Midtown Lunch

Walked by a couple of shuttered establishments yesterday…

Super cheap Chinese steam table, Rong Bao Fast Food, on 38th btw. 7+8th, was mysteriously closed yesterday.  Not sure if this is permanent, but if it is, it’s no big surprise.  Given the choice between Rong Bao, and the newly renovated Ying Du directly across the street (formerly the 38th St. Restaurant and Bakery), I’d always go to Y.D.

How the DOH is pushing more business to the best sandwich shop in Midtown, after the jump… Read more »

Alright, I will admit, right off the bat that I don’t actually know if Nanking was any good to begin with. I have never been to any of the other locations of this Chinese/Thai/Mughlai hybrid, but one of my co-workers swears by the Jackson Heights one, and convinced me that based on their Chili Chicken alone, the new Midtown outpost of the restaurant, on Broadway btw. 50+51st, was at least worth checking out. Skeptical of any Asian restaurant that combines multiple countries under one roof (has anybody really ever done this successfully???), I can’t say I was gung ho about trying Nanking. In fact I could have easily argued that it clearly wasn’t a Midtown Lunch.

1. It’s a sit down restaurant, and I think a true Midtown Lunch shouldn’t have to be ordered from a waiter. I have, and will be known to make exceptions for some sit down restaurants, but usually when I do, the place either has to be an exceptional value (i.e. all you can eat buffets), or they have to be serving something that you can’t really get anywhere else in Midtown (for under $10 of course).
2. It isn’t that cheap.  At the Jackson Heights Nanking everything on the menu is under $10. Not surprisingly the new location has “Midtown’ified” their menu, with chicken entrees being around $14, and the duck, lamb and seafood entrees eclipsing the $20 mark.  They do offer a $10 lunch special, but it’s not quick, and to top it off there are plenty of other better Chinese & Thai food restaurants in Midtown (take out and sit down) that are cheaper.
3. Did I mention the part about how they serve Chinese and Thai food. *Sigh* (They dropped the Mughlai Indian food that they serve at the Jackson Heights location.)

So maybe it’s not a true Midtown Lunch, but that doesn’t mean there is no reason to eat there… Read more »

A little over a month ago I started a new category of post called “You Decide”.  The thinking was, sometimes I find places where the menu is just too long to try everything, and rather then give an incomplete write up (negative or positive), I would turn it over to you, the Midtown Luncher’s.  First to the chopping block party was Good Portions, an everything but the kitchen sink, Asian take out place on Lexington btw. 39+40th.  I had a pretty mediocre pad thai and order of pork buns, but with all of the great Asian food on their menu I assumed that there had to be something edible.

Well, clearly I was wrong.  After 20+ comments nobody had anything positive to say about Good Portions– and my “You Decide” experiment was a total failure.  My intention was to take one of the recommendations, try the dish, and report back to everyone.  But with nothing to recommend, there was nothing for me to try.  So much for that.  But then something unexpected happened.  Last Tuesday, as part of Jennifer Lee’s profile, I asked lunchers to comment with their favorite Chinese food dishes in Midtown- and this was posted by “Cait”:

Tie between the roast pork lo mein and pork buns at Chinese Noodle House (down the street from Manchenko-tei) and Scallop Wonderland w/brown rice at GoodPortions on Lex between 39th and 40th. The sweetness and crunchiness of the scallions goes perfectly with the soft scallops and the chewy brown rice, and the sauce is to die for.

Now wait a second.  That’s not a “this dish is pretty good”, that’s a “This is my favorite Chinese food dish in Midtown” comment.  So yesterday, I trekked over to Good Portions to eat scallops, for only $7, at a take out place loathed by most of the Midtown Lunch’ing community.  Another example of me sacrificing my body for the good of this site, after the jump… Read more »

1:06 pm, and the waiting area at the front of Szechuan Gourmet (39th btw. 5+6th) is a mob scene.  The wait for a two top: 15-20 minutes.  This is Midtown people?!?!  During lunchtime on a Wednesday?  I think it might be time to move Szechuan Gourmet from “One of the best Chinese food restaurants in Midtown” to “One of the best Chinese food restaurants period”.   Right?

If you haven’t done so yet, tomorrow (Friday) is the last day you can register to win Jennifer Lee’s new book “Fortune Cookie Chronicles”.  To enter, just post your favorite chinese food dish in Midtown as a comment on Jenny’s profile page.  I’ll contact the winners this weekend.  In the meantime, I’ve assembled some Chinese food porn based on some of the answers already submitted…  enjoy! 

Chong Qing Dry & Spicy Chicken from Grand Sichuan (2nd Ave. & 56th St.) Photo by Roboppy

Mapo Tofu from Grand Sichuan.  Photo by Food in Mouth.

