Midtown Lunch

Despite the terrible name, I’ve become a little hooked on Foodie (44th btw 2nd+3rd). Everything close to my job has gotten a bit stale for me, so when Boi became Foodie earlier this month it allowed me to enjoy the quick lunch again. I have been especially looking forward to their dumplings, which weren’t available until last Friday. And not only do they have dumplings, they have dumpling soup! I know it’s just dumplings in broth, but it’s more than that to me-it’s the first time I’ve gotten respectable dumplings for lunch in Midtown in a long time.

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We got pretty drooly (is that a word?) yesterday flipping through New York Mag’s “35 Best Pork Dishes in NYC” , but sadly none of them are Midtown Lunches- unless your idea of a Midtown Lunch is splitting the $68 pork chop for two at Ma Peche. (We wish that was our life.) Anyway, it’s still worth taking a look at the pretty excellent list, and then afterwards you can settle for some roast pig over rice from Hing Won, or the crispy pork skin at Cafe Cello as a consolation prize.

As I was getting lunch on Friday, I noticed a unique bit of plywood on 44th between 3rd and Lexington announcing a new lunch spot: “Dee Daa, Balanced Thai To Go.” Since they say “Thai” I’m going to allowed myself to get excited, we don’t have much in the way of Thai food in Midtown East, and every little bit helps towards my tummy’s happiness-even if it sounds like some kind of weirdo “healthy” Thai. Supposedly it’s coming soon, but a quick check on the Google came up that it was actually scheduled to open way back in October, so we won’t know how soon “soon” is until it happens. Hopefully we should have ample time to ponder what exactly is “balanced Thai”.

Taim is a veritable New York institution at this point. The quality of their product has earned them a legion of devoted followers, plenty of superlatives from food media, and recently received the prestigious distinction as the “Best Falafel Sandwich in New York City” by the folks from Serious Eats. On the back of their popularity, they’ve spun off a sister restaurant, the upscale bistro Balaboosta, and they’ve recently hit the streets with a mobile food truck. A few weeks ago, downtown correspondent Andrea got a first look at the Taim Mobile truck, and last Friday, I was lucky enough to nab lunch from the Taim truck in my neighborhood of Midtown West.

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When we reported last month that Grammercy’s Piccolo Cafe would be opening a second location in Midtown (on 40th btw. 7+8th) we wondered aloud how excited we should be.  Answer according to Soledad O’Brien? Very excited.  According to Grub Street the new location is now open, and the CNN anchor is a big fan. They’ve also posted a menu. Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.

Midtown West is getting another exciting lunchtime option. A new branch of Mooncake Foods is currently under construction on 54th St, between 8th & 9th ave, with a targeted opening date of early January. Lunchers who are familiar with Mooncake’s fast-casual Asian fusion concept should be particularly excited, as they do an admirable job of turning out quality, tasty, food for $10 and under. I’ve always been a fan of their generous portions and fresh flavors, and apparently so is our old friend Lunch’er Adam Prato (his job moved Downtown a few months back.)  Never been to the Downtown or Chelsea locations?  You can see a write up of the place on the Downtown section of the site.  And we’ll be sure to keep you updated with an exact opening date, the menu, as well as pictures of the space. Mooncake Foods, 359 West 54th St (between 8th & 9th).