Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er “EJ”
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, in honor of this Saturday’s Vendy Awards, I’m turning the site over to EJ- who has recently become exclusively a “cart guy”.
Name: EJ
Age: 27
Occupation: IT (and blogger at cobblehillblog.com)
Where in Midtown do you Work?: 45th & Broadway
Favorite Kind of Food: I’m an equal opportunity eater. If forced to pick one category though, I’d say pork. BBQ’d pork (preferably ribs from Dreamland in Tuscaloosa, AL).
Least Favorite Kind of Food: See above. I’d be a perfect judge for Iron Chef as there is very little that I don’t enjoy eating. However, if forced to make a list, it would probably only include eggplant. This year’s CSA also has me currently sick of green beans.
Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Recently I’ve become almost exclusively a cart guy. I usually bounce between the Biryani Cart (on 46th & 6th) and the Trini Pak cart (on 43rd and 6th). When I’m feeling a bit broke, the $3.50 falafel guy across from Kwik Meal fills the void, however my personal falafel week showed that the best falafel in town is definitely at Bread & Olive.
When I feel the need to eat healthier, I usually head to the somewhat generic Dunhill Cafe (on 45th btw. 6+7th). They have an affordable veggie plate, as well as a good fresh carved turkey breast sandwich. On Fridays, Minar (on 46th btw. 6+7th) has a great cilantro chicken which I’ve been including in the rotation a bit more frequently. I’m also looking forward to the cold weather, which gives me an opportunity to eat more soup at Cafe Edison (on 47th btw. Bway+8th).
“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? When I’m busy or lazy, I generally head down to the cafeteria in our building. It’s overpriced and mediocre, but reliable for a turkey sandwich on a rainy day.
Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? You definitely get credit for El Rincon Del Sabor on 47th btw. 5+6th (note to self: it’s been a while since I’ve gone for the Wednesday chicken and spaghetti), and the chaat bar/naan sandwiches at Indus Express (on 48th btw. 5+6th).
If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? I always joke about getting a vacation house in Jackson Heights for the eating opportunities… Indian, al pastor tacos and tortas, korean fried chicken, great thai food, etc, etc. While I’m bummed at how the Mets season ended, I’m equally bummed about not being in Queens every weekend for good eating. A close second on the list would be Sunset Park, BK for similar reasons.
Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? Okonomiyaki, is it available anywhere for lunch, or am I required to wait for Sake Bar Hagi (on 49th btw. 6+7th) to open at 5:30p?
Good question. Anybody seen any Japanese fried pancake action in Midtown during lunchtime? Post it in the comments for EJ.
And as always, if you want to be the next Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er, or you’d like to nominate somebody in your office email me at zach@midtownlunch.com
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:50 am, October 14th, 2008 under PROFILE: Midtown Lunch'er.
30 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
30 Comments
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@ Wayne: I know! You score automatic points with me if you’re a Met fan. That AND his favorite food is Pork. Just pork. But I’m sorry, EJ, the best falafel in town ain’t B & O. Since you’re a BK guy, you gotta try Mr. Falafel in the Slope on 7th. Best falafel hands down. Go, Mets.
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Mmmmm…pork. A wonderful, magical animal. And EJ likes sake bars. Plus, he is pleasuring that octopus something fierce – just look at the smile on that cephalopod. Mancrush…getting…stronger…. quick, Mamacita, help….
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you are a man after my own tastebuds…need a roommate in Jackson Heights? i totally agree — walking distance from Spicy & Tasty, Sripriphai, Little Pepper, etc. etc- it would be great.
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Only okonomiyaki I know of is at Otafuku on 9th st bet 2nd and 3rd ave. Sorry that doesn’t help out midtown.
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Shame on you wayne! You cheap strumpet. I had you first!
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Sorry M, his rugged skinny-Jack-Black meets chubby-Mike-Piazza looks have captivated me
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EJ …..parents Silent Bob & Chip&Dale?
Look at those cheeks!
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If it weren’t for the comments I’d never hit “Read More”
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Wayne, I think you’re a bit beyond ‘mancrush’ given the attributes that captivate you. A mancrush is what a heterosexual guy gets for another man based on masculine traits, such as what many guys have felt over the past few years about Tom Brady where it’s a combination of admiration, envy (those supermodels!), and gratitude (3 SB wins). You simply have the hots for this week’s profiled ML’er!
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You forgot to mention how those skin tight football pants accentuate Brady’s buttocks as they glisten with perspiration
hey moze, come on over and lets watch some gladiator movies
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The closest place I know of that has Okonomiyaki for lunch is in Osaka . . .
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Otafuku’s great, but the R train + cooked-to-order waits might not allow me to get there and back in an hour.
People complain about the premade bahn mi @ Saigon, but it’s a blessing for us Midtowners who travel for lunch. Ditto for gyros in Astoria. -
@lh123: walking distance? really? did you know you listed two places in Flushing and one in Woodside? all of Queens is not the same.
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Wayne, I prefer WWE and other ‘sporting’ events!
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My dearest EJ:
I am always disheartened to see a young man who obviously has had little in the way of a strong masculine influence during his life.
Dirty, bedraggled and lumpy is no way to go through life, son. Your apparant wholesale disregard for personal grooming will hold you back in all things, this is for certain.
Plus, would it kill you to hit the gym instead of some spore-infested “food” cart?
I myself am a man of stature and fine breeding. I hold two PhDs and am a high-ranking member of the Freemasons, a fraternal organization dedicated to mentoring young men such as yourself. I certainly hope you take my comments to heart as they can only improve your prospects for good health, employment, financial stability (mine is excellent, by the way) and heterosexual relationships with clean young ladies.
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I guess the trailer park NAMBLA meeting is over – CockChug is trolling the food boards
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While admittedly off-topic, I recommend all of you visit the Kraft message boards and view DocChuck’s comments. Pure comic gold.
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Please, don’t attack my man, he’s already so upset already about the verbal altercation he just had with one of his few blog-writing supporters, Nick of Beef Afficionado. Nick left up a particularly inane post – one that my beloved had intended to be deleted – for all to deride. That, and Twitchy is quite worked up as well, and is threatening to go on a nut-biting rampage. Even my Jabba the Hut impression — I resemble this creature rather strongly, except I have legs, I think (I can’t actually see them) — failed to bring a smile to their glum faces. To get him happy again, I may have to let him secretly watch the new prisoners being hosed off at the men’s correctional facility where I work part time.
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go to hell talida, maybe i’m not a fat ass like you and can walk to places unlike you who has to waddle and get a bus or subway or take a car because you eat so damn much.
Met fan. falafel eater, lover of cobble hill & queens – Mamacita move over, I have a mancrush on EJ