Midtown Lunch

Lunch’er “Chris” is on fire! Yesterday he gave us a rundown of all the decent options at Taste of Summer in Rock Center (today is the last day, btw.) Today he files this pretty amazing report on Ramen Totto, which is now open for lunch. I think it might be time to make this guy official. Please welcome the newest contributor to the fold… Chris H.

Few would consider ramen to be good hot weather food. Even fewer would consider a restaurant located on 52nd btw. 8+9th to be within midtown lunch bounds. However, with Totto Ramen’s recent announcement that they would start serving lunch I felt compelled to schlep (schvitzing all the way) to the outer regions of Midtown to check out Ryuichi “Bobby” Munekata’s latest offering. Was the journey worth it? We noodle over the answer after the jump…

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Variety has always been the greatest strength of Cafe Zaiya, the popular Japanese lunch spot and bakery on 41st (btw. 5th and Madison). On a recent trip, I noticed their offerings have gotten even more varied with the introduction of some new Summer lunch items, including cold noodles. See their new menu and get a look at one of the new dishes after the jump.

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Well before Haru Hana, Izakaya Moku and now Sake Bar Kirakuya started ‘Japanifying’ Koreatown, Arang was offering up a hybrid Japanese/Korean menu. It’s changed a lot since Zach first wrote about its buffet way back in 2006. For a while they closed up the buffet and went lunch-less, but as Zach reported after I wrote about it on my blog, they reopened with full table service and an interesting mix of Korean and Japanese dishes.

Some of my favorite dishes require a slight splurge out of the ML Price range, but there are plenty of great options under $10. Check them out after the jump.

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Newish Koreatown sake bar Kirakuya (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th, 2nd Floor) is now open for lunch and serving special sets. Options under $10 include udon and soba noodle bowls served hot or cold and rice bowls with tempura or unagi. Check out a close up of the menu after the jump…

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It’s been awhile since we’ve mentioned Washoku Cafe, the Japanese quick lunch spot on 37th btw Mad+5th. They’ve actually made some adjustments to their menu recently. In addition to the selection of bento boxes, sushi and rice bowls, they are now serving ramen as well. I’ll definitely be stopping by soon to give it a try. With the weather bouncing from warm and sunny to damp and dreary, it’s just a matter of time before a nice bowl of soup is in order.

If any early adopters have checked out the ramen at Washoku, let us know how it is in the comments.

Ah El Mar: that great big blue that brings us such delicacies as the spicy tuna roll, salmon sashimi and shrimp tempura. Can there be a better piscatorial lunch then a plate of the finest of the sea? Freshly hooked, gutted, sliced and then served raw begging to take a little dunk into a shallow pool of salty soy sauce and nasal watering wasabi. I think not!

ML has always had an ideal vision of what an affordable sushi lunch should cost: 3 rolls for under $10. Any sushi lover out there knows that’s a tough one. Getting 2 rolls tends to be doable in most cheap Japanese eateries, especially if you include those refrigerated cases at delis and markets. However, ML is not about imitation crab and massed produced bento boxes. 2 rolls are for suckahs! Eaters like us need the magic number 3 to satisfy our gastronomic needs. For a while Aoki filled that craving, but their fishy trinity has increased to $11 and they are dead to us hardcore lunchers. Enter Hiroshi (on 3rd Ave btw. 38+39th) and things start to look up for us sushi loving lunchers on the eastside.

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Before we dared to stuff two fried chicken fillets between biscuits and before we knew of Franken pie, there was a time when I got excited over good deals from places I walk by everyday. The other week, I passed East Japanese (on W 55th btw 8th+Bway) which had a banner advertising its awesome $5 Hiru-Bento AKA an “un-ignorable and unforgettable restaurant quality to-go lunch with restaurant price!” I’m a sucker for hype (Momo. What? Where!), but love cheap and satisfying grub even more. (Unintentionally funny translations are just a bonus.) So, of course, I had to find out what’s inside the box…

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I’ve been on the hunt for a quality bulgogi-packed bowl of dolsot (read: sizzling hot) bibimbap in New York since I learned what it was five years ago by eating the Korean rice dish everyday in Australia. (It was cheap/delicious/so hot it hissed/came with bottomless banchan AKA Korean side dishes. I was a student. Cheap, unlimited anything was A+ in my book.) Zach came across a “pretty damn good” non-hot bibimbap at Cafe Amande deli last year, but I’ve been hoping to bump into its “pretty damn good” SIZZLING HOT cousin somewhere in Midtown East (aka outside of Koreatown). For five years, it’s been a fruitless search so imagine my surprise when I noticed a certain $9 lunch special at Gyu-Kaku (on 50th St. btw. 2+3rd) of all places…

More bibimbap after the jump. Read more »

While wandering past Yakitori Totto – one of Zach’s favorite Midtown lunches of all time – in the sun yesterday, I came across this sign in front of East Japanese (W 55th btw 8th & Broadway). The rest of the banner shows a takeaway container filled with what appears to be tempura and veggies AKA an “un-ignorable and unforgettable restaurant quality to-go lunch with restaurant price!” For $5, I’ll be back to order this Hiru-Bento, but has anybody tried it yet?

It seems pretty likely that all of the new places that make up the recent Japanese “invasion” of Koreatown are owned and operated by Koreans rather than Japanese.  Arang hides nothing with its mixed menu of Korean and Japanese foods and Haru Hana’s broad survey of all foods Japanese is a bit unusual. The latest beach head is Izakaya Moku (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th), and it has inspired much consternation among chowhounders and other seekers of authenticity. Here’s the thing: I don’t really care.

I love Japanese food. And until recently, the only option for those of us working near 34th Street was to hop the 6 train. I’ve happily checked out the other places that have popped up in K-Town, and jumped at the chance to try out Izakaya Moku.

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