First up is Flavors, the generic deli in the passageway at the bottom of the Fox News Building (on 47th btw. 6+7th).  It looks like they’ve responded to the first grievance that was aired against them by shrinking the size of the plastic containers their salads come in.  Clearly, though, not everybody is happy about it.

“We all just trekked over to Flavors over on 47th as we normally do and found they reduced the salad bowl sizes to half the size of what we’re used to. They’re normally pretty awesome salads. Kind of like a bait and switch that radio stations do when they launch. They play all good music and then voila, one day it’s all commercials once they have their loyal listener base. All good, but prices didn’t reduce. So we decided to trek elsewhere, no biggy, but on the way out I asked the manager why they have decided to go with salad bowls half the size of the original ones. Their answer – Corporate says it’s to reduce our carbon footprint, but it still holds the same amount. We all failed to see how a bowl visually half the size could hold the same amount. Wish your team could have been there – priceless”

First people complain that you don’t fill your salad containers all the way up.  Then you shrink the container to fit the salad, and people complain about that.  Even I have a bit of sympathy for you on this one.  Clearly you can’t win Flavors. Maybe you should just give up on the whole generic deli thing and become a… I don’t know… Chinese buffet? (Just a thought…)

Lunch’er Winston had this complaint about AQ Kafe, on Broadway btw. 57+58th:

“I stopped by last week and asked for the smorgasbord and they wouldn’t let me order it to go. I was told it was available only for sit-in only. Needless to say I was pissed and took my business elsewhere.”

That is kind of weird… in this economy you would think they’d be happy to take whatever business they could get. Certainly not a horrible injustice, but I can see how you’d be annoyed.  Just think, it could have been worse- they could have let you take the smorgasbord to go, and spit in the bag.

“It depresses me to report that there is a spitting issue at Khodiar Lunch (on 6th Ave. btw. 37+38th). I was picking up some chili chicken, and when the guy came out of the back with the bread, he loosed a long stream of what looked like tobacco juice into an open bag that was sitting on the floor behind the counter. I was crestfallen, this and Go-Go Curry are weekly spots for me. I got my money back, but there was no outrage on the part of the cashier (the spitter was one of the guys who go in and out of the back) , I had a feeling there wouldn’t be any repercussions at all. I know its a delicate thing to report something like this, but I thought M-lunchers deserved to know. It was disgusting. -Luncher Asher”

That is unfortunate.  I’m guessing the bag was just garbage (I don’t think they do many call in take out orders at the Indian newsstand), but even so.  That is pretty gross.  This place could definitely be on the downslide… the last time I went (with the Serious Eats: New York crew) the chaat was fine, but the vegetarian food- which I used to think was the best Indian food in Midtown- was terrible.  I mean, seriously bad.  Bland, not spicy at all… a complete 180 from the first 3 times I ate there. And I’m not the only one who has noticed:

“The quality (of the vegetarian food at least) has gone WAAAY down. I used to really love this place. I went to it several times a week. But the food is really crappy now. I think they got new management — the same guys are working there, but there are new people who look like the new bosses. The food is now tasteless. Maybe they decided to tone down the spicyness to appeal to a larger audience? Maybe they fired the old cook? Whatever happened, the quality is not the same. As far as I’m concerned, this is the worst news in Midtown lunching in 2009. -Lunch’er ‘imansingh’”

Agreed. These guys better get their act together, or else this is going to be a huge loss for Midtown Lunch’ing.

It’s over now, but if this photo is any indication, it was complete pandemonium at AQ Kafe today during their free food giveaway.  Danny from Food in Mouth sent us the photo and had this to say: “Insane in the membrane…yo i couldn’t get in that line, it wasn’t moving and it was LONG. so no idea how good it was…”  A few reports of the scene and food were posted as comments to yesterday’s post (if such a thing interests you, they’re after the jump- along with another photo of the madness.)

Anon – 11:24 “Was there at 10:50 and the line was just forming. There are 5 free sandwiches being offered: ham, roast beef, tuna, tomato + farmer cheese, and turkey. woohoo free lunch!”

