Midtown Lunch

More wonderful news on the ice cream front this week. Quality Cakes, that colorful bar inside high-end steakhouse Quality Meats, is back for their third summer. We’ve been huge fans of their personal-sized ice cream cakes for the last two years and I’m so happy pastry chef Cory Colton hasn’t gotten tired of making these delicious little concoctions. The flavors are similar to the ones last year, including The Monster Mash, Toasted Banana S’more, Chocolate Covered Grasshopper, and Strawberry Shortcake with one new addition: The Nut & Honey (roasted pistachio cake, nougat candy ice cream, and vanilla-cherry icing).

The cakes are each $8 and well worth the dessert splurge. They’re big enough to share, but will be easy to finish solo without feeling like too much of a fatty. If you haven’t tasted these yet, I urge you to do so. If you have, than you understand my excitement. They’ll be available throughout the summer and maybe as long as October, as was the case last year.

Quality Meats, 57 W 58th Street (btw. 5th and 6th Avenue), (212) 371-7777

Park Italian Gourmet has gotten a lot of attention on Midtown lunch over the years from Zach and other Midtown Lunch’ers – most recently back in 2010 in this post, but it’s never gotten a formal +/- review until now. I spotted this gem right away and I thought it would be good to get the word out yet again.

I should first warn you not to let Park Italian Gourmet’s name fool you. When you hear the name, you might think of either an overpriced Italian restaurant aimed at tourists or another midtown “gourmet” deli with scads of trays filled with greasy slop. But as soon as you see the sign you can tell there’s something special about Park. And there are more than a few midtown lunchers who know the secret: Park Italian Gourmet is a divey Italian deli where grumpy people serve up delicious sandwiches. Just my kind of place.

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Working the streets is not easy. Ask any food truck owner who’s ridden into the belly of the beast that is known as Midtown lunch. There was a lot of press surrounding the Okadaman truck and I imagine many folks were as excited as I was to try them out on their first day. After a minor parking snafu, they ended up on 48th between Park and Madison.

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A couple of weeks ago, the flashy marquee went up (on 42nd btw. 7+8th), and now, according to the Five Guys Facebook page, the Times Square location will finally open today. Now, there are a lot of burger options in the area. Midtown Lunch favorites like Schnippers and Shake Shack — not to mention other spots like The Counter — are all within a 2 block radius. Where do you think Five Guys will fit into the mix?

Five Guys, 253 W. 42nd Street

The ABC Pang from Num Pang. Photo courtesy of Erin Zimmer/SENY

• Serious Eats tries the seasonal sandwiches at ‘wichcraft… [SENY]
• … and the ABC Pang [SENY]
• The Original Soup Nazi is suing the Original Soup Man [NYP via Eater]
• Katsu-hama has one of the 15 best pork dishes in NYC? [Eater]
• It’s just out of bounds, but B&D Halal looks great [EIT]
• Apparently China Cafe will add meat to their Mapo Tofu if you ask [NYC Food Guy]
• The story behind Five Guys [INC]
• The latest episode of Zach’s podcast is out [Food is the New Rock]

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.

I don’t know anyone who actually commutes to and from Grand Central Terminal. But if you do, I’m sorry. Working in Midtown, you’d think I’d be used to the pushing and shoving hoards, but I can’t. I can never get used to strangers invading my box (which is far more intrusive here than by my Herald Square office). That said, Grand Central commuters, if you haven’t discovered it already, you have a retreat around the corner, should you choose to use it.

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Lately we need as many ice cream trucks as we can get! And it sounds like a good one has just launched. The Itizy truck is upping the ante by actually making their ice cream and sorbets in New York City (most of the other trucks make them upstate). The flavors sound simple but delicious and range from Mint Stracciatella and Coffee Brownie ice creams to Blueberry Mojito and Strawberry Balsamic sorbets. I’m guessing based on their website that their flavors will rotate with the seasons. They also donate a free meal to a child in need with every five scoops of ice cream they sell. With this weather, that shouldn’t be too difficult. They’re tweeting their specific locations on Twitter, but the plan is to be in Midtown daily (the west side on Mon and Wed and the east side Tues, Thurs, and Fri). Early adopters, let us know how they stack up in the comments.

Okadaman, that new Japanese truck we told you about last week is having their first day on the streets today at 45th bw Lex and 3rd 48th and Park. Also, Chef Samir is on 37th and Bway, Bian Dang is on 47th btw Park+Mad, their pork bun cart Fun Buns is on 48th btw 6th+7th, Cinnamon Snail is on Park btw 46+47th, Luke’s Lobster and Crisp are on 47th and Vanderbilt, and Kimchi Truck is also on 47th near Park. Many other trucks are donating 5% of sales to God’s Love We Deliver, including Red Hook Lobster on 46th and 6th and Rickshaw Dumpling on 50th and 6th. And to cool things off, there’s always Uncle Gussy’s new frozen yogurt cart Pago on 51st and Park and Wafels & Dinges’ new ice cream flavors on 40th and Park or 49th and 3rd. As always, double check the Twitter Tracker before heading out.

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.

So I have long been a fan of Desmond’s for after-work drinks. Mamacita gave a fairly accurate review previously that it is falling apart and has some interesting smells. But, in my opinion, that is really part of the charm. And it doesn’t hurt that Anthony Bourdain used to go there in-between double shifts as Chef of Les Halles which is just a block south.

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• The now banned Rutgers Grease Trucks are welcome in Midtown anytime!!! [Miscellaneous]
• A 3 year old udon thread has been resurrected. [Midtown Eating]
• Has anybody tried Submarina?  [Midtown Eating]