Midtown Lunch

Turkish food is a mystery to me. I know my Chinese food, I know my Japanese food, I know my Italian food but if you ask me what sort of food they serve in Turkish restaurants, I would draw a blank (or I would just check the internet). So to change that I decided to go eat at a Turkish restaurant.

The (apparently very opinionated) Chef and owner of Sip Sak, Orhan Yegen, recently opened a new spot called Bi Lokma (on 45th btw 2+3rd). It’s a tiny Turkish restaurant with a very ambitious menu for a where all the food seems to be made in advance. There are soups, salads, desserts, over a dozen appetizers and over a dozen main courses. And the best part about the menu is that almost everything on it is under $10 with the exception of 3 items.

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Two weeks ago, I issued a challenge to Tri Tip to out toasty Dunkin Donuts’ new Big ‘N’ Tasty , and they hit back with the Midtown Toasty— 3 strips of bacon, a fried egg, melted cheese on 2 toasted pieces of challah bread for $3.99 . Tri Tip owners promised if they sold 100 of these sandwiches they’d add it to the menu. Despite Ash Wednesday and a Lenten Friday potentially driving down demand for this sandwich, the Midtown Toasty prevailed and according to the cashier I spoke with, it is now a permanent part of the menu. Seeing as I lay down the gauntlet on this one, I hit up Tri Tip to see how the Midtown Toasty stacks up. Read more »

Oh… so it’s not actually frog? Photo by Robyn Lee/SENY

• The can’t go wrong ordering the “frog” sandwich at Island Burgers and Shakes [SENY]
• The Comfort Diner has reopened on 45th Street [Zagat]
• One of our 8 (yes 8!) TGI Friday’s might close [Eater]
• 2 Bros double burger is a great value [Fesity Foodie]
• The early word on Social Eatz… [Eater]
• … which is now open for lunch [Grub Street]
• “Gorilla Cheese” Truck hopes to park in Midtown [Grub Street]
• A street food cookbook is coming out with recipes from the Jamaican Dutchy and Trini Pak [Grub Street]

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.

When I heard Bierhaus was opening this past weekend (on 3rd Ave. btw. 44+45th), I was stoked to slip on my Gretel dress, tie some blue ribbons in my pigtails and have some lederhosen clad Kraut slap some wurst on my plate. Biergartens, once all but extinct in the city, have been enjoying a resurgence as of late. It used to be you had to travel all the way to Astoria to find the real deal. Since we are talking Midtown, Bierhaus doesn’t have seating for 800 people and there is no garden to speak of, but hey, we’ll take what we can get.

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We’ve seen a lot of DOH sign shenanigans.  Cover ups.  Camouflage. Comedic acceptence. But making up your own sign and hanging it in the window?  This is new even for us.  Luncher “Ambitious Delish” tweeted us this photo yesterday from S. Dynasty (on 48th btw. Lex+3rd).  “Is this allowed,”  she asked.  Honestly?  We have no idea, but utilizing our skills of judgement and basic common sense we’re going to go with…. no.

Anybody ever been to this place?  We couldn’t find it on the DOH restaurant inspection site (which can provide hours of fun, I assure you), but found A grades at three different restaurants in this building – including a Chinese one called Lo.  But nothing listed at all for S. Dynasty.  Then again, the 2 1/2 stars on Yelp worry us a bit more than the letter in the window.

Becoming a mobile vendor is not quite as easy as ehow would have you believe. So in anticipation of Softee Season 2011 we’ve asked Chrissy (aka Miss Softee) to show us the process of what it takes to become an ice cream vendor in Midtown. So far you’ve met the first few hires here and here and seen what it takes to get your paperwork in order to become a licensed mobile vendor. This week the crew begins to ready the trucks to hit the streets. Take it away Miss Softee!

Hey kids!! The RollingCones team has been busy applying for their badges (which we’ll tell you all about next week), but that hasn’t stopped the returning ice cream truck vets from hitting the streets along with this gorgeous weather! Read more »

The ML Team’s Cucina & Co Chef’s Table experience has been mixed. I enjoyed their pork tenderloin medallions with pasta, but Jeremiah had a less than satisfactory experience with their much hyped Friday sliders special. This week I noticed that the sliders were bumped to a Thursday slot in favor of a Tuna Burger special presumably for the Lenten lunch crowd.

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We here in Midtown have been big fans of the Schnitzel & Things Truck ever since its first appearance on our streets way back in August ’09, so naturally we’ve been super excited for their brick-and-mortar store to open in the spot that used to house the original Kushi-Q (on 3rd btw 45th+46th). If God loves schnitzel, the shop will be open in time for our Monday lunches. And since Schnitzel & Things loves Midtown Lunch, I got a little sneak peek behind the brown paper yesterday!

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