Midtown Lunch

There are very few things I won’t eat.  In fact, I’ll pretty much eat anything that a culture deems worthy of eating.  And to prove it, I present to you this story involving a very strange dish at a Midtown Deli.  I was walking by the Bagelfeller Cafe on 48th btw. 5th & 6th on Wednesday.  For those of you who have never heard of this particular place, it is a standard Midtown “Deli” with a salad bar, sandwiches, Burrito/Taco bar, sushi station and, as you can imagine, a bagel bar.  (I’m also pretty sure it’s owned by Asians… but that doesn’t mean they can’t have good bagels!)

I’ve gotten a few recommendations from people suggesting I check out this place, so I decided to pop in and see what they had.  Nothing really caught my fancy- until I noticed something very strange in the Sushi fridge.  A weird looking, nut covered sushi log/roll that was labeled “Banana Roll” $4.95.  I immediately asked the Sushi chef what is was.  His reply… “It’s a banana roll.”  My reply to that… “Oh… is it stuffed with banana tempura?”  Because in my fat guy mind, a slice of banana would have to be breaded and deep fried to belong in a sushi roll (that’s just my logic).

“Nope.  It’s just regular banana on the inside”, he said.  “Then we lay slices of banana over the top, and cover the whole thing with sliced almonds, and a wasabi mayonnaise.”

Hold the freakin’ phone.  Wasabi mayo?  You’ve gotta be kidding me.  The thing looked as disgusting as could be… but knowing that the goop covering the whole thing was made from mayo made it that much grosser. 

Naturally I had to try it.  Photos (plus Midtown Links and the end of the week wrap up) after the jump…

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This morning, the Hershey Store on the NW corner of 48th St. and Broadway got a little competition in the form of a gigantic two story M&M store right across the street!!! (The NE Corner of 48th & Broadway).  My question is, how will Times Square support TWO generic American brand chocolate stores, right across the street from other???  And how far are these stores willing to go for the money of slack jawed tourists amazed that there’s a place where you can a get an oversized Kit Kat sweater?  The answer to that question came on my walk home from work tonight, when I saw this in front of the M&M Store:

I know this isn’t about lunch, but this shit was too funny to ignore… That’s right.  A gigantic M&M with arms and legs beckoning tourists into the store with his general adorableness.  The M&M alone wasn’t so funny… but the Hershey Store’s response across the street was pretty sweet!  Check out the picture, after the jump:

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Wednesday is the 6 month anniversary of Midtown Lunch.  That’s right… it all started on June 8th with a posting about Hing Won (naturally)- and for the past six months I have been stuffing my face at new places every single week, all for the benefit of you people.  And don’t think it’s easy.  I’m actually considering exercising for the first time in my life… and I owe it all to this blog.  (But let’s not get crazy just yet… I’m only “considering” it) Hundreds of you read the site every day, and I have to say my favorite part about doing Midtown Lunch is your comments.  Without them (and the email recommendations) it would be hard for me to find all these places to eat on my own (I do actually have a job in Midtown- and only an hour for lunch, just like the rest of you).  So, in honor of our 6 month anniversary, I’d like to share some of my favorite comments with you.  Some insightful (with great recs), some wacky, and some downright mind boggling: My first comment ever… I still remember it.  Greg from Houston wrote:

“Good writing. Like — “You talkin’ to me!””

Um… “good writing” is a stretch (I’m just a fat guy who likes to eat)- but picturing myself as Robert DeNiro in front of a mirror is downright laughable (I’m not tough, or crazy, or a cab driver… maybe a little crazy.)  I don’t remember this comment from “inane” but I actually went to this place on Tuesday and it is really good (I’ll be writing about it next week):

“I’m a fan of the Falafel at Kosher Delight on 46th btw 5th/6th. They have a very nice pickles / coleslaw salad bar to go with it. The schwarma kicks butt too, for a buck they’ll throw falafel balls on that too.”

One of my favorite blogs to read is NYCNosh.  I was so bummed when I got this comment from “Nosher” after a week of posting about Chipotle:

“You just lost another fan of the blog. The free burrito news was great the first time, but four days in a row is overkill. Good luck.”

Thankfully Nosher forgave me, and I’m pretty sure reads the blog again.  The other day I got this one from “coolice” in reference to my post about Good Burger:

“I wonder if they have fried squid burger? That would be so delicious!!!!”

