Midtown Lunch

The free ice skating rink in Bryant Park opened for the season on Friday, and while that might be exciting news in and of itself for some of you, I’m more interested in the food available in the also open Holiday Market.  In past years the food kiosks have been limited to mostly sweets, and nothing to get too excited about. But according to Lunch’er MychaelS, there are more savory options than ever before (including dumpling soup!?)  So I headed over late yesterday afternoon to check it out.

Read more »

Blondie and Brownie headed to opening day of the Southwest Porch in Bryant Park, and tried a few of the new sandwiches created by ‘wichcraft.  Like we reported last week, Friday is the only day they are serving food and drinks and it is really more of a great happy hour spot with “snacks” than anything resembling a Midtown lunch spot- but damn, that soft shelled crab sandwich looks good!

Related:
‘wichcraft Brings Pop Up Happy Hour to Bryant Park
If You Don’t Get An Amazing Soft Shelled Crab Sandwich from Certe I Want to Hear About It
Crabwatch: Are Soft Shelled Crabs Back at Cafe Duke?

Just in time for St. Patty’s day, Food in Mouth brings the news that a branch of Lily O’Brien’s Chocolate Cafe has opened near Bryant Park (on 40th btw. 5+6th). I don’t know if the fact that this is an “Irish” chocolate company means anything (maybe everything is filled with liquor?), but Danny tried the hot chocolate and seemed pretty pleased. Apparently it goes pretty well with a cinnamon bun from Cafe Zaiya. 36 W 40th St. New York, NY 10018. 212-575-0631‎ [Food in Mouth]

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Today’s Lunch’er is a Marketing Manager at the Wall St. Journal who can’t wait for it to get warmer so she can eat outside at Bryant Park.  I think she might also be friends with Superman…

Name: Shayna

Age: 27

Occupation: Marketing Manager & Blogger (http://www.missmenunyc.com/)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: The Wall Street Journal – 45th & 6th

Favorite Kind of Food: Tie between BBQ and Mexican. Growing up in Atlanta, I was surrounded by a lot of great BBQ places. Sure, people have their favorites in NYC, but it’s just not the same when the food isn’t served with a side of Southern charm by a waitress calling you “Sugar!”

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Indian

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: 1 – Pad See Ew at Pam Real Thai Encore at 47th btw. 9+10th. This is my favorite Pad See Ew in the city. The sauce is so flavorful, and the huge portion is only $6.50. Definitely worth the walk over to 9th Ave. 2 – Falafel over rice from the cart at 48th & Park.  The falafel is fresh and is served with rice, lettuce/tomato, and chickpeas that were prepared in a really tasty sauce. All of that plus a can of soda for only 5 bucks. 3 – Hunan chicken with brown rice at Ho Yip at 45th & 5th.  The dish has great flavor and doesn’t skimp on veggies.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Cranberry Deli on 45th btw. B’way+6th. I remember going there when I was visiting NYC with my family a long time ago. I was fascinated by the concept of so many different types of food all under one roof. Let me tell you, after being innundated by these delis for the last 5 years, the novelty quickly wore off. I will say that Cranberry may be one tiny notch up from the rest of the delis in the immediate area. You have to choose wisely if you do end up there, though. My go-to orders: The udon and soba soups, and sandwich #15 – grilled chicken with roasted red peppers, mozzarella, and pesto.

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch (if any)? House of Pita on 48th b/t 5th & 6th. It was a sad day when I went there to get lunch and saw it had closed. While it wasn’t the best falafel I’ve had, I really loved their hummus and salad selections…especially the Israeli and bean salads. I heard they opened a location on 8th Ave. Unfortunately for me, it’s a little bit more of a hike, so I won’t be able to make it there as often as the original location.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? I’d live in Paris so I could order a galette oeuf fromage from a crepe stand every day for lunch. It’s a buckwheat crepe filled with Emmenthal cheese and a fried egg. This thing puts even the best egg & cheese on a roll to shame.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers?: I work a few blocks from Bryant Park and love eating lunch there when the weather is nice. Aside from the obvious options (‘wichcraft, Chipotle, Pret a Manger, etc), does anyone have any suggestions for great (and maybe lesser known) places to pick up lunch before heading to the park?

I too can’t wait for Bryant Park to become a lunch’ing option again.  For a pretty good list of lunches in the immediate vicinity, check out my Fashion Week Guide to Midtown Lunch’ing around Bryant Park.  What’s your favorite Bryant Park lunch?  Feel free to post it as a comment below…

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

Yes, I am fat.  Yes, I am a big fan of quantity.  Yes, I love all you can eat buffets- and value is important to me.  But I am not a savage animal.  Not all of my meals must be eaten off a mobile truck parked on a sidewalk.  And it doesn’t always need to be an obscene amount of food, for a ridiculously low price.  I like good food… and I don’t mind paying extra for something special, or super delicious.  As long as there is value.  But value means a lot of different things to different people.

I’ll complain that charging $10.35 for a burger, fries and soda combo is too expensive, or $11+ for a sandwich is just plain stupid.  But then, over the weekend, I’ll spend twice that amount on an appetizer at one of my favorite restaurants (sweetbreads at Prune?  Hello!).  Value is about expectations and balance.  It is feeling that what you sacrifice in quantity, you gain in quality, and the whole thing works out so that you are charged accordingly.  And while for me, Goodburger and FreeFoods NYC have priced themselves just outside that value threshold, I can’t help but think that a place like ‘wichcraft teeters right on the edge.

There is no question alot of the menu will leave you hungry, and feeling ripped off, but with some clever ordering I think you can feel like you had a quality lunch, for an expensive, but acceptable price.  Plus, I love Craft, really like Craftsteak, love Tom Collichio, and even though my first trip to ‘wichcraft, ended with my wife being hungry (and angry we paid so much for such small sandwiches), I vowed to give the place another shot.

Basically what I’m saying is this.  If you are a fat man (like me) and enjoy quantity (like me), ‘wichcraft is overpriced for what it is:  tiny sandwiches that leave you hungry in the belly, and lighter in the wallet.  But if there is that small part of you that occasionally likes to trade a little quantity for quality (mixed in with a dose of celebrity chef), there is a better way to order at ‘wichcraft, to get you out for under $10, and feeling satisfied.

A breakdown of the menu, after the jump… Read more »

Who says a short fat Jewish guy who refuses to spend more than $10 on lunch every day (except in extreme all you can eat buffet circumstances) can’t have anything to do with Fashion Week?  With shows in full swing at Bryant Park, Madewell (a new’ish chain of stores from the owners of J Crew) asked me for a list of places to grab some eats between shows, for a flier they’ve been handing out all week underneath the tent.  Apparently those people do in fact eat.  Who knew?

If you’re going to be at one of the Fashion Week events, you shouldn’t have any problem snagging one of the fliers… but if you’re a Bryant Park stalker, hoping to run into your future wife during your lunch break, your access may be limited (also, you should know you have no chance with those women.  Their shoes cost more than your weekly salary). 

For those dudes, here’s a map, and list of the suggestions appearing in the flier, after the jump… Read more »