Midtown Lunch

We at Midtown Lunch love our kati rolls, and it’s no secret that we’re huge fans of the Kwik Meal cart (on the SW corner of 45th and 6th). Up until earlier this week, kati rolls and Kwik Meal were mutually exclusive, but no more! Thanks to a tip off from ESNY in the forums, we learned that Kwik Meal recently started carrying these Indian delicacies, so I hurried over to 45th St and 6th Ave to check ‘em out.

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Do you wonder what the ML contributors do when they’re not eating lunch in Midtown? (They’re actually pretty easy to stalk!)

Congrats to our man Chris H. who started writing a new Flushing eats column for Serious Eats this week.  First up: Gamjatang at Geo Si Gi. Looks amazing! Blondie enjoyed a Luke’s Lobster roll and a chicken and waffles cupcake at Park Here last weekend (the new Nolita pop up indoor park.) And Ultraclay is still plowing through everything he ate on his trip to Southeast Asia, like this jealousy inducing pho.

Around the rest of the ML Universe… Andrea checked out yesterday’s free food madhouse at the newly open Hot Clay Oven in the FiDi, Jamie posted about all the great food she ate on holiday trips to New Orleans and Austin, and I discovered the Cafe Zaiya of Downtown Los Angeles.

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Judging by all the heated exchanges in the comments section of last week’s visit to Food Gallery 32, it should come as no surprise that the rest of the food folks around the internet are chattering about Koreatown’s food court as well. On Monday, Eater posted a Good News/Bad News roundup of the reviews so far. Predictably, no one is particularly fond of the ordering system. More importantly, they had some comments on the food. Kitchenette of In a Nutshell somehow wasn’t so into Bian Dang’s pork chop; Dave from Eating in Translation backs me up on not liking the jja jang myon at Jin Jja Roo and wishes the jjam ppong was spicier. Fork in the Road reminds us that we’re talking about a simple food court, so our expectations ought to be a little lower while trying out Hamnok’s seafood pancake (a little doughy and mostly octopus, but well flavored) and bi bim bap (would be better from a stone bowl) along with a hot bowl of haemul kal-guksu from Big Bowl (slightly overcooked noodles, but a good broth).

With only a couple weeks under their belts, I’d again suggest we allow them some time to settle in. If the difference between week one and week two alone is anything to go by, I think they’ll be in good shape by the end of the winter.

What’s slightly healthier than a cheeseburger? A falafel cheeseburger. And for those of you with “Eat healthier” New Year’s Resolutions, our favorite crazy falafel place Crisp, has delivered such a thing. In the past week, Crisp has undergone another menu change, adding three types of falafel burgers, veggie chili, and a design your own sandwich/salad option (allowing us to recreate “The Taj” or “The Asia”). Me, I wanted in on this falafel burger.

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Last week in the forums, there was talk of Khodiar aka Taj Delhi aka the Newstand chaat place having moved. I didn’t remember hearing anything about this and immediately became concerned, naturally. I head over to 6th ave btw. 37+38th to confirm that, indeed, the establishment is still there… with yet another new name. Midtown Lunch’ers, meet Bombay Fast Food.
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Remember the 99 Fresh Pizza location that opened a few months ago on Broadway?  Well, it looks like they’re already wreaking havoc on the area slice shops.  From Lunch’er Jesse:

Ray’s between 54^th and 55^th street on Broadway must be feeling the heat from the recently opened 99 cent pizza shop across the street. They’ve unveiled 75 cent slices and a 99 cent menu. It’s for a limited time only (naturally).

Check out the full “temporary” 99 cent menu after the jump…

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