I don’t even know what that means… but if they did have it I would probably order it.  Another one of my favorites was this one from “Cynthia” in response to my post about Yips, a Chinese place on 52nd:

“If you want good chinese food, hit to Chinatown instead.  They have real authentic food in chinatown which they do not substitute MSG in it.  Seafood is a great way to go as well.”

To paraphrase the readers’ comments that followed – “Thank you Captain Obvious!”.  Every tuesday I post a profile of a Midtown Lunch’er… I knew it was only a matter of time before we started getting comments like this one from James (after the jump):

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Make no mistake about it, meals on the day before Thanksgiving are very important.  There’s alot of eating to be done tomorrow- but don’t make the enormous error of starving yourself the day before in anticipation of Turkey, stuffing and all the fixins.  Starving yourself will result in a shrunken stomach, that won’t be able to take the onslaught that is surely to happen tomorrow afternoon.  The best thing you can do is stuff yourself today… stretch that stomach out as far as it will go, and tomorrow you will wake up ready to win the game!

I had a few ideas for lunch today.  The first one is obvious.  If you are geting a half day, wait until you get off and go somewhere else for a *good* lunch.  Midtown sucks.  Failing that, I think an all you can eat buffet is the perfect pre-thanksgiving day lunch.  Stuff your face, stretch that stomach out and prepare your body for the big feast tomorrow.  Here’s some of the cheap buffets in Midtown that you can “train” at:

• Rangole, 46th btw. 5+6th, Cheap Indian
• Arang, 32nd btw. 5+B’way, Korean & Sushi
• Todai, 32nd btw. Mad+5th, Japanese
• Al Baraka, 55th btw. 3+Lex, Turkish

If you need motivation, picture how disappointed your Mom will be tomorrow when you don’t have room for seconds.  Prepare yourself properly.  Godspeed.

For Midtown Links you definitely want to know about, plus a sneak peak at next week’s lunch spots- after the jump.

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As much as I’m embarrassed to admit it, I used to be a Grateful Dead fan in High School.  This may not be that funny to you (since you only know me as a fat guy who likes to stuff his face at lunch time), but most people who know me would be pretty surprised to hear that.  What nobody would be surprised to hear is my favorite part of going to a Dead show was these gigantor fatty egg rolls that would be sold outside beforehand.  They were huge, and stuffed fat, usually with shredded carrots and cabbage and they would give you a little packet of duck sauce so you could walk around squirting little bits into the egg roll before you took a bite.  For $3 it was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten, and I’ve never seen them anywhere since.  Man I miss those things.  (Where have you gone strange Grateful Dead following hippie giant egg roll makers????)

Anyway, you can imagine my excitement when I walked by Aron’s Kosher Restaurant on 48th btw. 5+6th the other day and saw this outside their door:

Sure, they weren’t gigantic, and the guy selling them was some Jewish kid who was probably not a hippie.  But they had the little packets of duck sauce, and for only $1- I had to get one.

The inside of the egg roll, links to Midtown stuff you definitely want to know about and the a preview of next week’s reviews- after the jump…

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Every dreamed of ditching your crappy Midtown desk job, and slinging sausages on a New York City street corner?  (I have very strange dreams…)  Well now is your big chance… there is a prime Midtown Cart opening at the award winning Hallo Berlin Sausage Cart.

Getting hired to work at the Hallo Berlin Cart would be like getting a golden ticket into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.  All those hidden compartments filled with various German treasures.  How does it all work?  I need to know!!! 

I’m not sure what kind of qualifications you need, the pay, or what kind of benefit package is included with the job- but if we’re talking free Weisswurst, I might need to consider a career change.  Interested?  Call Rolf at 212-947-9008.

After the jump… midtown links about things you definitely want to know about.  PLUS a sneak peak into where I’ll be stuffing my face next week.

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I know it’s not really Midtown Lunch, but I promised news about Kyotofu when it opened, so here it is… the Kyotofu website says the Grand Opening is on November 6th- but the Hell’s Kitchen Japanese Dessert place has been open every night this week starting at 6:30 PM.  Everything I read made it sound like a bakery AND dessert bar (like a Japanese Amy’s Bread)… but at first glance it appears to be a pretty upscale dessert bar- with no sign of a “bakery” or anything you could take to go.  Here’s the menu for those interested in a little after work Sake & Dessert (click here for a larger image):

There’s also a little controversy as to whether this place even exists in Japan.  There is no sign of a Japanese website, and some questions were raised by the comments on my last post.  Very interesting…. hopefully the “grand opening” on November 6th will include some cheaper things you can actually take to go.

