Midtown Lunch

Every Friday our man UltraClay goes south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.  This week Brian H. is stepping in for Clay…

Back in August, Clay got a sneak peek at KalBQ, located inside the Atomic Wings on Lexington bw 23rd and 24th Street. Now that it’s been around for a few months, we thought it was time to check out some of the food and see how it stacks up against some of the other Korean fusion options out there.

I’ve only tried Korean tacos from food trucks, so I was excited to actually eat them sitting down for once. The atmosphere here is total fast food dive and the smell of hot sauce from the spicy wings pervaded the air. I almost decided to forgo the Korean food and get down and dirty with some atomic wings. Instead I checked out the KalBQ menu, which features traditional Korean platters of kalbi, bulgogi, or grilled tofu; a selection of bibim rice bowls; and a handful of ramen noodles. Yet I was most excited by their Korean Mexican fusion items – namely the tacos, sliders, and quesadillas.

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• Is there a new Korean cart on 52nd & 6th? [Midtown Eating]
• Has the Biryani Cart gone downhill? [Midtown Eating]
• Is Papa Perrone going brick and mortar? [Midtown Eating]
• Looking for lunch places near 58th & 5th [Midtown Eating]

If you need an afternoon chuckle, check out this article over at the New Yorker. Bob Mankoff, who’s drawn The New Yorker’s iconic cartoons for over 20 years, waxes poetic on street food and gives a nod to the Street Vendor Project. It’s always good to see an influential publication take notice of the cause, and if they can do it through humor, it’s certainly something to smile about.

Related:
Own A Print of the Elwood Smith Vendor Wars Cartoon from the New York Times

Pump Energy Food on 55th Street has undergone a lot of changes in the last year or so. In addition to a complete renovation back in January, they just changed their name to Dig Inn, which is a pretty lame pun and doesn’t really say much about the food or the atmosphere. This type of healthy food is rarely on Midtown Lunch’s radar, but Brownie visited it before the name change and, most recently, I found myself walking by one Friday afternoon so figured I’d check it out to see if anything was worthwhile.

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Bobby Van’s is certainly not a Midtown Lunch — no upscale steakhouse is. But, what if you actually could get lunch for under $10? Turns out if you round the corner into the plaza next to the restaurant you’ll find BV’s Burger, a small space dedicated to a far less expensive takeout burger menu (plus some soups, salads and sandwiches). The surprisingly hefty 1/2 lb sirloin burger will run you only $6.00 ($6.50 with your choice of cheese) and comes with lettuce, tomato, pickles and ketchup; mayo, mustard, chopped onions and sauerkraut are also free toppings. “Extra add-ons” include sauteed onions, guacamole, grilled mushrooms, bacon and chili, each running you an extra $1.00.

So, to stay under $10 you pretty much have to make a choice: a burger with extra add-ons or one with a side of fries ($3.00).  I tried both, naturally.

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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!)

Brownie made this Chili Chocolate Pumpkin Doughnut Pie to a pie party at Rodeo bar, Blondie spent the weekend eating her way through the NYC Food Film Festival, Chris rubbed elbows with Eric Ripert at the City Harvest Bid Against Hunger Gala, Donny took his little sister to lunch at Prime Meats, Rachel cooked up some tasty looking pasta at home, Brian finished the TONY 100 Best challenge with Paulie Gee’s in Greenpoint and I photographed Mayor Bloomberg at New York Tech Meetup last week.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… Zach tried some scary cheap sushi in Koreatown in LA, Jamie is giving away Ted Allen’s cookbook in Philly and Andrea gives us an at lunch now look at opening day at OBAO down in the financial district.