Midtown Lunch

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.

“Little hand says it’s time to rock and roll.” Though I wasn’t following Bodhi’s footsteps to a life of crime, I was hoping to find a little fun drink action when I agreed to review Point Break. About a five minute walk from Grand Central Terminal, this “surf bar” (yes, another one – it’s summer, it’s hot, and I want to at least pretend I’m not stuck in NYC and instead, am somewhere more…beachy) is in an ideal midtown location.

Greeted by some green glob dressed in Mexican attire, a couple of upright surf boards, poorly strung Christmas tree lights and their giant tagline reading “Bar. Grill. Risky. Business.,” I immediately had a good feeling about this place.

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Call it stoner food, call it late night grub, call it diner fare. Whatever terminology you want to use, I think it’s safe to categorize all of it as munchies, no? And the Munchie Mobile is not just a generic name for a place to get something to eat. The new purple truck we told you about a few weeks back is offering a wide array of this particular type of food – burgers, grilled cheese, fried stuff, and even pancakes!

When I first saw the menu, I was worried they might stretch themselves too thin. Trying to offer so many different options from a truck often results in uninspired and messy food. Would these guys turn out to be the food truck version of a diner?

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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.

I have a regular lunch with my first boss out of college – and we seem to always have Indian food. Months ago, I walked by Bamiyan, an Afghan restaurant and suggested it for our next outing. It took us a while, but we finally got there last week.

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People are making lots of money from food trucks and carts. And I’m not even talking about the chefs and entrepreneurs that are serving up street meat, lobster rolls, and korean tacos. I’m talking about the permit holders who are selling (or leasing out) food vending permits on the black market for 100 times (literally) what the DOH charges for these permits.

WNYC News posted another exposé on the illegal black market that almost all of the new school vendors have to support if they want to operate their business. The article features a candid interview with Korilla BBQ’s Eddie Song, in addition to a visit to a Brooklyn commissary where the shady business is done. Those of us who follow the food truck industry have known about these issues for years. There have been well-documented arrests and articles about these concerns and I think we all agree that it should absolutely be possible for an entrepreneur to begin a food vending business without breaking the law.

And yesterday also brings news that the Department of Health is finally taking steps to fix this broken system.

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This just in from Lunch’er Tom:

I just wanted to bring to your attention in case it was unknown that this location [of Urban Lobster Shack in the basement of the building on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th] has been closed. I was nearby grabbing lunch when I noticed a sign posted on the shut doors from the department of heath, apparently the business was “operating without a permit.”

They did recently launch a food truck, but it’s hard to imagine that as a replacement for their food court location. We emailed the owner, but haven’t heard back yet.

But wait, there’s more….

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Remember back in March when Cer té launched a contest to create your own cupcake flavor? Well, somebody’s dreams are finally coming true. They launched the first of their “My Dream Cupcake” series yesterday with the Monkey Business. It’s a maple cake with a caramelized banana filling and topped with nutella frosting and a peanut brittle garnish. It’s $3.25 and will be available through the end of June and then presumably another winner’s flavor will be revealed next month. I wonder if this will be an ongoing thing like their sandwich of the month. They’re definitely keeping things fresh over there.

It’s getting to be summertime — although you wouldn’t really know it by the weather we’ve been having lately — which means ‘wichcraft‘s seasonal menu is getting its facelift. Today, the sandwich chain brings back four of their classics, all under $10 (although some just barely). This season’s frittata sandwich will run you $6.88 and includes local asparagus, English peas and aged cheddar on a ciabatta roll. Not into breakfast for lunch? The blackened flank steak with romesco, grilled red onions & aged cheddar on grilled country bread, comes in just within the ML limit at $9.87. Also on the pricier side: the free-range chicken salad sandwich with walnuts, slow roasted tomatoes, pickled red onions & frisée on multigrain bread ($9.64). If chicken salad doesn’t speak to you (yeah, me neither), perhaps the local zucchini & mozzarella sandwich will — it includes basil, Parmesan & roasted tomatoes on grilled country bread ($7.12). I’m making it my business to try ’em all in the coming week or two (yep, even the chicken salad) — early adopters, let us know what you think, too!

Oh, also on the horizon? The summer BLT will make an appearance later in the summer when local heirloom tomatoes come into season.

Do you wonder what the ML contributors do when they’re not eating lunch in Midtown? (We’re actually pretty easy to stalk!)

Pork Jerky from Malaysia Beef Jerky in Chinatown. Photo by Brian.

Donny’s Foodaissance project took him into the bakery at Roberta’s, Brian had Malaysian pork jerky in Chinatown, Rachel cooked zucchini bites at home, Blondie reflected on her year in the NYU Food Studies program, Brownie tested the recipe for Big D’s Corncakes and I co-hosted the third Bed-Stuy Crawl.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… Andrea investigated Nio’s, a new Trinidadian truck downtown, Zach found fresh baked Laffa in Los Angeles, and in Philly, luncher John got the scoop on Lil Dan’s.