Midtown Lunch

It’s been a tough 12 months for Little Morocco, the great street meat as garbage plate cart on 39th & 7th. A year ago this month it went missing, then it came back, but Omar (the man behind their great food) had left to start his own cart. That didn’t go so well, so he returned, and things seemed better again. Then we heard a rumor that Omar was moving to Los Angeles, and last week the cart disappeared after its permit was reportedly stolen right off the cart!

While Little Morocco is on hiatus (presumably trying to get a replacement permit) Omar has started working with the guys at Kabab Express on 55th and 6th. Word is he may stay with them until he moves to Los Angeles at the end of the year. That could be bad news for the Little Morocco cart (if and when it returns) since the food is clearly not the same without him. We don’t know yet if Omar’s signature Garbage Plate be available at the Kabab Express cart, but it would be one more thing for them to add to their epic You Tube video.

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

Brian broke the bank on an $18 cocktail at Lamb’s Club, Blondie also got a little spendy at Coolhaus with a $6 ice cream sandwich, Souvlaki GR’s brick and mortar shop took Brownie on a quick trip to Greece, Donny checked out the old school hospitality in Chinatown’s Mee Sum Cafe, Chris H checked out the Chinatown Duck Burger at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in Napa Valley and I’m writing this from Peru, where I had a tasty pork sandwich at Juanito’s in Cuzco.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… Andrea tried the classic banh mi at Nicky’s Downtown, Jamie found a pho alternative at Thang Long in Philly, and Zach tracked down an All You Can Eat Japanese buffet in Downtown L.A.

Totally off limits to food trucks?

On Monday we mentioned that a number of Midtown East trucks had been kicked out of their spots, and hoped that it was just some passing phase and not a concerted effort to rid the area of trucks entirely.  After the Midtown West crackdown last month, many trucks sought refuge to the East making Park and Lexington in the 40s and 50s the last place for Midtown Lunchers to go for their food truck fix.  Well it looks like that migration didn’t go unnoticed, and now the crackdown has spread to the other half of Midtown.

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If you are completely against cracking the ML $10 ceiling, then stop reading this post right now. If you are, however, a Korean BBQ fan, the $12.95 lunch special at Miss Korea BBQ is worth getting excited over.  Miss Korea lured me in with their $10 take out dosirak lunch boxes back in July, but on my way I noticed that they had lunchtime BBQ specials as well. I’m a big fan of Korean BBQ, but it’s a seriously spendy meal. On the low end it’s usually around $20 per person and often more. So seeing that Miss Korea’s lunchtime BBQ special will run you just $12.95-$13.95 was kind of exciting, and last week I finally got to hit it up. Read more »

When Certe (55th btw 5+6th) introduced this month’s sandwich, the Montauk Hangover, it looked a little lacking to me. Certe’s sandwiches usually have a good amount of heft and meat to them, but this sandwich’s main part was a fried duck egg? And who puts creamed corn in a sandwich? Is this the sort of sandwich abomination rich people eat on the South Fork?! I’ve never really felt gypped before when handing over $9 for a Certe sandwich, but what was I getting here? A glorified breakfast sandwich? Yes, indeed, that’s what it is. Read more »

• The Tacos y Quesadillas cart is serving dinner in their new spot [Eating]
• WANTED: Authentic Italian sub in Midtown East [Eating]
• Anybody been to Weng’s Place? [Eating]
• Can we talk about energy efficient fans for a moment? [Miscellaneous]

Yesterday Zagat Buzz reported that Dell Frisco’s Grille would be opening this weekend in Rock Center, offering “more affordably priced options including wood-oven baked flatbreads, “two-fisted” sandwiches, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink salads and hearty pastas”. Don’t get too excited though… Grub Street posted the menu today and there is still nothing as cheap as the steak tip bar menu loophole at the original restaurant.

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’ve decided to go down to the Flatiron, to give Clay some good ideas for his Friday posts.  Meet Denise, a production person who loves Filipino food (provided it doesn’t have any bits of ear in it.)

Name: Denise

Age: 30

Occupation: Director of Production, and blogger

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Flatiron District

Favorite Kind of Food: Depends on my mood, but mostly Belgian, Filipino, French bistro, Italian, and Malaysian.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Sisig – just Google it. You’ll see why…

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown:

• Markt (on 6th btw. 21+22nd) – a Belgian restaurant in Chelsea. My favorite items off the menu: French Onion Soup, Croque Monsieur and Moules À La Provençale (mussels with tomato and fresh basil; with frites). Oh, and don’t forget to wash it down with some Belgian beer (bottled or on tap).
• Almond (22nd btw. B’way+5th) – Grilled Chicken Paillard or Streak Frites.
• Republic (in Union Square) – Grilled Pork Chops
• Grill 21 (on 21st btw. 1+2nd) – Pork Barbecue with garlic rice
• Financier Patisserie – Le Parisien (a sandwich made with Ham, Brie, Dijon Mustard)

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