Midtown Lunch

As you probably know we’re always open to receiving lunch recs from you guys, and every once in awhile somebody goes the extra mile sending us a full write up of a place that has flown under the ML radar. This week Lunch’er Jen was kind enough to send this report on the $9 lunch special at Uncle Vanya’s.

I’m not an expert on Russian food. In fact, the last time I ate the cuisine was over 10 years ago. But it seems there aren’t many Russian cuisine choices under $10 in Midtown, and I found a place that looked like the real deal. Uncle Vanya Café (on 54th btw 8+9th) has a reasonably priced $8.99 lunch special, and I thought it would be a perfect place to check out since it’s never been mentioned on Midtown Lunch (save for this comment back in 2006.)

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We’ve been telling you for the last few weeks about Uncle Gussy’s plans to launch a sister cart that will serve Greek frozen yogurt, sorbet, and other frozen goodies. The name of the new cart is Pago (translates to frozen in Greek) and it’s pretty tough to miss since it’s set up just off to the side of the big blue truck on 51st and Park. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to get your pita or platter and not be seduced into at least trying the cooling concoctions.

Nick’s brother Franky was manning the cart and was very generous with the free samples. One regular customer even walked by with a big bowl of that Yogo swill and did the ultimate taste test. One guess as to which yogurt reigned supreme.

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Photo courtesy of Chubby Chinese Girl

• Bon Chon has an $8 lunch special and you can get 2 free wings when you check in on 4sq [CCG]
• The Midtown East branch of Haru will close at the end of August [Crain’s via Eater]
• An okonomyaki truck is set to hit the streets of NYC [Grub Street]
• The 666 Burger Truck launches next week, and to drum up PR will be selling a $666 burger [SE]
• Here’s a recipe for Num Pang’s coconut tiger shrimp [Fork in the Road]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent posts 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.

Unstingy, heavy pourers. Those are my favorite bartenders. And bars that encourage this sort of behavior? Well, those are my favorite bars. Typically, in NYC, the only way to make sure you get a fair amount of scotch in your glass is to ask for it neat; otherwise, you just end up getting a glass of ice with a measly splash of the good stuff. At Katwalk, however, a scotch on the rocks means a full glass of scotch accompanied by 3 cubes of ice. And with half off ALL drinks during happy hour (daily from 4 pm – 8 pm), my $7 spirit hit the right spot without adding any financial guilt.

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Thanks to Lunch’er Mike for sending along this one… a new Francois Payard Bakery opened in Columbus Circle today (on Broadway btw. 57+58th), and to celebrate they’re giving away a free macaron with every purchase. According to reports on our Downtown site they have all sorts of sandwiches and salads in addition to pastries, but Andrea says to avoid the McRiblike barbecue chicken sandwich.  Freeloading French pastry lovers, prepare to engage.

Francois Payard Bakery, 1775 Broadway (btw. 57+58th). 212-995-0888

Every Friday we go 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.

In an attempt to make sure I get all at least some of the openings in Flatiron, the name Kobeyaki came up as “recently opened”, I walked by one night last week to see if it was worthy of a write up. While scoping it out, I ran into a friend who I don’t see enough. Not only was I happy to see him, but he told me exactly what I needed to hear. He was eating at Kobeyaki for the second time that week and said he would be happy to join me again for lunch. I think his exact words were, “I love this place! Of course I will meet you here for lunch!”

Naturally, he cancelled on me. I mean, isn’t that what New Yorkers do? But I was so excited by his enthusiasm, that I went solo anyway!

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