Midtown Lunch

I was really pleased with La Montanita a couple of months ago when I had four pretty damn tasty tacos for $10. On a beautiful day, it’s worth the walk to this humble but delicious cart, whose hidden-in-plain-sight status seems to have benefited with a little bit of expansion. They’re now offering some nifty looking daily specials!
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Photo courtesy of Serious Eats: New York

• Certe’s June sandwich is like a lobster french toast [SENY]
• Skip the laksa, get the sticky rice at Obao [Food in Mouth]
• Apparently you could do a lot worse than Tequila Park Taqueria [II]
• On Weds some shops in GCT will be rolling their prices back to 2013 [Eater]
• DOH closures are down 16% in the past 11 months [NYDN]
• Grand Central Oyster Bar will be closing for renovations [Grub Street]

Some of you may have noticed that Korilla BBQ has been MIA for the last few weeks. We got a hold of owner Eddie Song who told us they’ve been on sabbatical in Korea working on future plans for the business. They plan to return around the end of June with some new menu items and new designs. There is also a Korilla BBQ brick-and-mortar in the works, perhaps in Midtown. He promised us more details as they become available. Let’s hope they don’t tweak the food too much. We say if it ain’t broke….

National Doughnut Day, a day when we appreciate the fried, sometimes frosted, sometimes filled pastries by getting them for free. Like last year, Krispy Kreme will be giving away free doughnuts (one per customer), while Dunkin Donuts will give a free “donut” with a drink purchase. To get a freebie from Tim Horton’s, just “like” their Facebook page to receive a coupon for a free doughnut. Plan accordingly and save me a Bavarian cream.

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 always held on to the Flatiron east guilt that comes with having Curry Hill. One of the more magical, and tasty, neighborhoods of NYC. The west side has so few options in the high 20s, and certainly nothing as abundant as Curry Hill (although Korean Town really isn’t that far). I have dreamed what it would be like if the Flower District was the Ramen District (for example) instead. I have separately wondered where all the people who work in the Flower District eat lunch. I felt a little better when I came across Swagat on 29th Street.

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The morning show Live with Kelly and Michael have been searching for the “best food truck in America,” and they’ve narrowed the competition down to a Top Ten. Our very own Kim Ima of The Treats Trucks is the only New York truck in the running.

Kim will appear today at 9am on the show to prepare her signature dish. Viewers (and ML’ers) have until Sunday morning to rate the truck’s performance. The top two move on to the final cook-off round and the winner gets $20,000. Considering The Treats Truck turns 6 years old on Sunday, wouldn’t this be the best birthday present a sweet little truck could wish for? Let’s support Kim and vote at LIVEKellyandMichael.com. And when you see her, make sure to wish her a very Happy Birthday!

We last heard about Kashmir Dollar Burger last year when they were hit by a DoH closure (a seemingly constant problem for Kashmir and its related offspring over the years.) Yesterday en route to La Montanita, I couldn’t help but notice the shutter was down. Could the up-and-coming dollar-slice pizza market have outdone the erstwhile dollar burger? No DoH hits for them lately. More importantly – does anyone even miss them? We’ll keep our eyes peeled…

Num Pang, a longtime Midtown Lunch favorite, has been serving tasty, Banh-Mi-esque Cambodian sandwiches at its midtown location (41st St. between 3rd Ave and Lexington) since 2011. This past February, Sarah visited their new flagship location in the Flatiron District, reporting news of a bigger menu, including more salads and rice and noodle dishes. Now, it looks as though these same menu items are making their way to the midtown location!

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When Pizza by Cer Te (56th Street btw. Park & Lex) announced their June sandwich a few days ago, I told you guys that I was excited about the idea of this “Ravio-Boiga” aka Ravioli Burger. I mean, how can you not be intrigued by this idea? Jumbo, JUMBO meatball (as stated above) sandwiched between two house made raviolis! Gimmie.

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