Midtown Lunch

Every Friday our man UltraClay goes south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Last fall, a friend told me about the opening of Brats a casual diner by Chef Daniel Angerer on 23rd Street and 9th Avenue. I don’t really know much about the chef, but the name alone got my attention. Calling itself a sort of Austrian diner, they focus on housemade sausages of all sorts of varieties.

It sounded great but, how often do I find myself in Chelsea for lunch? That is, until my recent visits to the area for Barbecue and Doughnuts, I finally found an excuse to check it out.

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Every Friday our man UltraClay goes south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

I really like crepes. On my honeymoon, my wife and I spent a week in Paris staying upstairs from a crepe joint on a particularly festive nightlife strip. At least once a day, whether for breakfast or a snack at the end of a night of eating and drinking, we’d hit the crepe stand and get those delicious buttery pancakes filled with ham, cheese, eggs, chocolate or some combination thereof. It was amazing and somehow seemed vaguely healthier than the nearby shawarma stand  (which we actually went to whenever we weren’t eating crepes.)

There aren’t nearly enough crepes stands around New York so the first time I saw The Crepes Truck parked on 5th Ave at 23rd Street, I was pretty psyched. Enough so that I almost ordered something up right then even though I had just eaten. My tune changed once I finally did try it. See the whole sad story after the jump.

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Ultraclay’s weekly Flatiron review will be up in a bit… but first, a round up of the news happening just south of the ML boundaries.

It may not feel like spring, but it’s about that time of year when new places start popping up around town, while others call it quits. This week, we’ve got some news from around the Internets about a few newcomers, favorites and hidden gems. Follow the jump for the good, the bad and the fantastic.

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Food truck as promotional gimmick sort of hacks us off, but you can’t go wrong with food from New Orleans. Grub Street reports that HBO is promoting a new season of Tremé today by handing out pralines, king cake, and Hubiq’s pie from a truck. The freebie madness begins at Columbus Circle at 10am, goes down to Bryant Park for 11:30am then makes its way down to Flatiron Lunch bounds with stops at Madison Square Park and Union Square in the late afternoon and evening.

Every Friday our man UltraClay goes south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Afghan food is one of the many underrepresented cuisines of Midtown and Flatiron or around the rest of New York as far as I’ve seen. There are two pretty well known places on 9th Ave. in the 50s (Afghan Kebab House and Ariana Afghan) but that’s a bit of a hike for those of us who work in the southern reaches of Midtown. So, when someone told me about Bamiyan, on 3rd and 26th street, it went straight onto my to do list.

Earlier this week, a friend and I met up for lunch to check it out.

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Every Friday our man UltraClay goes south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Located on an otherwise deserted stretch on 31st Street, Ayza is a wine and chocolate bar that doesn’t immediately come to mind as a place to find a Midtown Lunch. In fact, that point may still be debatable. It’s sort of fancy. I know I walked past it dozens of time without giving it a second thought until I saw that they offer a $9.95 lunch special. Skeptical, I decided to investigate.

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This time of year is always the hardest for me. After months and months of darkness and snow, I can’t help feeling like summer will never make it. Thankfully, there are places that will give us a taste of summer even with months to go before the mercury reaches 75 again.

It’s been a few years now since BBQ burst into New York’s food scene, replacing the sad shadow of a thing that used to pass for BBQ in this city. In Flatiron Lunch bounds in particular, options abound. Blue Smoke, Hill Country, The Hog Pit, two branches of Brother Jimmy’s and Wildwood BBQ are all between 31st Street and 17th Street. And pretty much none of them have more than one or two options under $10. And then there’s RUB.

I was reminded of RUB in my recent (and regular) sojourns to get my doughnut fix. I peeked at the menu on the way one day and realized that half of their sandwiches and a few other items fell under the $10 mark.

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It’s been a little while since we’ve caught our Flatiron Lunch readers up on the news and openings in the area. With spring approaching and announcements of Schnipper’s bringing the burger wars directly to the original Shake Shack, you know we’ve got some interesting things coming soon. See what’s in store after the jump.

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Every Friday our man UltraClay goes south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Most people wouldn’t consider doughnuts to be lunch, but we here at Midtown Lunch understand wanting nothing more than to scarf down a half dozen of the treats from Doughnut Plant in one sitting. Honestly, I can’t stop going there. After a lifetime of the faux-nuts at Dunkin, I was actually angry when I discovered what real doughnuts tasted like. Bob’s Donuts in San Francisco and Randy’s in Los Angeles more or less ruined me for the mass-market variety.

Over the years, I’d heard about Doughnut Plant, but the one time I’d tried it (at an out of town location) it was stale and disappointing, so I gave up on having a good, proper doughnut in New York. Then they opened up a Chelsea location a few weeks ago and I had to give it a try.

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