Midtown Lunch

Back in 2008 I wrote about one of my favorite Hell’s Kitchen dinner spots for Serious Eats, the Mediterranean deli slash kind of romantic at night dinner spot Kashkaval.  It never really got mentioned on ML because… well… I guess I don’t know why we never mentioned it!  I suppose it was outside the “official” boundaries, but they are open for lunch and most of their menu hovers around the $10 mark- like their oven baked panini or a platter of their assorted Mediterranean spreads.  If you’ve never tried the place, or you’re already a big fan, you’re going to want to check out our deals page asap.  You can score $20 worth of food at Kashkaval for just $10 until the end of the day on Thursday.  It doesn’t make up for all these years of neglect, but hopefully it’s a start.

Looks like Five Guys will be sandwiched between Chevy’s and Starbucks on 42nd Street, taking over the old Yoshinoya spot in Times Square. By my count that makes it the fifth Midtown location and ninth in the city (11th if you count Brooklyn!). Also, it’ll be the zillionth burger place in the area, not that that makes its spring opening any less exciting. Thanks to Lunch’er Brian for the tip!

Five Guys, 253 W. 42nd Street

Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that Broadway theaters are just as much a part of Midtown as the big office buildings. So this week we’re excited to welcome Sandy, a theater critic who hates McDonald’s and used ML to get over her fear of street meat.

Name: Sandy

Age: 63

Occupation: Theatre Critic

Where in Midtown do you work? Mostly Times Square/Hell’s Kitchen

Favorite Kind of Food: Eclectic (virtually all)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Fast (McDonald’s, etc.)

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: For a spur-of-the-moment Bryant Park picnic, I’ll stop in at Zeytinz (on 40th btw. 5+6th) for the Mediterranean cold buffet, especially the curried chicken salad, and some impeccable fruit (if you have a Times Square Alliance Card, they give a good discount). But I might get distracted en route by Cafe China’s (on 37th btw. Mad+5th) nostalgic atmosphere and well-priced pan-fried lamb with scallion. In the shadow of the New York Times building, I’m susceptible to Boi Noodle’s (on 40th btw. 7+8th) assorted banh mi. For a “walking lunch,” especially if running late, I’ll grab some fresh-made spanakopita and/or galakatoboureko at Poseidon Greek Bakery (on 9th btw. 44+45th).

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Room Service is one of the many Thai joints open on 9th Avenue, slightly north of what I call “Yum Yum row,” more commonly known as 46th street. It’s not wholly different from its neighbors — they all have similar lunch specials, most within the Midtown Lunch price range — but when I’m in the mood for a salad, instead of hitting up some deli, I often turn to the crispy duck salad at Room Service.

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In case your calendar doesn’t have every obscure food-related day (shame on you ML’ers), today is Macaron Day! Organized by François Payard, free Macarons will be offered at the following locations in the ML area (including a few just out of bounds). I think it was a sign that Bouchon Bakery and Macaron Cafe (note: this location not yet open) were both featured in posts yesterday. The fine print: Quantities are limited, one per customer, and you must tell them you are there for Macaron Day. Freeloaders, prepare to engage.

Bouchon Bakery at Time Warner Center, Ten Columbus Circle, Third Floor, (212) 823-9366
Bouchon Bakery at Rockefeller Center, One Rockefeller Plaza, (212) 782-3890
FC Chocolate Bar at The Plaza Hotel, 1 W 58th St, (212)986-9241
La Maison du Chocolat, 30 Rockefeller Center @ 49th Street, (212) 265 9404
Macaron Café, 161 W 36th St, (212) 564-3525
Macaron Café, 625 Madison Ave, (212) 486-2470
Mad-Mac “The Authentic French Macarons” at Bernardaud, 499 Park Avenue at 59th Street, (973) 225-0930

I stopped into Bouchon Bakery at Rockefeller Center over the weekend and noticed that they’ve recently added two new sandwiches, including a braised shortrib on pan au lait ($9.95) and a smoked turkey on multi-grain baguette ($8.50). Both sandwiches looked hearty enough to stand up by themselves for a lunch, so we’ll definitely be back for a full review. In the meantime, if you’ve tried the new Bouchon Bakery sandwiches, please let us know what you think in the comments.

When I started working near 46th Street and 6th Avenue, I had no idea that I was just down the block from Midtown Lunch royalty. Zach first wrote about Cafe Cello in July 2006 and loved the roast pork so much, it’s been the Midtown Lunch food logo ever since (on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, etc.)  I didn’t know any of that when a co-worker brought in their cubano sandwich and left me with a case of lunch envy. I knew I can’t be the only one who has forgotten about this place, so I decided a thorough re-investigation was in order… you know, for science.

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Midtown East fans of delicious and authentic macarons rejoice! Lunch’er Epcol spotted a new Macaron Cafe (the French theme cafe that serves better macarons than Bouchon Bakery according to Zach!) popping up on 3rd btw 46th+47th St. Along with their macarons, they will also be serving their surprisingly delicious sandwiches like the Siciliano (bressaola, capers, mozzarella, and tomatoes drizzled with olive oil). Though what I’m really looking forward is their daily lunch sandwich specials, especially their Tuesday sandwich special, the Croque Monsieur.  Thanks to Luncher “Epcol” for the tip.

This Melt Shop creation is the only Midtown grilled cheese to make Eater’s Best-of list

• Melt Shop’s fried chicken grilled cheese is one of NYC’s best grilled cheese sandwiches [Eater]
• Seriously, who *does* eat at Carnegie Deli? [Eater]
• The new lamb sandwich at Cer Te is a winner [SENY]
• Grand Forks food reviewer visits the Times Square Shake Shack! [Gothamist]
• How the Blarney Stone got its start [Ephemeral NY]
• Macaron Day 2012 is on Tuesday [Dessert Buzz]
• The Grand Sichuan in Hell’s Kitchen has a $7 lunch special [Ramen & Friends]
• A list of NYC’s best food on a stick includes Yakitori Totto [Restaurant Girl]
• Ever wonder who eats the crab salad at a bodega? Zach’s friends, apparently. [Eater]