Niu Yorker – 11:31 “Got there right at 11 and the line was to the door with about a dozen people ahead of me. line out the door when i left 5 minutes later with roast beef, horseradish remoulade, lettuce, crispy onions on onion rye bread sandwich. black forest ham is described as trimmed with red cabbage, apple, sauerkraut, herb mustard on onion rye bread. turkey was not yet ready, but would be in a few minutes.”

Tom – 11:51 “I had the Black Forest Ham sandwich and it was pretty good for free. But if I were paying $9, I would have complained about the weak bread and diminutive size.”

Thanks again to Danny for the photos. Go to his blog Food in Mouth. It kicks ass.

Thanks to all the lunchers who emailed me about this one. Free coffee is nice, but free sandwiches is like hitting the jackpot. The new AQ Kafe on Broadway btw. 58+59th will give out free sandwiches on Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Available for eat in or take out, you’ll get a choice between their Turkey (w/ jarlsberg, lingonberry jam, and lettuce on wheat), Vine Ripened Tomato (w/ cucumber, farmer’s cheese, and sprouts on wheat), or the Tuna Salad (with tomato, pickled onions, and celery on wheat). Bummer that one of the choices isn’t from the hot sandwich menu (swedish meatballs anybody!?!) and the gravlax club probably would be too much to ask for- but whatever. You won’t hear me complaining about free food. Plus, the manager told me they plan on doing more of these kinds of giveaways in the coming weeks, so stay tuned…

The new AQ Kafe opened today on Broadway btw. 58th Street and Central Park, and as promised they were giving out free coffee to anybody willing to wait in the line and order it from the cashier.  I didn’t feel like waiting for coffee (free food, now that would have been a different story) but I did take a look at the menu. 

The menu was posted awhile back (without prices) and as expected everything is more expensive than it was at the original location.  Old favorites make a return, like the gravlax club (although it’s now $12) and the smorgasbord (which is now $13), but there are 3 sandwiches all for under $10 which sound pretty great to me- like the meatball on a potato roll with lingonberries.  And for those who were worried that the “Nordic Cuban” is gone, it’s not- they’re just calling it a “Ham & Cheese” sandwich now. 

Links to the menu, plus your first look inside, after the jump… 

One of the big additions to the old space… a bakery up front, with breads, pastries and other goodies.

They also have assorted AQ Kafe products, like preserves and honey.

Unfortunately, unlike the original- the seating is for eating in only, with service (which requires a tip, and increases the cost of lunch), but unlike places like Le Pain Quotidien, the order in menu is not more expensive than the take out menu. It’s the same price no matter where you order your food.

All in all they’ve done a real nice job, and the menu looks great. If the food is just as good as the original, I think they’re going to do gang busters in this location. Sure, it’s a little on the expensive side- but not so much that it would be ruled out as a good Midtown Lunch.  Full food report to come soon. Early adopters feel free to comment below.

Here’s a copy of the full AQ Kafe Breakfast and Lunch Menu, and here is the pastry and coffee menu.

Originally they thought it may open today, but it looks like tomorrow will be the big day for AQ Kafe, Marcus Samuelsson’s casual Scandinavian cafe (on Broadway and 58th St.) To celebrate the grand opening, they’ll be giving away free coffee all day long. So if there was any doubt as to whether or not they’d be going after FIKA Espresso Bar’s customers- this answers that. If you haven’t been following closely, the original version of AQ Cafe, located in the Scandinavian House on Park Ave., closed a few weeks ago, and was replaced by another Smorgaschef.

Surprisingly, even though the new location hasn’t opened yet, the shilling has already started…   

This was posted in the comments over the weekend:

Hi. I also live in the neighborhood and walk by the restaurant every day. The door was open today so I walked in to take a peak. The restaurant is beautiful (earthy and grounded with muted Scandanavian colors). The AQ Kafe staff — a nice looking, friendly and “international” group of people — was preparing for the opening and they invitred me to taste some of the offerings. I can tell you that AQ Kafe has “best in the world” gravalox; Sweadish meat balls that are actually better than the fabulous meatballs served at Aquavit (the 5 Star restaurant that the AQ Kafe team owns); and the breads and pastries (all made in house) that were just outstanding. And the coffee — wow! But here is the great news: the price point for a meal of this quality is really reasonable. Move aside Le Pain Quitotian. This will be a home run and it’s great news for the neighborhood! I bet it will open on Monday!!!

Amazing…