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Profile: Midtown Luncher “Jill”
Every Tuesday I 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 Jill, a photo editor who loves meat, but not ”organ meat”.
Name: Jill
Age: 40
Occupation: Photo Editor
Where in Midtown do you Work?: Rockefeller Center Area
Favorite Kind of Food: Italian, Indian, Mexican, Japanese
Least Favorite Kind of Food: Honestly? Organ Meats. I can’t even sit at the same table as someone who is eating tripe. It’s just gross.
Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Del Frisco’s (on 49th btw. 6+7th) for the steak, chateau potatoes and the outrageously huge slice of lemon cake; Pam Real Thai (49th btw. 9+10th) for the vegetable red curry and spring rolls; Hallo Berlin cart (54th & 5th) for the currywurst combo; Ruby Foo’s (B’way & 49th) for the veggie sushi and chicken pineapple rice; Sosa Borella (8th Ave. btw. 50+51st) for the roast beef sandwich or the steak salad; Le Bonne Soup (on 55th btw. 5+6th) for the salad/soup/chocolate mousse lunch special; Poseidon Bakery (9th Ave. btw. 44+45th) for the spanakopita, baklava, and cherry cheese strudel; Two Boots (Rock Center) for a Cleopatra Jones slice (OK, two slices); Burger Joint (55th btw. 6+7th) for burgers and fries (although my true burger love is the ridiculously expensive burger at 21 Club. It’s amazing.); and I love that chicken from Popeye’s! (40th btw. 7+8th)
“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Mi Nidito on 8th ave and 51st street. It’s a bit more expensive than, say, Chipotle, but the ingredients are so fresh and they use tons of veggies in the soups and burritos. There’s a bar menu with a soup/combo special for $8.99 or $9.99, but I usually go with PKs black bean soup or my special favorite, the very spicy chicken tortilla soup. Years ago when I was feeling like I was coming down with a cold, my boyfriend at the time brought me some of Mi Nidito’s chicken tortilla soup. Turned out we got engaged that night. We started calling it the proposal soup. The next time I ordered it for delivery, we told that story to the guy and, along with the order, he sent a little bottle of champagne. It was very nice.
Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Jamaican Dutchy (51st & 7th), Sapporo (49th btw. 6+7th), Hallo Berlin Cart
If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Domestically: somewhere in Maine. I could never tire of eating crab rolls or lobster rolls and blueberry pie. Internationally: a farm in Tuscany would be great for simple, incredibly fresh italian lusciousness. and Buenos Aires or Paris because I like to eat a huge steak and drink red wine in the middle of the day.
Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? Yes! I’ve been craving a fried fish sandwich. Is there a great one in midtown? Also, any shabu shabu restaurants nearby? And, lastly, what’s the best crab dish in midtown?
I don’t know about great one, but my favorite fried fish sandwich (once again) is after the jump…
The fried whiting sandwich from Kim’s Aunt Kitchen Cart (on 45th btw. 5+6th). Oh, and that is one sandwich that gets folded up together- I shit you not.
For those of you who may not be interested in slumming it at the Kim’s Aunt Kitchen cart- I’d highly recommend the much forgotten about take out window at the Grand Central Oyster Bar. They’ve got a halfway decent fried oyster po’boy, and surprisingly, almost everything is under $10.
Got any other recommendations for Jill? Please comment below… (Recommendations please! Not comments about her appearance. I like boobie jokes just as much as the next guy, but there have been some recent complaints, and I don’t want to have to start moderating comments! It’s hard enough finding people willing to be profiled… you guys aren’t making it any easier!)
And as always, if you want to be the next Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er (can’t imagine why though, with this crew), or you’d like to nominate somebody in your office (a much better idea, right?) email me at zach@midtownlunch.com
Posted: September 2nd, 2008 under PROFILE: Midtown Lunch'er.
Comments: 28
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Comments
Comment from fedthefish
Time: September 2, 2008, 11:56 am
Try Shaburi (39th b/w Lex & Park) for shabu-shabu.
Comment from Margot
Time: September 2, 2008, 11:57 am
Out of midtown - but if you’re craving fried fish head down to A Salt & Battery.. doesn’t get better than that.
Comment from Mamacita
Time: September 2, 2008, 12:14 pm
Really, no organ meats? That’s where all the flavor is concentrated. Not even a bone marrow taco?
Comment from famdoc
Time: September 2, 2008, 12:19 pm
Mi Nidito seems quite expensive. Does the quality exceed neighborhood Mexican joints enough to justify $14.95 burritos?
Did you marry the guy?
Comment from Sarah
Time: September 2, 2008, 12:19 pm
I’m anxiously awaiting fish sandwich rec’s also! A Salt and Battery is a little too pricey for my world. Same with Chip Shop. Also I hate to break it to you Jill, but as a native I know, if you worked in Maine you’d probably be just eating Italian (pronounced ‘eye-talian’) sandwiches for lunch:
http://www.amatos.com/
But points for not saying ’spain’, ‘tuscany’ or ‘chinatown’
Comment from wayne
Time: September 2, 2008, 12:20 pm
Don’t like organ meat? Jill, you just haven’t had the right organs in your mouth yet… ask Mamacita, she’ll tell ya.
Comment from Tom
Time: September 2, 2008, 12:34 pm
At the very least, everyone likes one organ meat: skin. Fried chicken, crispy pork skin, chicharrónes, pork rinds, salmon skin tofu, etc …
Comment from Tom
Time: September 2, 2008, 1:01 pm
Err, salmon skin sushi. Not sure what salmon skin tofu would be.
