Midtown Lunch

What’s better than a free, awesome, weekday lunch in Midtown with 75 of your closest friends? (aka Midtown Lunchers)  Nothing, that’s what.  So when Google New York approached us about throwing a party for you guys at Food Gallery 32 in Koreatown we immediately said yes.  And all you have to do to enter to win is share your opinions about your favorite places in NYC on Google Places, their new personalized local recommendation engine.   (After all, you’re more than happy to do it in the comments here for free, why not do it over on Google Places and score some free food.)  Entering is easy.  Just start an account on Google Places (if you don’t have one already), fill out this form, and post a review.  That’s it.  Of course, the more reviews you write, the more chances you have to win.

That’s the basics.  All the details (and the fine print legal mumbo jumbo) is after the jump…

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It’s been a long time since I’ve had one of Cafe Zaiya‘s tasty sandwiches (my favorite is the fried fish sandwich) so I decided to stop by for a late lunch last week. One problem with eating lunch at Zaiya around 2:30pm is that most of the good stuff will be gone so there were no fish sandwiches or spicy chicken sandwiches (my plan b). There were, however, a few curry pork cutlet sandwiches left so I decided to get that (I was mesmerized by the sliced egg on top). While at the counter, waiting to pay, I also grabbed a curry pan. It was a curry sort of day.

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As we noted last week, International Gourmet Kitchen (IGK) is now open (on 8th Ave. btw. 35+36th) and as I walked into the place on Thursday, I realized that Lunch’er Mark’s assessment was pretty solid.

It’s kind of like Guy & Gallard, only with better/more varied options and more reasonably priced … The space is clean and airy with seating upstairs, and I was very surprised by how reasonable the prices were.

He paid only $8 for a cheeseburger, fries and a can of soda.

The perimeter of the new lunch spot showcases different stations, including the token salad creator, a grill spot that serves burgers and other hot sandwiches, pasta, burritos and quesadillas, and Asian rice bowls and noodles in the back. I went straight for the Asian goodies, and found a plethora of noodle options from around the East: ramen, yakisoba, udon, pho, and pad thai. Where to start?

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Shio Ramen from Tabata. Photo courtesy of Lauren Shockey

• Lauren Shockey really likes the shio ramen at Tabata [Fork in the Road]
• Comme Ci Comme Ca is 2% of the price of Per Se [Food in Mouth]
• Something has changed at Cafe Zaiya, and not for the better [Tasty Eating]
• Burger Joint and Taim Mobile have two of the worst lines in NYC [Eater]
• Try the nylon khaman at Bombay Fast Food (fka Taj Delhi Chat) [Fork in the Road]
• The sliders at Bill’s Bar & Burger are excellent [A Hamburger Today]
• The Treats Truck brick and mortar is also going to sell b’fast and lunch!? [Zagat]
• Check out this video of Zach talking to Adam Roberts about the beginnings of ML [AG]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so every Friday afternoon we 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.

With all the expensive Irish pubs in Midtown, sometimes you have to travel one avenue over to get a decent happy hour. And it’s the five hour happy hour that brought me to Whiskey River (on 2nd btw 31+32nd) this week. Happy hour there goes from 3pm to 8pm, a little longer than most and early enough that area workers can stop by for a late afternoon beer (at least one did while I was there.) But is this happy hour worth trek to Kips Bay?

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While this may not be “Midtown Dinner” some of us occasionally work hours that might require dinner at the office or picking up take out on the way home after a long day. If that describes you, or if your cheap eating tendencies extend to the dinner hours, the Bian Dang in Food Gallery 32 (on 32nd btw. 5th+B’way) is doing a dinner special that includes entree, appetizer and a drink for $10 from 6:00pm until 11:30pm.

My favorite street meat spot over the past few years has been the Little Morocco cart (39+7th). The unique flavors, the little extras (corn!), the occasional kofta option, and the $5 price tag make it a hard cart to compete with. As we’ve learned over the years, however, the quality of the food is at least somewhat dependent on its usual operator, Omar. With word of Omar’s move to California (good luck!), came questions about whether Little Morocco would ever be the same. Questions I intended to answer once I heard a new Little Morocco cart had surfaced after their most recent controversy.

As you can see from the above picture, it is indeed a different physical cart. It has no Little Morocco signage and really nothing to distinguish it from a generic Halal cart. But it is parked in the exact same spot (NE corner of 39+7th) and is being run by the owner of the original Little Morocco who has filled in for/helped Omar in the past. He confirmed that the old cart would be coming back to this spot once the sticker issue is sorted out, but I wouldn’t recommend holding your breath. Now, what about the food?

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When I heard that Resto’s new spinoff, The Cannibal was opening last month and that it would have a generous lunch lunch menu with sandwiches, I was really excited. Those that know my particular food obsessions won’t be surprised that a place specializing in butchering, charcuterie and beer jumped to the top of my to do list.

I stopped in a couple weeks ago to grab a bite and get a first look at the place. Check it out after the jump.

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