Midtown Lunch

My love of Chinese buffets is pretty well documented, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a non-Asian buffet from time to time. In fact, you could say my buffet chops were sharpened over many trips to the now closed Sizzler on 104th Street and Dixie Highway in Miami (circa 1988). It’s my earliest memory of crafting a strategy for attacking a buffet, and also the genesis of my buffet onion ring obsession (aka I always eat at least one onion ring from every buffet, even if it’s Asian.)

So on Tuesday, when I stumbled across Greenhouse 36 (in the Wyndham Times Square Hotel on 36th btw. 8+9th), I was naturally intrigued. Situated in a hotel, Greenhouse 36 seems like any other crappy-hotel-lunch-spot-in-a-garden, except for one thing. From now through the end of the year (it expires on December 29th, 2009), they’re offering a lunch buffet for $9.50.

How could I not?

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I love all you can eat buffets… and within that vast and wonderful realm the Chinese buffet is probably my favorite.  I don’t discriminate against any buffet, but sushi buffets tend to be too expensive, Mexican buffets don’t seem to stand up well to the steam table treatment, and Latin buffets are fine- but rice and beans and plantains always kill me in that equation!  Indian buffets are plentiful in Midtown, and I’m all about a good Indian buffet… but Chinese is my all time favorite.  Sadly Manhattan is practically devoid of Chinese buffets.  And in Midtown, there is only one option.  The “Midtown Buffet” on 7th Ave. btw. 40+41st.

It’s only $8 (and actually used to be cheaper) and I used it as the backdrop for the Midtown Lunch Guide to Beating the All You Can Eat Buffet a few years ago.  But it didn’t really get a full +/-, so yesterday on the holiest of holy Jewish days I hit up the Midtown Buffet for a little Yom Kippur lunch action.

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Knowing how much I love the all-you-can-eat buffet, Serious Eats grand poobah Ed Levine IM’d pretty soon after he and the SENY crew discovered El Ranchito del Agave- the brand new Mexican restaurant on 9th Ave. btw. 36+37th that features a lunch buffet.  He knew I’d be excited (I’m very serious about my all you can eat buffets), but cautioned that he might have finally found an all you can eat buffet that even I couldn’t get behind 100%.  Ed found the taquitos to be dry, and the mole too sweet- but the rest of the crew seemed to like it enough in their review… and it’s only $8!  How could it be bad!? (After all you are talking to a guy who has willingly eaten at an all you can eat Chinese buffet in the back woods of Tennessee.)

What I’m trying to say is my standards for all you can eat buffets are far lower than Ed’s, so I rushed out 9th to check this one out.

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The ML Guide to Beating the All You Can Eat Buffet shouldn’t need an entry telling you not to eat on your way to the buffet (it’s just common sense), but there is a part of me that has a tremendous amount of respect for a guy who stops at Woorijip and Mandoo Bar on the way to the Ichi Umi sushi buffet (fmr. Todai.)  [Tasty Chomps]

Remember when Kati Roll was the only place in midtown that served kati rolls.  When they moved from 46th street to 39th street, the Biryani Cart jumped in and served their own version of the Indian burrito.  (And we all know how that turned out.)  They were followed by Indus Express’ naan wraps (on 48th btw. 5+6th), the standard kati rolls from Grill 44 on the East side, and even Spice Fusion (which is known for their all you can eat buffet) jumped on the bandwagon.

Now Touch of India (on 37th btw. 7+8th) becomes the latest to join the fray. I didn’t love their all you can eat buffet when I tried it last August, but for $9 it’s good enough.  And there’s no reason a mediocre buffet would stop me from trying their “kathi rolls”.

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There are two kinds of lunchers in Midtown.  Those who will travel (us), and those who won’t (the people who eat at Cafe Metro.)  And within the group of people I like to refer to as Midtown Lunch’ers (those who travel) there are two sub sets of people:  those who are just looking for good lunch at a decent price, and those who treat every lunch as some sort of adventure.  Adventure lunchers are the ones who flocked to the 38th St Restaurant and Bakery (now Ying Du) after I wrote this post. Adventure lunchers are the ones who used Street Meat Palooza as a personal checklist (stomachs be damned!)  Adventure lunchers are the ones who would choose grossing out their co-workers over their own personal well being.  And yes, some of them will even eat the Walgreens Sandwich. (Although there are a lot of people who will eat a gross cold cuts sandwich from Walgreens, but wouldn’t eat at Ying Du… and those people are lame.)

It was with that attitude that I ventured into Kashmir Buffet on Tuesday, determined to finally try what is now the cheapest all you can eat buffet in Midtown.

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When the Indian buffet Apna Taj took over the former East Ocean space back in March (on 55th btw. Lex+3rd) I noted that for just 45 cents less (they charge $10.50) they probably weren’t going to siphon off any business from the popular Indian buffet next door, Darbar Grill (which is $10.95).  Clearly they got the message, because they just lowered the price of their all you can buffet to $9.50. As anybody who reads this site regularly knows, I find something very appealing about all you can eat buffets that come in below that $10 threshold (they are dwindling by the day, so to see one drop the price is very exciting.)  Now, I will definitely be trying Apna Taj very soon.

Last month I went to 55th st. looking for some Indian buffet action and Darbar Grill was the obvious choice. Always pretty crowded, a ton of options, 3 (!!!) dessert choices, and of course- the infamous make your own dosa station. Photos of that meal, are after the jump…

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The space that used to be occupied by the cheap Chinese food place East Ocean (on 55th btw. Lex+3rd) has finally been filled by Apna Taj, an all-you-can-eat Indian buffet. I’m willing to go up to $11 for an all you can eat buffet, so this one (for $10.50) just makes it under the cap. It’s kind of ballsy to open up another Indian buffet 2 doors down from the upscale Darbar Grill (which is only 45 cents more expensive), and a ML reader has already sent me an email crying out for a head-to-head.

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There was a time when the $9 Indian buffet was the norm in Midtown (remember Rangole?).  Those times have long gone, but it looks like the economy may be reversing the trend. Kashmir Buffet (on 8th Ave. btw 39+40th), which closed a few months ago to become the “Cave Lounge”, has reopened for lunch only.  The all you can eat Pakistani/Indian buffet is $8.99, and just before Noon yesterday looked tasty and fresh (unlike the upstairs, pay-by-the-pound Kashmir Express, which always looks like it’s been sitting out for hours).  They had at least three or four choices of meat, plus some interesting looking sweets (that are usually featured in the upstairs window) plus bread is included. I think originally the buffet may have been $8, but whatever. Considering that most buffets in Midtown are $10 and above, I’m all for it! Welcome back…

Photo of the inside is after the jump.

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If there is one thing that Midtown is not lacking in, it’s the all you can eat Indian buffet- and while we don’t really have any buffets that are under $10 anymore, there are still enough $11 buffets to make the $15+ buffets not worth it (as far as I’m concerned).  So, I never paid much attention to Diwan, the upscale Indian restaurant owned by the same people who own Jackson Diner in Queens- which apparently closed last September (Diwan, not the Jackson Diner- obviously).  I am interested, however, in this bit of news:  Diwan’s manager of 15 years, has gone on to open his own Indian Restaurant on 52nd btw. Lex+3rd called Bombay Bistro… and their lunchtime buffet is $10.95.  So, with the buffet team in tow, I headed over to this newly opened buffet to take it for a test drive.

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