Midtown Lunch

Occasionally I’ll get questions that I can’t answer alone. When I do, I post them for the Midtown Lunch readers to weigh in. Got your own question? Email it to zach@midtownlunch.com

“Zach,

I’m sure like me, you may already be struggling with Passover. Such a nice holiday, such a non-foodie holiday. Got any suggestions for where to eat well this week?”

-Matt

Uh… yes.  Er… struggling.  Sorry to let you down Matt, but my first night of Passover was spent at Kefi, where I’m pretty sure I consumed bread with every single course of the meal (their pita bread is delicious).  Now before you think I’m a total heathen, I did celebrate the 2nd night of Passover with my family… at a Chinese food restaurant.  It’s shameful, and I’m pretty sure I’m the worst Jew of all time. 

For those who don’t know, Pesach began this weekend (see how I did that, using the Hebrew term in a weak attempt at redemption?), starting an 8 day period where Jews abstain from eating any kind of bread to commemorate their Exodus from Egypt.  The story goes that the people were in such a rush, when God freed them from slavery, that they didn’t allow time for their bread to rise (hence, we don’t eat bread, or anything with yeast in it, or anything that “rises”???).  If you want to stay strictly Kashrut (Kosher for Passover) for lunch this week, you’re in pretty big trouble, because bread is the least of the things you can’t eat.  According to this site, you can’t eat anything with soy, corn, beans of any kind, or rice (which I never understood, but whatever).  And to top it off, most of the Kosher restaurants in Midtown are closed, since it would be too expensive to rid themselves of all of these products for the entire week.  (This includes the Diamond Dairy, Kosher Deluxe, Moshe’s Falafel Cart, and even the 2nd Ave. Deli, which I don’t even think is officially Kosher.)

Kosher-NY has a list of a few Kosher places that are still open this week, including Dougie’s BBQ on 47th btw. 5+6th, in the same building as El Rincon del Sabor.  For those who don’t need to be “crazy” Kosher, non-Kosher Jewish delis, like Sarge’s on the East, and the Cafe Edison on the West, are still open (despite the 2nd Ave. Deli anomaly), and both have matzah brie (fried matzah) and matzah ball soup.  The Edison will also be serving matzah meal pancakes at breakfast and lunchtime all week long.

Anybody got another suggestion for Matt (besides peanut butter and jelly on Matzah)?  Feel free to post in the comments below…

“There used to be a bubble tea café right in the middle of Times Sq., but it appears to have been replaced by one of those terrible Tasti D-lite (fake) ice cream places. Dishes offers exactly one type of bubble tea, “fruit-flavored jasmine tea”, with one type of tapioca and three choices of fruit jelly. They don’t even offer the basic milk pearl tea. At $3.50 it’s a ripoff and a poor attempt at trendifying a delicious commodity item. It’s the perfect remedy for Starbucks, especially in the summer–the tea tastes better, it’s healthier and cheaper, and refreshingly cool! Where has all the midtown bubble tea gone?”
                                                                                      — Lane R.

The only Bubble Tea I’ve seen remotely close to Midtown is on 9th Ave. btw. 47+48th @ Pearl on the Sushi.  But technically, 9th ave. is out of ML range… anybody got a bubble tea selection for Lane, more centrally located?  Post it as a comment below. 

And as always, if you’ve got a question, email it to zach@midtownlunch.com  If I know the answer, I’ll let you know- or post it for the Midtown Lunch readers to answer.

“Has anybody seen Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream anywhere in Midtown?” -Rob C. (on 49th btw. 6+7th)

Ah yes… the elusive new Ben & Jerry’s flavor.  Vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl.  Who wouldn’t like that???  (Liberty haters apparently)  Interesting you should ask this Rob… I just got an amazing tip.  Both Midtown Locations of Ben & Jerry’s just received Americone Dream shipments today!!! The Times Square Location (8th Ave. & 43rd) has about 12-15 as of 2:45pm (They got in about 25, but half of them were immediately purchased by The Colbert Report, which tapes in Midtown West).  The Ben & Jerry’s below Rockefeller Center has them in as well.  They only come in the pre-packaged pints though, so you may want to get a friend or two together to share!  I smell afternoon ice cream break… see you there!

Anybody else seen the flavor in Midtown?  Possibly in Midtown East?  Ben & Jerry’s website has a “flavor locator”, but none of the 2007 flavors are listed…

Got a question for Midtown Lunch?  Email me at zach@midtownlunch.com

Got this question emailed to me by “Esther” the other day:

“I really want to have a Shamrock Shake at McDonald’s….so last night, I walked into the McDonald’s on 52nd and Broadway to get one. (They have them every year in the month of March until St. Patrick’s Day for as long as I can remember.) The girl at the register looked at me like I was insane!! She had never even heard of it.  I’m so disappointed!!! Maybe someone in the midtown lunch community knows of a location in NYC??”

Anybody seen one of these things in a McDonalds in Midtown?  If you have, help Esther out by posting the location as a comment below.  If you are like me, and didn’t even know this Shamrock Shake existed, there’s a great piece about them here.