Midtown Lunch

Last month we told you that the Kimchi Taco Truck was supposed to hit the streets sometime this month.  Last week Time Out New York said this was going to be the week, and as early as yesterday Diner’s Journal and Fork in the Road were reporting the same.  Sadly the owners decided to push the opening date back one more week to “iron out a few kinks”.  They plan on doing some trial runs starting the 24th, but probably won’t make it to Midtown until at least a week later.   That’s ok.  We can wait… in the meantime you can get a sneak peak at their menu over on Grub Street.

Photo courtesy of the NYTimes

Some of the details for Village Voice’s Choice Eats (one of our favorite events of the year) have been announced and it looks like this year’s event is going to be a good one. Tickets don’t go on sale for another week, and only a few restaurants have been announced, but they’re going to have four food trucks all of which are Midtown Lunch faves (Joyride, Wafels & Dinges, Korilla BBQ and Taim Mobile.) Plus, there’s a special badge for Four Square users that will score you free stuff at the event. All you have to do is check in from 5 restaurants that have been or are going to be part of Choice Eats, and you score the badge (for Midtown that includes the food trucks listed above and Margon.) Tickets go on sale Wednesday, January 26th. Get all the details on their website.

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 we’re super excited to welcome James Oseland, the Editor in Chief of Saveur- the only food magazine I bother having a subscription to. This month’s issue features their annual Saveur 100 List of amazing amazing food finds from all over the world. But for these recommendations we confined James to a much smaller area…

Name: James

Age: 47

Occupation: Editor-in-Chief of Saveur; a judge on Bravo’s Top Chef Masters

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 32nd and Madison

Favorite Kind of Food: Oh my God, um, going to have to make that Foods with an s. Indonesian nasi goreng (fried rice) with sweet soy sauce and crisp-fried shallots; Korean bi bim naengmyun, chilled wheat noodles with Asian pear in hot-sweet-thick dressing; celeri remoulade; warm, whole wheat toast with Marmite and a thin slice of good cheddar cheese.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I swear I don’t have one. (Though the chile-lime plaintain chips from a bodega in Williamsburg that I ate yesterday really were pretty terrible. They tasted like soap.)

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: 1. The bi bim bap at Gahm Mi Oak on 32nd Street is, I think, the best in the city, elegant and soulful and incredibly delicious. (And Gahm Mi Oak’s kimchee is truly to die for…my friend Kelly Choi swears the secret ingredient is a pinch of sugar.) 2. Anything at the always gorgeous and graceful La Grenouille on 52nd Street, anytime. 3. The tiffin set lunch at the almost-Midtown Saravanaas on Lexington at 26th: button-sized idlis drenched in sweet-sour sambar; a delicate dosai; a small portion of upma (a sort of South Indian wheat porridge) studded with curry leaves and cashews. Yum. 4. The pretty takeout bento boxes at Yagura, the Japanese joint on 41st. I worked around the corner from this place years ago, and still hold a soft spot in my heart for their hefty (and very affordable) bento boxes, loaded with lovely grilled mackerel, Japanese pickles, and much more.

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Most of you had the day off from Midtown yesterday, but I was here and noticed on the ML Twitter Tracker that Wafels & Dinges was serving maple sausage ‘n gravy wafels “for connoisseur evaluation.” Say what? Sausage and gravy on waffles?! Clearly I needed to check this out. Read more »

Awwwww, yeah.  It’s Two For Tuesday day at Pizza by Cer Te (on 56th btw. Park+Lex) again. All day today, starting at Noon, you can get two margherita slices for just $2.

Related:
Our First Taste of Pizza by Cer Te

At least it’s real food

• Zach explains why he doesn’t actively hate Chipotle anymore [ML: Los Angeles]
• Ramen Totto, Pure Thai Shophouse and Inakaya all make good pre-theater options [Fork in the Road]
• Another look at Siam Inn’s lunch specials [Ramen & Friends]
• First look at the Kimchi Taco Truck we told you about last month [Grub Street;TONY]
• Choice Eats tickets go on sale soon [Fork in the Road]