Midtown Lunch

Grinder’s, heroes, subs, whatever you want to call them, I’m a longtime fan and I can’t seem to think of a single place in midtown where I can find a good one. I’m talking about coils of hot and sweet sausages sitting on a griddle with piles of onions and peppers, served up on a hero roll thick enough to soak up all the resulting grease. Carts selling them seem to pop up all over the city at summer street festivals, but the rest of the time, they seem to hibernate.

Last week, Andrea’s Downtown Lunch post about Dominic’s reminded me that I never did track down a decent Italian Sausage sub after the sad, sad halal cart sandwich last year. My first thought would be a pizza shop, but most of those leave their sandwiches as a second thought, drying out on steam trays for hours along with rubbery calzones and strombolis. I’m told Papa Perrone sells them, but I haven’t made it up that far north to investigate. What do you guys think? If anyone has ideas, chime in in the comments.

When I saw the great deal for Shorty’s last week, I grabbed it immediately. I’ve been a fan of Philadelphia food ever since I started visiting it regularly ten years ago, and Shorty’s is one of the few places in New York that approaches Philly authenticity.  Looking back at all of our old posts about Shorty’s I was surprised to see cheesesteak this and cheesteak that. Sure, I love a good cheesesteak, but in a bar briefly known as Tony Luke’s, it’s not the first thing that comes to my mind. The original Tony Luke’s in South Philly does serve cheesesteaks, but they are best known for what I consider one of finest delicacies Philadelphia has to offer – The roast pork sandwich.

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I’d heard about Montreal smoked meat sandwiches but I didn’t know much about them nor had I ever been in the vicinity of one, much less eaten one. It sounds (and looks) like something I’d enjoy immensely though. Cured and smoked meat, mustard, bread. All things I like. So when we were tipped that Vic’s Bagel Bar (3rd btw. 36+37th) was now carrying meats from Mile End Deli, a Brooklyn establishment known for authentic Montreal smoked meat, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to try this north-of-the-border specialty.
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In honor of National Sandwich Day (who knew?) Serious Eats New York has put up a slideshow of photos and links to their 26 favorite sandwich posts from the past few years. To save you the trouble of clicking through all 26 (seriously though, when are we going to stop with the freakin’ slideshows!), we’ll just tell you there are 2 Midtown Lunch’ish options that made the cut: the halloumi sandwich from Macchiato Espresso Bar, and the roast beef special from Previti.

As far as chains go, I’m not a Pret hater. Yes, their sandwiches tend toward the pricey. But they do use good ingredients and they are always switching up the menu with new items. Case in point this their new “Vietnamese Baguette” which to my way of thinking is their dummy’s way of saying bánh mì.
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Eater put together a map of New York’s “strange sandwiches” yesterday and (naturally) our very own Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5+6th) made the cut. They had so many “bonkers” options to choose from, but went with the Mr. Potato Skin, a special from back in April featuring fried chicken sandwiched inside a baked potato. In other strange sandwich news, Robert Sietsema from the Village Voice hit up City Sandwich, the new Portuguese spot on 9th Ave that Chris got really excited about a few weeks ago. Sietsema’s favorite sandwich? The blood sausage with broccoli rabe. Nice.

I first got word of a new Portuguese inspired café, unassumingly named “City Sandwich” (on 9th Ave btw 45+46th St) via Eater this week. With the temporary incapacitation of Xie Xie, there is again a sore gap in Hells Kitchen for ethnic sandwiches, so ‘Portuguese sandwiches’ required immediate investigation.

There’s a lot to like about the humble honesty of this place – whether it’s the inviting Ikea-esque décor, their quirky mantra of “No Mayonnaise” (they prefer yogurt), or their kaleidoscopic menu of soups, salads, and 20 different sandwiches, each playfully named after a friend or family member of the Chef/Owner. Lest we not judge a book by its cover, underneath this demure appearance is some serious cooking and ambitious food… well worth traveling a bit out of bounds for.

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There have been some heated debates around here about where to find the perfect banh mi in Midtown. After we mentioned Yushi was pushing the Vietnamese sandwich on Wednesdays, they quickly sold out in subsequent weeks. Then there was the epic “Banh-Mi-Palooza” organized by Lunch’er Christine and a gang of other awesome ML readers. So, naturally, we were gonna freak the eff out when we heard that Kolette’s Kitchen (a new place on Lex btw. 55+56th) was offering kosher (!?) banh mi complete with porkless (natch) pate. Banh mi without its signature meat ingredient? See how it did on judgment day…

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During Zach’s neverending search for the best chicken parm sandwich in Midtown, he came across Nino’s (46th btw. 5+6), a good, cheap Italian place that served up one of the better chicken parms he tried. I never had much reason to check the place out, until I walked by one day recently and they were advertising a special chicken sandwich with fresh mozzarella and hot peppers. That seemed worth checking out…
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I don’t know what made me stop in at newly opened restaurant The Shop (5th Avenue at 41st Street) in the swanky boutique hotel, Andaz. It was sure to not be a Midtown Lunch: there aren’t any bargains and obviously its regular clientele are tourists. But, I did check out the lunch menu out of idle curiosity and was shocked to see something I’ve wanted in Midtown for years: Pastrami by Katz’s.

Yes, really. According to someone on staff, the theme of the restaurant is locally produced food and drink. They want to give their guests a bit of a culinary tour of New York, so they stock local pickles and NY State beer and the menu is full of organic this and farm raised that. And when it came to our famed Jewish Delis, they decided to just go get the best in town. I can’t argue with that.

I’m always skeptical when new hands get into old favorites, but being able to get my hands on that luscious pastrami mere blocks from my office would be amazing.

See what I found after the jump.
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