Midtown Lunch

Most of my experience with ramen is limited to home-cooked lunch in graduate school and the occasional visit to one of the many delis near my office… sad, I know. But I’ve been meaning to check out a real ramen restaurant for some time now, so when I heard about Ramen Takumi (3rd Ave. btw. 34th & 35th St.), I jumped at the chance to try it out.

Takumi is a cool-looking place, with a tables and bar style seating. It’s menu features not the pork-laden tonkotsu ramen, but shio, a salt-flavored broth. It’s a clean-tasting soup, salty of course, with a bite of seaweed as well. So if you’re looking for rich, fatty broth, this particular ramen spot probably isn’t for you.

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A heavenly match has been created on 3rd Avenue btw. 34+35th Streets. What better way to counteract the effects of a Carl’s cheesesteak grease bomb than with Red Mango. Yes, I admit it- I like Red Mango. (Pinkberry can screw off, though.) You may say the secret ingredient is Cap’n Crunch. (Trust me, it’s freaking good.) And it has been proven in a study that yogurt cultures, mixed with peanut butter cereal, will help aid in the digestion of red meat and cheese. You can’t argue with science.*

* Not proven by any actual scientific study.

The other day, I was standing in the tiny sandwich shop that is Carl’s Steaks, when I happened to look up at their wall of accolades and spotted the words “grease bomb” in one of the posted articles. With oil gushing out of every bite of the cheesesteak (with whiz) that I was devouring at the time, it was hard to disagree. But unlike health conscious (or squemish) doves, who may find negativity in any kind of “bomb”, when it comes to food, I’m more of a hawk. To me you add the word bomb to any kind of food, and it’s going to be good. Add it to the word “grease” and you’ve got a nuclear weapon of deliciousness.

There has been much talk of “Philly” Cheesesteaks on this site, and Carl’s on 3rd Ave. btw. 34+35th always comes up when the topic is raised. Feisty Foodie mentioned it in March of 2007, when I posted about the steak and cheese at City 75 (51st btw. 5+6th) and two commenters brought it up when I wrote about Magdy’s Philly Cheese Steak Cart 8 months later (Park & 46th). Even one commenter listed it as his 2nd favorite meat in Midtown, on the Shameless Carnivore’s profile. This is no hidden jem (apparently it was named “2007′s Best Sandwich in NYC by AOL City Guide, and is also available at Yankee Stadium), and yet I still hadn’t made the journey to this cheesesteak mecca (probably due to the fact that it was about as far away from my office on 48th & 6th that you could possibly get, and still be in Midtown Lunch’ing boundaries.) That finally changed this past week.

“Grease bomb” porn, in all its glory, after the jump… Read more »