Directly across town, the Midtown branch of Korean Japanese BBQ chain Gyu-Kaku has opened for lunch on 50th and 3rd Ave.  It’s a little pricey to be one of my Midtown Lunches, but if you are looking for one of those grille your own meat places and don’t want to venture below the 40s you can check this one out.  Here’s a link to their lunch menu.  (As much as I liked Gyu-Kaku the one time I went to it in L.A., I think I’ll probably just stick with the Korean BBQ places in Koreatown.)

More Midtown Lunch news, and Midtown Links you definitely want to know about (including one about Chef Ming Tsai being at Rock Center today) all after the jump…

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I thought the Tuck Shop had fallen prey to some teenage prank when I spotted their sign walking home from work the other day:

But they must have done it on purpose- because it was still there a few days later.  I don’t know if this is some sort of an Aussie joke, or they just did it for the attention… but apparently worked- because here I am posting about it  (they do make delicious pies… if you haven’t had them, you should check it out.  Damnit!  I just plugged them… stupid Aussies and their clever marketing ploys.)

I also saw this on 45th street btw. 5+6th the other day:

I thought it was pointing out a restaurant with rats… but I think it’s just some union thing, because the rat was pointing at a construction site.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if the NYC Health Department just put gigantic blow up rats in front of restaurants with failed inspections (rather then those stupid yellow notices).  Speaking of those notices… we read on Eater last night that the eagerly anticipated Sushi of Gary 46 (on 46th btw. 8th & 9th) must have failed it’s final inspection and has delayed it’s opening by a day.  Don’t everyone rush over there all at once tonight…

More links to Midtown stuff you definitely want to know about… including 117 stories about the ladies of the Hawaiian Tropic Zone, all after the jump:

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Sometimes on Fridays I like to recommend a place for lunch outside of Midtown for people looking for a weekend excursion.  The kind of place you wished you worked next to…  (A few weeks ago, it was Otafuku in the East Village).   So many people complain about not being able to find good Mexican food in New York City, and while Pampano Taqueria is ok, it’s far from being a foodie destination.  My new mecca for Central & South American food in NYC is the Ballfields in Red Hook… a line of stands circling a soccer field, serving amazing, freshly made food from Mexico, El Salvador, Columbia, and Ecuador (just to name a few of the countries represented.)  Originally set up just to feed hungry ball players, it has now become a genuine food destination for huaraches (pictured below), ceviche, pupusas, tacos, tamales, empenadas, roasted corn (drenched in butter, cheese and red chili pepper), and so much more. 

I mention it, because according to one of the vendors, this weekend is the last weekend before most of the stalls pack up for the winter… a few will remain, but this is your last chance to get the full on experience. 

More info, and directions to the Ballfields, PLUS Midtown links about stuff you’ll definitely want to know about, and the end of the week wrap up- after the jump…

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It’s not exactly Midtown Lunch, but I couldn’t help myself with this one…  In the September 18 issue of New York Magazine my interest was totally piqued by the recommendation Kyotofu, a new Midtown West located, “Japanese dessert bar designed by the same Japanese architect who did Jewel Bako and Momofuku.  Share the saffron- sake-poached-pear tartlets and yuzu-citrus-tofu cheesecake.” 

A week and a half later, on September 28th, Time Out New York got into the action printing a recommendation of Kyotofu as well… the “Japan pastry chain that has just opened its first New York (and U.S.) location.”  Naturally I was really excited for the prospect of a Japanese bakery opening in Hell’s Kitchen, the western border of Midtown (and the area I live in).   Only one problem… the place hasn’t even opened yet.  Despite being recommended by two magazines in the past month (one of which specifically said it was open), here’s a picture of Kyotofu taken last night:

Don’t these people go to a place before writing about them???  How do they know what the pear tartlet tastes like?  (It is a chain with locations in Kyoto and Tokyo, but what is  more likely?  The writer visited Japan, and ate the recommended dessert- or just decided to trust the PR material announcing the opening of the New York location.)  Anyway, I’m still excited- and Kyotofu is supposed to be opening sometime in October.  Thanks to a tear in the paper in the window, I got a shot of the inside.

The picture of Kyotofu inside, links about Midtown stuff you definitely want to know about, PLUS the end of the week wrap up, after the jump…

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