Midtown Lunch

Whether or not you think the Garment District is an amazing area for lunch or not can probably be determined by a single factor:  whether or not you love “strange” Chinese food.  And by strange, of course I mean real Chinese food- made for actual Chinese people who work in high 30s on the West side of Midtown.  At these places the General Tso’s, Beef and Broccoli, and egg rolls have been replaced by fried pork chops, various types of offal, salt and pepper shrimp with their heads still on, and at least 3 or 4 vegetable options (no American broccoli though.)  My favorite of these places is Ying Du (on 37th btw. 7+8th), but there is also Fuji Bakery (on 35th btw. 7+8th), and the Lunch Box Buffet (on 34th btw. 7+8th) which is the least strange of the three and features the most excellent Fay Da Bakery.

On Friday, I noticed a sign in the window of Sushi Osaka (on 8th Ave. btw. 36+37th) touting a new “Lunch Special” featuring 3 Chinese items over rice for $5.  Apparently another one of these “strange” Chinese spots has now opened in the back of this sushi restaurant.

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It’s been exactly a month since Mantao Chinese Sandwiches opened up on 53rd btw. 2+3rd.  I never got a chance to go to Province Chinese Canteen, its original Tribeca incarnation, but I had always heard good enough things that their move to Midtown got me pretty excited.  Plus, I like Chinese food… and I like sandwiches.  What could possibly be bad about this place?

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I’ve always been a huge fan of the roast pork over rice at Hing Won (on 48th btw. 5+6th.) Beautiful strips of Chinatown style red roast pork, laid over rice and bok choy, and topped with their sweet soy sauce, it’s probably one of the most popular dishes served from the right hand side of the counter. (Hing Won has two sides, the left is a steam table of Americanized Chinese food, the right, a bilingual menu of Chinatown style specialities that are made to order.)

But last Friday I noticed a new sign hanging on their already jam packed wall of signs.  I don’t know what it said in Chinese, but the English surely got my attention:  “Roast Pig over Rice”.  Wha!?!  Isn’t it funny how changing one word from pork to pig can have such a big impact.  Some would probably consider pork and pig the same thing, but those familiar with pork in all its forms know the subtle menu nuances.  Deep down in my heart (which is already dangerously clogged with pork fat, I’m sure) I innately knew this was something completely different than the standard roast pork over rice. (And I was hoping it would involve something crispy.)

Despite my hopes and dreams for the dish, I didn’t actually know what the distinction between pork and pig was going to be, but there was only one way to find out.

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As much as I love Asian food of all kinds, there is one thing I can’t stand.  The Asian Combo Restaurant.  You know what I’m talking about.  The Chinese food restaurant that serves sushi, or the Vietnamese food place that serves pad thai.  I’m not talking about fusion cuisine, which is an entity all itself.  I’m talking about the restaurant that decides they are going to serve something for everybody- and inevitably ends up doing it none of it well.

So when Asian Station opened on 52nd btw. Lex+3rd, I was naturally skeptical.  In fact, I had written the place off knowing that it was probably too expensive for Midtown Lunch purposes. But once Lunch’er Joe forwarded along the all under $10 menu, I knew I’d have to check it out.  My cheap Asian food loving stomach won out over my combo restaurant hating brain.  And boy am I glad it did.

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Just when you thought the whole banh mi craze couldn’t get any crazier, Hing Won (on 48th btw. 5+6th) has added banh mi to their menu.  Yes, my favorite fast food Chinese place, known for their Chinatown style meats, soups, and noodle dishes is now serving Vietnamese sandwiches.  W…T…F?  My gut instinct is to laugh this one off and- in what should be a surprise to no one- it’s not a completely “authentic” banh mi, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good.

Check out what they’re serving, after the jump…

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After Wednesdays false alarm, I excitedly hit up the new location of Szechuan Gourmet (on 56th btw. B’way+8th) yesterday right at noon, only to find out they were still waiting for the city to give them the green light to open (it came about an hour later.) But they were willing to do take out orders- so I did what had to be done: double cooked pork belly with chili leeks, to go, with white rice and hot and sour soup. The version served at the flagship, two starred NYT, restaurant (on 39th btw. 5+6th) is quite possibly my favorite Chinese food dish in the city. But the question remained, would the version at this new location stand up.

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Huge Chinese food news in the old Inbox last night courtesy of Lunch’er “Robert” (who appears to have taken this photo from his office across the street.) Szechuan Gourmet, the only place ever written about on this site to receive 2 stars from the New York Times (and my personal favorite spot for beef tendon, and twice cooked pork belly with chili leeks), is opening a second location on 56th btw. B’way+8th. The menu will have all the old favorites from the location on 39th btw. 5+6th, plus some new stuff (according to the employee I spoke to.) They hope to open this Tuesday- but you know how those things go, so you’ll want to check back here before heading over.

This is fantastic news for Midtown north Chinese food fans, who right now have to go to… I don’t know… Yips (?) for their closest Chinese food fix. Where the hell do you go for good Chinese food in Midtown north? Starting next week, the answer to that question will be Szechuan Gourmet!

Related:
Szechuan Gourmet: Day 1 as a NYT 2 Starred Restaurant

I have to give Danny from Food in Mouth full and complete credit for this one. On Friday he posted about the newest truck to hit the mobile food scene here in New York City: NYC Cravings. Terrible name… but the food sounded intriguing.  At the end of his post he begged them to come to Midtown for lunch, and yesterday they obliged- parking on 45th btw. 6+7th. Huge crowds turned out for their Taiwanese style fried chicken, served over rice with “a secret pork sauce” and by 1:15 they were out of food.

I was lucky enough to be there on the early side, and got to try what could be my new favorite truck in New York City.

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I’ll admit I completely dismissed Asian Station, the new semi-chic looking Asian restaurant that opened over a month ago next to Bombay Bistro on 52nd btw. 3rd+Lex. Aside from it being a little too cool for school, they didn’t have a menu in the window- and from the looks of it, there was no way it was going to be cheap enough for Midtown Lunch’ing purposes. I do love Asian food though, so I was excited to hear yesterday that their lunch specials are actually well under $10! That’s the good news. The bad news is, they serve Japanese, Chinese, AND Thai food.

Lunch’er Joe was kind enough to transcribe the menu for us. It’s after the jump…

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I was really really into Lunch’er Jamie’s profile last Tuesday… but probably for different reasons than some of you. My interest was particularly piqued by the mention of her choice for “best Midtown Lunch” around: the special noodles with brown sauce at Hyo Dong Gak on 35th btw. 5+6th.

I’m a big fan of the craziness known as Korean/Chinese food, mostly for the jjajangmyeon (or “noodles with brown sauce” as it is called in English.) While usually a restaurant that serves multiple kinds of Asian foods under one roof is a big red flag, Korean Chinese food is a different animal.  It’s a hybrid cuisine with certain dishes you can only find at Korean Chinese food restaurants (like jjajangmyeon.) Most people consider Shanghai Mong (on 32nd btw. 5th+B’way) the go-to Korean Chinese food place in Koreatown. But with this kind of endorsement from Jamie, I knew I had to check out Hyo Dong Gak.

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