Midtown Lunch

The existence of the phrase “Donkey sauce” didn’t really meet with much acclaim when our man Sam gave the place an ML treatment, doubly so at the anti-ML limit menu prices. With the brutal honesty of the NY Times impacting on the record of the Mayor of Flavortown, it’s apparently become a mecca for ironic dining.

What does the Donkey Saucer himself do in this case? He gets a fairly blatant-looking “interview” on Yelp in an attempt to restore foodie rep that he may or may not have had. Does his invocation of Saints Bourdain and Batali come across as a mea culpa or a transparent cred-grab? Would you eat food that tastes like your “drunk grandma would make for you on Thanksgiving” under the protective gaze of hate-eating even if it carried the veil of Williamsburg-scale irony?

Man your stations… we’ve got a free food alert coming in. Tommy Bahama has a truck parked on 48th & 5th giving out free tiny but tasty fish tacos. SE corner. Freeloaders, engage.

While I was out of the country, it seems Korean fusion truck Bob & Jo updated their menu for winter, carrying over rice platters and bibimbap from the former menu, but replacing the baguette options with ramen! I really enjoyed their spicy chicken baguette back in the day, but if I could, I would eat soupy noodles every lunch of the winter! Score.
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Yesterday Eater broke the news that Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield’s Salvation Taco is now open for lunch in the Pod Hotel (on 39th btw. Lex+3rd). Being big fans of the Spotted Pig and The Breslin we are pretty excited for this team’s first project in Midtown proper, but knowing the prices at most of their restaurants, we were a little concerned that this might not be a Midtown Lunch. That is until we saw the menu…

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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 Andrew, a Finance Manager who moonlights as a street food tour guide.

Name: Andrew

Age: 30

Occupation: Finance Manager/tour guide

Where in Midtown do you work? International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, 37th St and 5th Ave (and I run tours for Turnstile Tours)

Favorite Kind of Food: It depends on what I’m fancying for lunch that day – usually something Caribbean hits the spot.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I can’t stand eating anything wrapped in plastic or out of a refrigerator case for lunch. I like to eat something hot and fresh, especially this time of year.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I love eating from carts – that’s probably where I eat 90% of my lunches. The selection along 6th Avenue is so great, it’s hard to pick even just a couple that are my favorite. The oxtail at Trini Paki Boys (43rd St) is perhaps my favorite street meal in New York; if they’re out of it, their chicken and rice – especially with the tamarind sauce – is probably my second favorite. I also love the King Kati Roll from Biryani Cart (45th St), and the talapia and rice from Kwik Meal (46th St), but those are well-known staples of the Midtown street food scene. Whenever they have it, the lengua taco from El Rey del Sabor is fantastic, as is their spicy pork. And because I love getting a nice piece of fish for under $6, the fried whiting and chips from Kim’s Aunt Kitchen is great.

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Glaze Teriyaki (on Lex btw. 54+55th) will celebrate their two year anniversary by donating a significant portion of today’s profits to Hurricane Sandy Relief.  Also on the ML Twitter Tracker… Domo Taco is on 38th & B’way, the Souvlaki Truck is on 48th btw. 6+7th, the Mac Truck and the Gorilla Cheese Truck are on 47th btw. Park+Mad, Crisp on Wheels is on 49th btw. 6+7th, Toum is on 47th btw. 5+6th, Mexico Blvd is on 48th & 6th, Chinese Mirch is on 47th & Park, Frites N Meats is on 48th btw. 2+3rd, Wafels & Dinges is on 49th btw. 6+7th, Big D’s is on 53rd & Park, Valducci’s is on 52nd & Park, Comme Ci Comme Ca is on 36th & Bway, and Korilla is on 47th & Park.

If LT Burger doesn’t satisfy your overpriced burger needs, never fear! Chef Laurent Tourondel (shall we call him LT?) is opening another restaurant, BLT American Brasserie, just blocks away on 45th between 5th and 6th in the Cassa New York Hotel. The humble acronym BLT paired with the haughty descriptor Brasserie won’t fool many Midtown Lunchers. If it’s anything like its Chicago counterpart (which, according to Yelp, is now closed) it’s going to serve more expensive burgers, along with pizza (no, pardon me, pizettas, which to me, means nothing more than a tiny pizza), sushi, salads, steak, and other foods you can readily find in America. I’ll go out on a limb and predict that a lunch at BLT is going cost far more than most sensible Lunchers are willing to spend.

It’s that time of year again, when we reflect on the past 365 days of stuffing our face for under $10 and vote on who we think rules the Midtown Lunch’ing scene.  Got a favorite you don’t want left out of the mix?  Think your favorite lunch spot deserves to stand above the rest?  Nominate them in the comments below.  And next week we’ll vote on the best in a number of categories, from falafel to burgers, pizza to ramen.

Related:
The Best Lunches in Midtown As Decided by You: 2011 Readers’ Poll Results

When I began writing the Midtown Happy Hour column, I was incredibly excited to add in a Buffalo wing review. Wings became the cornerstone of my happy hour experience, and I began judging a bar, in part, because of their wing prices.

But I must lament, over the past month or so, I have noticed that wing prices are climbing. Over my 20-year wing-eating career, I’ve never seen prices like these. Even earlier this year wings seemed cheap. Lately, I’m having trouble finding anything under $10. (Notable exceptions are Smith’s Bar, with 75 cent wings and Vander Bar, with a $5 happy hour wings special). I have been doing some research, and indeed I found three articles written this year about the demand for wings and how it has been driving the price of wings up. Even Buffalo Wild Wings, who has been doing great in the stock market for several years, has been losing ground and has increased the price of its wings. Atomic Wings has also increased their prices, but a representative claims “we’re still not keeping up” — in 2011, wings were $1.09 per pound, and now they’re around $2.15 a pound.

Some articles I’ve read blame the rising cost of chicken, but The National Chicken Council gives a good synopsis on wing-o-nomics, and here was a line I found helpful:

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 Photo courtesy of Gothamist

• On Monday, the Grand Central Two Boots will start serving a Reuben Pizza [Gothamist]
• Bi Lokma will rise again in Midtown East!!! [Zagat]
• Fatburger is coming to Midtown East [Grub Street]
• Dylan’s Candy Bar just got soft serve [SENY]
• Bian Dang’s replacement in Food Gallery 32 makes a decent chicken donburi [Food in Mouth]
• Mr Broadway Kosher Deli makes a good chicken shawarma [SENY]