Comment from Danny
Time: September 2, 2008, 1:08 pm
hahaha @wayne. keeping it classy. I like it.
this might be outta the way, and definitely not for lunch but Al di La in Park Slope used to do this tripe dish that’s divine. You wouldn’t even know it’s tripe.
In short, tripe is good. And no sandwich recs, sorry. Don’t go to Red Lobster.
Comment from wayne
Time: September 2, 2008, 1:16 pm
Thanks Danny. When Zach threatens moderation, we clean up our acts. Kudos to Tom too for not listing skin flutes.
Comment from organmeatgrinder
Time: September 2, 2008, 1:16 pm
Embrace the tripe, people.
Comment from Danielle
Time: September 2, 2008, 1:45 pm
For a delicious fried fish sandwich try Blaggards Pub - specifically the one on W35th and 7th Ave.
Comment from chris
Time: September 2, 2008, 1:58 pm
@ sarah… But she DID say Tuscany…
Comment from mm
Time: September 2, 2008, 2:13 pm
The fried fish sandwich at grand central oyster bar is pretty yummy and $6.95 I believe. No sides are included though. The crabcake sandwich is also awesome but I can’t say the same about the crab salad sandwich- heavy on the mayo, light on the crab.
Comment from Doug
Time: September 2, 2008, 2:14 pm
Fish burger at Edison.
Comment from Sarah
Time: September 2, 2008, 2:20 pm
@ chris. crap, you’re right. 1/2 point off. And @ Danielle, that’s a good tip!
Comment from Sarah Hellerman
Time: September 2, 2008, 2:56 pm
You have not asked to profile me, the Doc, the hamster, the blow-up doll, or the wife
Comment from :jenn
Time: September 2, 2008, 7:39 pm
You can get shabu shabu @ East on 55th St. btwn 7th & 8th Ave.
Comment from Bossman
Time: September 3, 2008, 9:10 am
Zach, have you expanded the ML lunch boundaries to include the known universe?
I wonder how the bubble tea is on Alpha Centauri.
Comment from DocChuck
Time: September 3, 2008, 2:08 pm
My dearest Jill:
It would not have killed you to wash and set your hair before having your picture taken.
My wife is in the personal grooming business and she would pass a gallstone over such inattention.
Comment from Jill
Time: September 3, 2008, 4:11 pm
@tom - OK, I did like pork rinds as a kid (with an ice cold Big Red), but I can’t eat them anymore. @famdoc, Yes. the quality at Mi Nidito’s does far exceed the neighborhood Mexican joints. The bar menu $9.99 two course prix fixe is a great deal. And yes, we did get married! We’ll be celebrating our ten year anniversary next year. @docchuck, women don’t get their hair “set” anymore. they get their hair did.
Comment from Mamacita
Time: September 3, 2008, 4:26 pm
Don’t mind him Jill, he’s actually insane.
Comment from DocChuck’s wife
Time: September 3, 2008, 4:34 pm
I have a number of fine wigs woven from natural pet hair from my pet hair removal clinic, if such things interest you, Jill
Comment from DocChuck
Time: September 4, 2008, 1:13 pm
My dearest Mamacita:
I have not one but two PhD’s, should that excite you.
One is in psychology.
I am NOT insane, as you suggest.
I am a 66 year old man who is very comfortable in his own skin and NOT afraid to speak his (keen) mind.
It is painfully obvious that “Jill,” so-called, should pay more attention to her own personal grooming needs.
I imagine the same could be said for you.
I await the day “Mamacita” (a pseudonym, for all we know) is chosen as a “Midtown Luncher.”
Now please cease with your “pop psychology” as well as your googling of my activity on other blogs and websites.
Chuck, PhD II
Comment from DocChuck’s wife
Time: September 4, 2008, 3:18 pm
My apologies to all you nice midtown people. DocChuck is off his meds again, and to make matters worse, the duct tape DocChuck had used to strap his catheter bag to his leg busted, not only making for a stinky mess but tearing away a lot of his thick. matted leg hair. He’s cuddled up with Elizabeth (he calls his blow-up doll Elizabeth, if such things excite you) in a semi-fetal position now, calling her “mommy” and whimpering about how he’s sorry and he’ll be a good boy now.
Comment from virgil
Time: September 5, 2008, 11:43 am
I think Jill looks great. DocChuck, your aesthetic sense seems to have ceased its forward progress at about the same time as your grasp of idiomatic English.
Comment from DocChuck
Time: September 5, 2008, 1:40 pm
Dear Virgil:
Go back to your Aeneid. Come back when you have two PhD’s like I do.
Cheers, Chuck
Comment from DocChuck’s wife
Time: September 5, 2008, 6:30 pm
Sorry again to all you nice midtowners. Traffic delayed DocChuck today to the point that arrived late at the outskirts of our local catholic all-boys elementary (if such things interest you, as they do my beloved bubby) and he was therefore not able to watch (and photograph) the young lads as they left school for the day. This has put him in such a frightful mood. Twitchy (the hamster that lives inside his posterior) is doing his best to sooth him with energetic twitches, and when my size 80W g-string arrives by express mail later today, I will (in the gstring, nothing else) do that special dance he loves so much — and all should be well thereafter
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