Midtown Lunch

Press releases from chains typically go right to the trash folder here at Midtown Lunch (unless free food is involved), but one from Rock Center Concourse darling Tri Tip Grill piqued our interest. On Tuesdays the restaurant is running a summer promotion- for $19.99 you get a whole “char-roasted tri tip” and an XL size of Red Mashers. The release claimed it feeds 5-6 people, and clearly this deal had to be put to the test.

You can get your tri tip cooked to your desired level of doneness- we opted for rare- and they’ll slice it or leave it in tact for you (in case you want to slice it yourself at your desk or home). Perhaps veteran Tri Tippers can weigh in if this was really the XL sized mashed potatoes or if they gave me the wrong size–at around the size of a single serving wonton soup take out container it seemed kind of small to me to be called XL. As for the meat, in the photo you’ll notice that there are two layers of meat, 6 decent sized slices. I suppose this could serve 5-6 in the sense that each of the meat slices was bigger than your standard “deck of cards” serving size, but if you have a hearty appetite unless you supplement with extra sides, I think you’d end up with 5-6 still hungry people. For 2-3 people, however, it’s a feast.

On to the food itself. Tri Tip’s mashed potatoes are the real deal, skins and all, and as for the steak… as my husband said “the trouble with steak is that you really could just keep eating it.” The tri tip itself was juicy, tender and well marbled (mmm…fatty bits) and the leftovers reheated well. If you get just one friend together you can make this a Midtown Lunch and completely gorge yourself. Make that two friends and you have a seriously good deal. The promo runs through the end of the summer and is available at lunch and dinner time on Tuesdays only.

Tri Tip Grill, Rockefeller Center Concourse, North Side, (212) 664-1003