Midtown Lunch

At the beginning of the month we reported that Danku, the Dutch/Indonesian fast food craziness on 57th btw. 5+6th, was closing to revamp their menu and concept. Not so says Lunch’er Ben, who forwarded along this photo and email:

Hey Zach, Long time reader and Danku hater here. I walked by Danku this morning and there were forms taped to the door. Upon inspection it turns out they are eviction notices for non-payment of rent. Hallelujah! Not only were they total shit merchants, but also liars (Remodeling and reopening in February??Right.) Anyway, our long midtown lunch nightmare is over. I’m counting the days till Baja Fresh rolls in. -Ben

I don’t take joy in watching anybody lose their business, and clearly Danku could still end up resolving their issues and reopening (we’ve seen Old Bridge Deli do it time and time again.) But it’s not looking good. And maybe a Baja Fresh would be nice… but you know what would be nicer? A fast food restaurant that serves *good* Indonesian food. Come on Danku, make it happen!

Related:
Danku Goes Back to the Drawing Board
Everything You Wanted To Know About Danku (But Were Afraid To Try)
Queen’s Day Miracle: Can Fresh Stroopwafels Save Danku?

Lunch’er Sean sends in this (not surprising) news about Danku, the Dutch/Indonesian fast food chain on 57th and 5+6th: “I walked past Danku over the weekend and noticed that they were papered up and had a sign saying that they were renovating and revamping their menu for a Feb. 2010 reopening. I know everyone (including myself) found their food to be somewhat underwhelming, but it’s still nice to have a range of options in the area. Here’s hoping that the improvements are for the best!” Indeed. I’m a huge fan of Indonesian food, and was always hoping that Danku would find a way to make it work. I guess we’ll see what kind of changes they make…

Related:
Everything You Wanted To Know About Danku (But Were Afraid To Try)
Queen’s Day Miracle: Can Fresh Stroopwafels Save Danku?

I don’t understand what is with all the banh mi backlash? Why would anybody get sick of a delicious Vietnamese sandwich? (Maybe we’re just getting sick of all the traditional media latecomers acting like these sandwiches are a brand new trend!) Anyway, I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of banh mi, but for those who are Metromix has put together a list of ten Asian sandwich alternatives to the banh mi– and 3 of them are in Midtown.  Their suggestions in our neck of the woods: the Vada Pav at Sukhadia’s Gokul (on 45th btw. 5+6th), the Indonesian Sloppy Joe at Danku (on 57th btw. 5+6th), and the Yakisoba Pan at Cafe Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th).

In honor of Queen’s Day (?), which is today, Wined and Dined and Serious Eats: New York are reporting that Danku (on 57th btw. 5+6th) is going to start serving made to order stroopwafels, a kind of waffle cookie sandwich thing with a “hot caramel goo” in the center. You all know how I feel about Danku (and I know how you feel.) I love Indonesian food, and had incredibly high hopes for this new chain. But despite a few decent dishes, overall it was a pretty big letdown. Could this be the thing that turns it around?

Strangely enough, I was walking by Danku weeks a few weeks ago and they were handing out free samples of these stroopwafels… so I was a little surprised to read that they were “introducing” them today for Queen’s Day. (Maybe they were just “testing” them? Or maybe I was imagining things… because PR people never lie. Today is the day! Get excited!) Either way, the free sample I tried was pretty delicious… so if you’re into this kind of thing, I would definitely recommend checking it out. For more on the Danku Stoopwafel (and a behind the scenes look at exactly how they make them) check out Serious Eats: New York.

Related:
Everything You Wanted To Know About Danku (But Were Afraid To Try)

I thought I was probably never going to have to go back to Danku, the Dutch/Indonesian fast food place on 57th btw. 5+6th, until last week when I read about their latest creation: the Indonesian Sloppy Joe.  Oh boy.  Luckily Lunch’er Adam P. took the bullet for all of us, and sent in some photos and a report.

