Midtown Lunch

A mini argument discussion broke out in the comments the other day over who makes the best schnitzel: Jews or Germans. I suppose the two aren’t mutually exclusive, but the premise of the argument was chicken vs. veal/pork.  Sadly I have to go against my people on this one, and agree that wiener schnitzel is clearly the superior schnitzel- although I wouldn’t turn my nose up at some good Israeli style Kosher chicken schnitzel.

So with all this talk of schnitzel, and the Schnitzel Truck still weeks away, I hit up Kosher Deluxe (on 46th btw. 5+6th) on Monday for a little chicken schnitzel in pita action.

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It’s never a shock when a bad restaurant resorts to something crazy to help boost business.  You’ll see name changes, expensive redecorating, crazy specials, and yes, even sushi being added to a Kosher falafel and kebab place.  But Olympic Pita (on 38th btw. 5+6th) was not a bad restaurant!  Home to my favorite falafel in Midtown (you may say the secret ingredient is their fresh baked laffa bread) Olympic Pita shouldn’t have to resort to this nonsense.  And yet there it was, last week their new sign, with their new name (Baraca), promoting their new menu item (sushi?!?)  Oh, and of course there was the gussied up interior.  Why Olympic Pita?  Why?

The name change is not just for show, according to an employee Baraca is no longer owned by the same people who own the original Olympic Pita in Brooklyn (not good.)  Thankfully, the take out area in the front looked like it hadn’t changed- so yesterday I stopped by to survey the situation.

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A new little kosher falafel & sandwich nook has popped up on 37th Street btw. 5+6th.  The owner used to have a small restaurant in Brooklyn, until his customers encouraged him to move to Midtown.  With Olympic Pita (on 38th btw. 5+6th) and Crisp (on 40th btw. B’way+6th) just a few blocks away, and Maoz coming soon to Broadway and 40th, Midtown South is starting to get a little falafel heavy.  But the price is right, and everything is Kosher so who knows?  You can probably never have too much falafel in Midtown.

I couldn’t decide between their baguette sandwiches (pastrami, corned beef, etc.), their schnitzel (fried chicken cutlets) or their falafel. But in the end the falafel won out. (You’ve got to start with the basics.)

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It looks like Moshe’s Falafel (on 45th & 6th) is no longer the only Kosher cart on the block. Kosher Oasis popped up on the SW corner of 44th & 6th a few weeks ago selling falafel, schnitzel (fried chicken cutlets), soups, and kosher hot dogs.  The schnitzel hasn’t been selling well so they plan on taking it off the menu, but maybe if enough people go ask for it (hint hint) he’ll keep it around (what can I say?  I love the idea of schnitzel from a cart!)

The kosher hot dogs have been the most popular item so far, but they are still tweaking the menu.  Any early adopters tried this cart yet?  Feel free to comment below.

This sign hung in the doorway of kosher lunch spot Mr. Broadway (on Broadway btw. 37+38th) would make a lot more sense if it was for today’s date… but I think it’s just a typo. No Halloween night costume party- just a kosher deli that will now be open as soon as Shabbat is over on Saturday nights.

The original Pick-a-Pita (on 38th btw. 7+8th), home of the french fry stuffed schwarma/falafel sandwich, has closed for the holidays (Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur) and will not re-open.  Instead the business will shift to their new location on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th (the former home of House of Pita.)  Originally they said they were going to keep both locations open, but that didn’t make any sense. The sign says they will be opening on October 7th, but the guy inside said it would open after the holidays. Considering that Yom Kippur starts at sundown on October 8th, it would make more sense if they opened on the 10th. I guess we’ll see.

The holidays may also explain why some of your favorite Kosher lunch spots were closed at the beginning of the week.  Most are back open, but expect Kosher Deluxe, Olympic Pita, Moshe’s Falafel and others to be closed on October 9th (and maybe even the 8th) for Yom Kippur.

When Olympic Pita first came to Midtown in February of last year, I was pretty excited.  The Brooklyn location was pretty well known, and has a lot of fans (plus has been mentioned by at least 4 Profiled Midtown Lunch’ers)- but I couldn’t help but be put off by a few things.  First, the back is a sit down restaurant with most items on the menu costing over $10 (a Midtown Lunch no-no).  They had a take out counter in the front, where you could watch them bake beautiful looking fresh laffa bread, but all of those sandwiches (with the exception of the falafel) were over $10.  You could buy a cheaper sandwich on pita, but why would you want to eat something stuffed in pre-packaged pita, while there’s amazing looking laffa staring you in the face.

At the time, Kosher Deluxe’s shawarma on pita was (barely) under $10, so I was of the opinion that I didn’t need Olympic Pita.  Plus if they were going to charge that much for a sandwich, there were cheaper places to get good falafel and shawarma sandwiches, like Pick a Pita on 38th btw. 7+8th (and they’ll even put fries in your sandwich!)  Since then, Kosher Deluxe has raised their prices (a shawarma on laffa sandwich is now over $10) and so I finally caved in and tried the Olympic Pita falafel on laffa ($6.50), the only item on the menu worthy of a Midtown Lunch distinction… and all I can say is- wow.  What the hell took me so long! ?!  Read more »

Occasionally I’ll get questions that I can’t answer alone. When I do, I post them for the Midtown Lunch readers to weigh in. Got your own question? Email it to zach@midtownlunch.com

“Zach,

I’m sure like me, you may already be struggling with Passover. Such a nice holiday, such a non-foodie holiday. Got any suggestions for where to eat well this week?”

-Matt

Uh… yes.  Er… struggling.  Sorry to let you down Matt, but my first night of Passover was spent at Kefi, where I’m pretty sure I consumed bread with every single course of the meal (their pita bread is delicious).  Now before you think I’m a total heathen, I did celebrate the 2nd night of Passover with my family… at a Chinese food restaurant.  It’s shameful, and I’m pretty sure I’m the worst Jew of all time. 

For those who don’t know, Pesach began this weekend (see how I did that, using the Hebrew term in a weak attempt at redemption?), starting an 8 day period where Jews abstain from eating any kind of bread to commemorate their Exodus from Egypt.  The story goes that the people were in such a rush, when God freed them from slavery, that they didn’t allow time for their bread to rise (hence, we don’t eat bread, or anything with yeast in it, or anything that “rises”???).  If you want to stay strictly Kashrut (Kosher for Passover) for lunch this week, you’re in pretty big trouble, because bread is the least of the things you can’t eat.  According to this site, you can’t eat anything with soy, corn, beans of any kind, or rice (which I never understood, but whatever).  And to top it off, most of the Kosher restaurants in Midtown are closed, since it would be too expensive to rid themselves of all of these products for the entire week.  (This includes the Diamond Dairy, Kosher Deluxe, Moshe’s Falafel Cart, and even the 2nd Ave. Deli, which I don’t even think is officially Kosher.)

Kosher-NY has a list of a few Kosher places that are still open this week, including Dougie’s BBQ on 47th btw. 5+6th, in the same building as El Rincon del Sabor.  For those who don’t need to be “crazy” Kosher, non-Kosher Jewish delis, like Sarge’s on the East, and the Cafe Edison on the West, are still open (despite the 2nd Ave. Deli anomaly), and both have matzah brie (fried matzah) and matzah ball soup.  The Edison will also be serving matzah meal pancakes at breakfast and lunchtime all week long.

Anybody got another suggestion for Matt (besides peanut butter and jelly on Matzah)?  Feel free to post in the comments below…