [Eating Outside of Midtown]
• Looking for a Szechuan Gourmet replacement near Union Sq [Downtown Eating]
• You can exchange recipes in the ML forums! [Miscellaneous]
• The next ML happy hour is next week at Stag’s Head [Midtown Connections]

Those of you who don’t do ice cream when it’s freezing outside may be pleased to hear that Spoon City’s “Custard Hot Chocolate” is not frozen custard at all. When I dropped by the other day after my 99 cent pizza run at K Food Corp, (yes I will go out in the freezing cold for frozen custard) the ladies behind the counter at Spoon City looked at me a little oddly when I asked for some Hot Chocolate Custard.  They said they didn’t have any Hot Chocolate Custard, but they did have new Custard Hot Chocolate (in shot form!)  Since I was already there, I decided to give it a try.

Read more »

There’s an interesting article in the New York Times today about chefs that use twitter, but the part that might be of interest to Midtown Lunch’ers was Baohaus Chef Eddie Huang’s takedown of Rickshaw Dumpling: “The dumplings are horrible and the kitschy Chinese branding is offensive.” Ouch! Where have I heard that assessment before…

Related:
Rickshaw Dumpling Responds to the Haters
A Proper +/- of the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck

Even though the meat lovers on Midtown Lunch outnumber the vegetarians, sometimes we like to shine a light on some of the less offensive meatless options being offered for under $10 (some of you may remember the days of Zen Burger!?) The latest spot is Vegan Hut, a just out of bounds chain that opened a few months ago on 7th btw. 29+30th… and we figured what better to assess it’s awesomeness (or suckiness) then by bringing in Lunch’er “Sarah”, our resident Vegetarian commenter, for a heads up point/counterpoint with me- a bonafied meat eater. In other words, we have something for everyone today. It’s a tale of he said she said. Meat eater vs. vegetarian. Both sides of the story. How will Vegan Hut hold up!

Read more »

Right on the heels of VV taking the Duane Reade Sushi Challenge, news came over the wire last night that Walgreens bought Duane Reade yesterday for $1.075 billion. I’m not sure what this means for my Flex Reward Points or prescriptions, but more importantly will I now be forced to eye their vile sandwiches every time I need to pick up tissues?! Hopefully the takeover gods will save the fancy food!

Related:
I Will NEVER Eat A Sandwich From Walgreens
Walgreens Sandwich Dare: Am I Really Doing This?