Midtown Lunch

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

Lucky 777 Chili will be competing in the first cook off of the season at Jimmy’s No. 43 this weekend. Photo by Blondie.

Blondie gives us a long list of upcoming food events in the next two weeks, Brownie checks out Mayhem & Stout, Brian has the duck lunch at Momofuku Ssam Bar, Rachel gets up close and personal with a Chicken pita and I got to walk down section three of the High Line.

Elsewhere in the ML Universe… Zach is inexplicably sad about the addition of meat to the menu at Bawarchi in Los Angeles, Jamie discovers Russian food in Philadelphia and Andrea checks out a new Mexican Truck in FiDi.

I’m thrilled to report — there’s a new way to get your Malaysian food fix in Midtown! I think it will appeal to folks who love both authentic cuisines and great deals. I first heard about Mami PG’s through the blog Eating in Translation a few weeks ago when I read a post about authentic Malaysian “lunch boxes” currently available for delivery to Midtown (as far west as 6th avenue). This is great news for Lunchers who like Malaysian food, as Midtown is almost devoid of the stuff… (although it has popped up here and there over the years).

If you’re not comfortable with a small dose of uncertainty, Mami PG’s Cooking probably isn’t going to be as appealing for you as it is for flexible, adventurous Lunchers. There are many quirks about Mami PG’s Cooking that, in my opinion, make it nothing less than wonderful. Firstly… obtaining your lunch is an adventure in itself. Eating at Mami PG’s takes a little planning and teamwork. It doesn’t have a storefront. It’s not on Seamless or GrubHub. In fact, you can’t just decide you have a hankering for Malaysian food and walk over or call up to order your favorite dish.

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Since we’ve reached the saturation point for Korean taco and lobster roll trucks, it only makes sense that another meat-centric dish would be the subject of multiple food vehicles. After Vendy Award winning Phil’s Steaks and Shorty’s debuted earlier this year, we now got word from Luncher and cheesesteak fanatic Dustin that a new cheesesteak truck will be hitting the streets soon. And it’s a mobile version of Carl’s Steaks. No word yet on when or where it will park, but this comes right on the heels of the closing of their downtown location. Follow them on Twitter and stay tuned for more specifics.

Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Mike, a Flatiron Luncher who wishes he worked in S.F.

Name: Mike

Age: 31

Occupation: Digital Community Manager/Musician

Where in Midtown do you work? a dope agency called Mirrorball in Chelsea

Favorite Kind of Food: I’m from the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Area, so Mexican food plays a huge part of my “diet,” but my options out here aren’t as abundant as back home. Although I do appreciate a nice carne asada burritio from Dos Toros because it feels familiar.. I’d also say sushi, friend chicken, Korean noodles (jap che,) burgers, gyros and hot dogs count as well. Oooh, and Korean fried chicken (which I would say is different enough from regular friend chicken, to warrant a mention.) I just like to eat.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Orange squash has just been a bane to my tongue’s existence since I used to have to eat that nasty stuff as a baby.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Moreso in the Chelsea/Flatiron area, but the Shack Burger and cheese fries from Shake Shack, the Scnipper’s Classic burger with sloppy Joe fries from Schnipper’s, Texas Tenders and mac n’ cheese from Hill Country Chicken, the tuna burger from Kobeyaki (on 7th btw. 26+27th), Grimaldi’s pizza, the gouda grilled cheese from Morris Grilled Cheese Truck, Korilla truck, the porchetta and prime rib sandwiches from Rosticceria in Eataly, and Kyochon wings from Kyochon, and anything from Woorijip more north from my area. My coworkers and I like to “GO IN” so to speak when it comes time for daily grubfest. Oh yeah, I’d like to give a shout out for Mad Sq. Eats and how it blesses us multiple times a year with Conneticut style lobster rolls, coconut chicken curry and pulled pork empanadas and the Mash & Vinh Asia Dogs.

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Ah, Columbus Day: the holiday that reminds you that the cultural wars over Christmas are not too far off. I’m banking on the extreme majority of Midtown Lunch readers knowing the deal, but for those out-of-towners: while Columbus Day is generally regarded by many Italian-Americans as a holiday celebrating one of their own (who could also have been Jewish – hava nagila, baby!) many are now regarding it as an imposition upon native peoples.

What better way to declare a food blog’s position on Columbus Day than by hitting up a cuisine of one of the original islands discovered by Columbus and brought kicking and screaming into Latin America? Aries Cafe was recently mentioned by ML’s Twitter and having worked the next block over, literally next door to El Sabroso, I was definitely excited to give this place a shot. It last made an appearance on our pages during the storied and fabled Brooks Era. The time elapsed between merits a fresh look. Dueling Dominican/Caribbean elevator shaft eatin’ spots across 8th Ave? Don’t mind if I do!

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The Parisian bakery Maison Kayser has been getting all sorts of attention in New York since they opened up their first US outpost on the Upper East Side. Signage is up now for one of the new locations right across from Bryant Park on 40th Street. It’s due to open in January (after a Flatiron location debuts in November) and will serve mostly take-out, but with their same fancy sourdough bread and pastries.