So I went to Danku to try out the Indonesian “Sloppy Joe”. The sandwich sells for $5, but you can get a combo with “Organic Fries” for $7.50, though I opted for the solo Joe and got 2 krokets on the side instead of fries. I was disappointed to find they dropped the Mac&Cheese krokets from the menu (no, really), so I had the Spinach&Artichoke krokets instead.

The sandwich is exactly what I expected from the description of an “Indonesian Sloppy Joe”, and unfortunately it was exactly what I expected in a sandwich from Danku.

Read more »

Photo by Food in Mouth

I had a couple of stupid titles ready and waiting for my post about Danku, the new Dutch/Indonesian fast food place on 57th btw. 5+6th. I narrowed it down to “Danku But No Danku” and “Danku Shame”, but sadly it looks like I won’t get to use them. Is Danku good? No. But it’s also not so bad that I feel the need to publicly humiliate them on the site. How good or bad it is will also depend on who you ask, and what you order. After my first visit to Danku, on their opening day, yielded pretty terrible results, I decided to step back and give them some breathing room. Let them work out the kinks before returning to give them their full +/-.

Well, 6 weeks is plenty of time and last week I returned with a serious group of Midtown Lunchers, waiting to pass judgement on this new fast food chain: Danny from Food in Mouth, Blondie and Brownie (from the blog of the same name) and Bartender Extraordinaire Don Lee. I was actually surprised Don was willing to come, since he accompanied me on the first trip to Danku- and was less than thrilled with his decision.

We were able to try most of the menu, but with eaters like this Danku would have to bring their A game… and I’m not sure they were up to the challenge.

Read more »

When I walked by Danku, the Dutch/Indonesian chain on 57th btw. 5+6th earlier today, there was a guy outside handing out free samples of hot chocolate. He told me he’s out there all day, and also hands out bites of their krokets- so if you’ve been interested, and work in the area it may be worth swinging by. The early reviews of this place have ranged from “excellent” (I only saw that once, and based on my experience is highly suspect) to “just ok” to “bland” to “gross”. I did, however, notice one change from my first visit on the day they opened… the noodles they are serving are completely different from the (terrible) ones I tried, and they now come topped with what looks like fried garlic (an authentic Indonesian touch.) All the combos also now come with shrimp crackers, another welcomed improvement. You have to hand it to them… at least they’re trying. I think I’ve given them enough time to sort things out, so a full +/- might be coming soon.

So I’m still waiting in the hopes that Danku (the Dutch/Indonesian fast food place on 57th btw. 5+6th) will see the writing on the wall, and make improvements before I give them the old +/-, but it appears as if the situation is getting bleaker and bleaker by the day.  The good news is, they finally got the mac-n-cheese croquettes on the menu.  The bad news is, they finally got the mac-n-cheese krokets on the menu.  Lunch’er Adam checks in with this report:

“So it’s the new year and Danku finally has mac-n-cheese krokets. Unfortunately they are as “mac-n-cheesy” as the beef krokets are “beefy”, which means they are just a mushy glop of something that tastes like mac-n-cheese. My artificially high expectations for the “dutch-indonesian fast food” has let me down as the food is made with the same TLC as the site’s predecessor (McD’s). I can’t rationalize the krokets as anything better than bar-food, and adding in a dressed-up salad for the “combo” doesn’t make them any more special.”

More from Adam, plus the Village Voice weighs in- after the jump…

Read more »

Wondering about Danku, the Dutch kroket chain that opened a few weeks back on 57th btw. 5+6th? This update just arrived in the old Midtown Lunch inbox:

“Can we get a review of Danku sometime soon? Or at least an airing of grievances? I went when it first opened up and ordered the krokets and salad, and found them both kinda nasty. Texture is gross because they’re basically fried flavored food starch, there’s nary an actual food item in them. Salad dressing is gross too, tastes really artificial. I went a week ago to try the satay and they said they were out of it. I left cause I didn’t feel like anything else.”

Read more »