PROFILED: Midtown Lunch’er “George”

Every Tuesday we 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 George, a Knowledge Manager (?!) who loves spicy Indian food and Chicago.

Name: George

Age: 43

Occupation: CRM Knowledge Manager and Blogger behind George and Julia Eat Manhattan

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 6th Ave btw 46+47th

Favorite Kind of Food: Spicy Indian is always my first choice. Give me a glowing vindaloo on a bed of rice with fresh naan for dippin’ and I’m in heaven. A close second, is fancy Mexican food. I blame top chef winner Rick Bayless and his 27 ingredient mole. I also regularly enjoy Turkish, Thai and this city’s great Pizza. My sweet tooth favors ice cream, Pinkberry and cookies. I love it when the peanut butter/chocolate combination is applied to any dessert.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: With all due respect to my Colombian chums, I am fond of their coffee but not their food. I also steer clear of hard-to-identify seafood. I am generally so picky about seafood, I will often avoid it altogether. I realize I am missing out on so much and I am gradually adding underwater creatures to my diet. Knowing this, you may be surprised to learn that I am a sushi fan. Go figure.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Though not in the under $11 category (closer to $12-16), St Andrew’s (It’s Scottish!), on 46th btw 6+7th, has an amazing Maryland Crabcake Sandwich and a unique Salmon BLT (standard Scottish fare?) When I need a dose of Indian, I get it at Indus Express (on 48th btw. 5+6th). Could be a dosa but more likely, I’m having the Indus 2 meat/1 veggie combo. This comes with bread or rice (not both). Bread and Olive (on 45th btw. 5+6th) is also up there for its fantastic Mediterranean. I make my food choices before I get there (with back-ups). You see, Bread and Olive’s presentation/lay-out/menu confuses me, they are often out of things, and they are not always patient with me. The quality of the grub is worth the humiliation and confusion. If I’m eating at my desk, the best deal in town is still Moshe’s Falafel Cart (on 45th and 6th) 4 balls, 2 bucks. It might be $2.50 now.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? A crowd pleaser (something for everyone), Cranberry’s is one of the better you-call-it salad/ best-of-Asia, best-of-Italy hot bars (115 W 45th St, btwn 6th and 7th). In all honesty, we go there because it has a huge upstairs dining space that offers complimentary filtered water. Because the dining room is separated from the food/cashier area it’s easy for our brown bagging friends to join us, undetected. It also has surprisingly good pizza. We also frequent a few of the often hard-to-find Midtown diners like the Evergreen Diner (145w West 47th Street) and the recently remodeled Red Flame Diner (67 W 44th St, at 6th Ave). Breakfast for lunch is under $5. Like many people at our office, we are still addicted to Kati Roll (49 West 39th Street
between 5th and 6th Avenues). I could eat their perfectly spiced chicken roll every day for the rest of my life. I think Midtown Lunch classically called it an Indian bistro.

Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? We went to Ted’s Montana Grill for the lunch special (which is back on but the Midtown Ted’s is the only one in the country NOT participating). I’m not sure why the waiter was so proud of this fact. Admittedly, the buffalo burger was heavenly. I also read about Margon Cuban Restaurant (on 46th btw. 6+7th) and Kati Roll, thanks! I will definitely be hitting the Mexique Truck soon.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Although, I could never stand the winters, I’d have to say Chicago. You probably thought I’d say India but in the name of variety, Chicago is it. They do lunch right! Can you say Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill? My favorite Indian place in the world is there (Heema’s Kitchen) and I still have a soft spot for that Chicago Pizza at Gino’s East.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? I’m always on the lookout for great Indian food near my office (6th ave at 46th street). Also, what about desserts? I’m always disappointed at my sweets selection. I’m talking gourmet scooped ice cream, fresh pie or bakery fresh cookies. Oh yeah, one more: find me Turkish under $10.

Got a recommendation for George?  Put it in the comments. Want to be next week’s Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate), email editor@midtownlunch.com.

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