Midtown Lunch

We’ve already mentioned midtown newcomer Treehaus (3rd Ave. and 51st St.) for its next-level buffet options, but they’ve now stepped up to the plate with an offering for the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge (remember that old thing!?)  The Crispy Buffalo Chicken, which is priced at $8.50 ($9.25 with tax), is actually a wrap- which generally speaking can’t compare with proper sandwiches — after all, flour tortillas are often just soft, one-note, well, wrapping for ingredients that could otherwise benefit from a nice, crusty roll or slices of bread. Treehaus finds, however, finds a way to elevate the humble wrap by toasting a wheat tortilla in a panini press, giving it nice grill marks and a bit of texture.

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Mark your calendars! Now that the Bryant Park holiday shops are gone, something even more interesting is on its way to that space later in February. A Malaysian Winter Market will take over on February 20 and 21, featuring signature Malaysian dishes and traditional food products for under $8 from a variety of restaurants and vendors including Fatty Crab, Laut, New Malaysia Restaurant, Nyonya, Penang, Bentara Restaurant in Connecticut and more. Although the market will be open all day, lunch will be served 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (or until they sell sold out), and they’ll have a dinner shift as well.

Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. You may have noticed that we have brought a new contributor named Dan into the fold to help shore up our Midtown East coverage. A few weeks ago he told us about the frittate from Pizza Rustica, and if you were excited about the Girl Scout Cookie truck on Friday, that was all him as well. And tomorrow he’s got the scoop on a new entry in the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge. (Get excited.) Let’s make him feel welcome…

Name: Dan

Age: 27

Occupation: Communications consultant for a human rights organization

Where in Midtown do you work? Midtown East, a few blocks from the UN.

Favorite Kind of Food: Fried clams, all the way

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything with a lot of olives. A few is OK, but I really don’t like olives.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Previti (on 41st btw. Lex+Park) for the focaccia lasagna slice, chicken thigh with brown rice at Glaze Teriyaki (on Lex btw. 54+55th), and almost everything at Num Pang (on 41st btw. Lex+3rd).

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Every Tuesday is Fat Tuesday for some of us, but today it’s the actual Fat Tuesday… and to celebrate Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5+6th) has got some specials planned just for today.  As you can see from their flyer they’re planning to have chicken etouffee ($11.25), dirty rice as a side ($3.95), shrimp gumbo as a soup ($5.20) and a po’ boy dip ($9.95). What’s in that, you might be asking?  Try braised beef, caramelized peppers and onions, gruyere, mustard, and pickles on a garlic baguette.  Of course it comes with au jus on the side.  I highly doubt it will transport you to Mother’s, but it’ll do.

Cer Te, 20 W 55th St. (btw 5+6th). 212-397-2020

It’s been a rough spell for Burger King in midtown. First we had word from lunch’r dbug42 that the Whopper Bar in Times Square was closed then soon thereafter he tipped us off that the Rock Center location was also dunzo.  Could it be that our quest to steer people in Midtown to interesting lunchtime eats could finally be paying off?  I guess it all depends on what’s going to go in that space? Wendy’s fans will be pleased to know that their spot is the last of the hamburger chains with a hold in the RC concourse–McD’s vacated years ago.

These guys work fast – days after we posted about TS Ma being replaced by Fusion 9th, I got word from my confidential source that they had opened. Here at Midtown Lunch, we don’t screw around when Malaysian options hit the desert of food deserts – southwest midtown – so with great sobriety and regret did I set aside the thought of a cold-cut sandwich for lunch. No looming reminder of a massive Super Bowl pigout would prevent me from getting my foot in the door at Fusion 9th to determine if it’s worth an eyebrow raise or if it’s just forgettable “fusion.”
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This year’s Choice Eats event was announced a few weeks ago and tickets have been going fast for the annual food feast on Tuesday, March 19 at the 69th Armory on Lexington (bw 25th and 26th). With only one official Midtown entry (Black Shack Burger), this might be a perfect chance to sample some exciting restaurants from all over the city.  And we have a  pair of tickets to give away to one lucky reader. The full list of participating restaurants are listed here. In order to enter, simply leave a comment below letting us know which food establishment you are most eager to try at the event. We’ll choose the winner by random on Friday Feb. 15th at 5pm EST. Don’t want to leave it to chance? General Admission tickets are still available for $50 and can be purchased here.

• 15 Late Night Eats in Midtown [SENY]
• Wondering what will happen to the Port Authority 99 Cent Pizza [Jeremiah’s Vanishing]
• LT Burger leaves a lot to be desired [AHT]
• Another early at Mmm…Enfes [SENY]
• The Alice Sandwich is the thing to get at Toasties [CrushNY]
• A look at Cer Te’s new pambazo [SENY]
• The band Local Natives are a huge fan of Num Pang [Food is the New Rock]

P.J. Clarke’s first foray into the take-away market, Clarke’s Standard (Lex+54th), opened the other day without some of the major kinks seen in other openings. Yes, the lines were long, but the behind-the-counter assembly line kept the burgers moving. And though we saw part of the menu, there were a few surprises. I stopped by during the lunch rush to see if the burgers are worth and to get my hands on some cheesy tots.

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