Sliced beef with black mushrooms & bamboo shoots from Joe’s Shanghai (56th St. btw. 5+6th). Photo by Yehwan.

The almighty Szechuan Gourmet, plus assorted meats over rice, after the jump… Read more »

This may surprise you, but over the weekend I don’t eat lunch in Midtown. (Why would anybody???) I do however feel the same hunger on Saturdays and Sundays that I feel during the week, and my tastes don’t change either (fat man likey good food). So, I’ve decided to share a few of my weekend lunches that would fit the very high Midtown Lunch’ing standards (namely- cheap, fresh, authentic and delicious!)

If you love Dim Sum, aka Chinese brunch where small plates of dumplings and other steamed and fried goodies are served off of carts that roll around the restaurant, it stands to reason you’ve been to the Manhattan Chinatown.  If you are serious about finding the best Dim Sum in New York, you’ve probably made the trip down the 7 to Flushing in Queens.  And for the most hardcore of fans, there is Sunset Park, the strip of 8th Ave. known to most as “Brooklyn Chinatown”. 

But as I found out this weekend, the best Dim Sum in the city may not be in any of those places.  It might just be three stops past Sunset Park on the N line, at a little place called World Tong.  Formerly home to Joe Ng, who was lured away to the very upscale Chinatown Brasserie in Manhattan, World Tong has been a favorite of hardcore Dim Sum aficionados for awhile, but the train ride (combined with the fact that Joe isn’t there anymore) has kept it mostly under the radar.  Hoping to avoid the Chinese New Year crowds, we headed out this weekend to check out what many have called the Best Dim Sum place in New York City. 

Dumpling porn, after the jump… Read more »

Restaurants or take out places that serve multiple kinds of ethnic cuisine are always a red flag for me.  Why serve mediocre food from four different countries, when you can serve great food from the country you are from?  Asian places are the worst offenders too.  Thai on the menu at Chinese and Japanese restaurants, Vietnamese food at Thai restaurants, Chinese food on the menu at Korean places, and sushi just about everywhere.

But in the end I am forced to relent.  I think it’s a combination of my love of (and addiction to) all Asian foods, plus that little voice in my head that says, ‘maybe just this once, Pad Thai made in the same wok as beef and broccoli will magically come out right’.  (It hasn’t yet.)  It was this addiction that brought me to Good Portions, a fast food Asian place on Lexington btw. 39+40th.

What I got, and why I need your help (the “you decide” part), after the jump… Read more »

Tomorrow is the big day.  It is the One Year Anniversary of Midtown Lunch.  On June 7th, 2006, it all began, and the next day my first restaurant posting went up, about Hing Won on 48th btw. 5+6th.  At the time, Hing Won was my favorite place for Chinese food in Midtown.  Authentic Chinese food on the right, Steam Table “Chinese Food” on the left.  The best of both worlds.  Which means everyone in your office can enjoy it- from the guy who only eats Beef and Broccoli to the more adventurous eater, looking for an authentic Chinatown style lunch. Cheap, authentic, fresh, and delicious.

But more than the good food, Hing Won showed me there was a better way to Midtown Lunch.  While other people I knew were eating crappy Chinese food (Manchu Wok, I’m looking at you), my wife had showed me a place that most people in Midtown would ignore (because of the crappy exterior), if they even noticed it at all.  So with much excitement (I’m so busy looking for new places I don’t usually get to have lunch at some of my favorite old places), I returned to Hing Won- the place that one year ago was worthy of being the very first Midtown Lunch.

What I got, and the obligatory food porn, after the jump… Read more »

There are a lot of reasons to travel.  Some people travel to see sights, experience different cultures, meet new people.  I travel to eat.  To me there’s nothing more exciting than visiting another country and experiencing the food.  Get to a museum and find out it’s closed… eh, no big deal.  Force me to waste a meal on bad food, and you will see one pissed off traveler.  It helps that I’m pretty much willing to eat anything, so the language barrier is not a huge issue.  If it looks like it tastes good, and people are eating it- I’ll eat it too.  Pig intestines in Bali, anything off the street in Thailand…  bring it on.

Last week, I found a place for lunch that made me feel that way, without leaving Midtown.  It’s Chinese, and in the Garment District, and eating there made me feel transported to a different country.  I’m not saying the food was the best, most authentic Chinese food I’ve ever had (far from it).  I’m saying that this place was a dirty hole, packed with people speaking a different language. I had no idea what I was ordering, sat at a cramped table with three people I didn’t know (who also didn’t speak very much English)… and I loved every minute of it. 

Just like most eating in Foreign countries, this place is not for everyone.  The food is hit or miss, the place is real dirty, and you don’t necessarily know exactly what you’re eating.  But the price is right (it’s super cheap),  and if you like meals to be adventures, this is as good as it’s going to get in Midtown.

Pictures, what I ate and the +/- after the jump… Read more »