Midtown Lunch

Thanks to Lunch’er Copyboy for sending over this important news re: Hing Won, our favorite Chinese food place in Midtown (on 48th btw. 5+6th).  “Hing Won Gets a C.  It’s the only inspection grade of “C” I’ve seen, and as part of the restaurant’s knuckling under to the Health Dept., they stopped hanging their roast meats. But take heart Hong Kong food freaks: you can still order roast pig, and despite the low grade my favorites (sauteed udon w/roast pork, spicy beef stew, Indonesian curry chicken) continue to not sicken me. Nor has the grade had any apparent impact on the lunch crowd.” Whew. That was a close one. This isn’t the first time Hing Won has been in trouble with the DOH… let’s hope it doesn’t effect quality the way it did with Ying Du. (Ahem, sorry. Ming Du.)

We get a lot of press releases in the ML inbox–most of which we ignore, especially if they have to do with “Sandra Lee, world-famous food personality”.  But I am a sucker for a bake sale, and tomorrow Pyrex is sponsoring the World’s Largest Bake Sale to benefit The Food Bank of New York. It will feature “sweet and savory baked goods from 30 of New York’s most well-respected chefs and restaurants, including: Ciao Bella Gelato, Junior’s Restaurant, Magnolia, Manhattan Chili Company, Murray’s, Zaro’s as well as Del Posto and Fresco by Scotto. The bake sale will be in Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal from 11:30 to 7pm.

My, my, my how Midtown has fallen for the greatness being served by Taïm Mobile. It took our crew three tries just to get a sabich, but another one of their specials proved even more elusive, the harissa falafel. Last time I tried, they sold out with the person before me! When I spotted that special and their Midtown East location awhile back, I made sure to leave my desk no later than 12:15. 10 minutes later, I saw the line. Yes, I waited a good 40 minutes in line to finally get my hands on their harissa falafel.

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I’ll admit I was skeptical when I first walked into Social Eatz. I’m not sure if that hesitation stemmed from the idiosyncratic theme of regularly replacing “S”s with “Z”s, the bubbly cartoon logo, or the fact that the owners of Circle – a nightclub near and dear to this contributor’s heart, but certainly not known for their food – are the majority investors of the restaurant. On the other hand, backing from the Chace restaurant group (OBao, Spot Dessert Bar, Ember Room) and Top Chef All Star, Angelo Sosa, in the kitchen certainly gives Social Eatz a note of credibility, not to mention star power.

Like Sosa’s previous project, Xie Xie, the menu is heavily driven by Asian inspired sandwiches and is rounded out with soups, salads, and appetizers. And while approximately half of the menu is under the ML accepted price threshold, Social Eatz presents a unique opportunity to eat a Midtown lunch at a “Celebrity Chef” restaurant – and indeed it is possible to eat very well for under $10.

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Texas Chain Gang Chili at the Manhattan Chili Co. in Grand Central. Photo by FitR

• The 10 Best and Cheapest Eats in Grand Central [Fork in the Road]
• The zucchini fries at Bon Chon are Yvo approved [Feisty Foodie]
• Totto Ramen had an inari special recently [Ramen & Friends]
• The singapore mei fun at Joe’s Shanghai is great [Fork This]
• Grub Street is trying to find out what’s going on with Daisy May’s [GS]
• Mark Kuban’s Naked Pizza is coming to 3rd Ave. [Eater]
• A video look at the Air France freebies truck [Feast NY]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so every week our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.  Mamacita is out of town so this week our man Ultraclay is taking over drinking duties…

Over the last week, the weather has gone from 70 degree sunshine to snow and sleet. The ridiculous swings in weather have driven Mamacita a little wonky (she’s curled up in a corner begging for winter to end already) so, this week, I’ll be subbing for her.

We all cope with weather in different ways and I’ve decided that I’m just going to act like the weather doesn’t suck and tell you about drinking outdoors at Me Bar on the roof of the La Quinta hotel in Koreatown. Because the best way to get through this is to plan for the inevitable arrival of warmth (however far off it may seem.)

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A few weeks ago Zagat reported that Coolhaus, the famous L.A. ice cream sandwich truck (that Zach will personally vouch for), would be coming to New York City in April. Well it looks like the first of two trucks have officially arrived in New York, they’ve started a twitter account (@coolhausny), and they’re saying that April 15th is the official opening day. We’re ready!