Midtown Lunch

Last week, we covered the re-design, menu revamp and subsequent price increases at the Bapcha cart (formerly known as Bulgogi & Kimchi, on 49th btw. 6+7th), though we neglected to mention the re-design of the adjoining noodle cart extension. Like big brother Bapcha, the noodle cart has received a matching make-over, though the menu and prices emerged relatively unaffected. The most note-worthy difference, however, is the food.

In my inaugural once-over of the noodle cart, I was lukewarm on the quality of the food. Admittedly I hadn’t returned prior to last week, a decision based entirely on one plate of food- a hot mess of merely adequate jjajangmyeon with truly alarming green soba noodles.  And yet, over the past few months, I’ve noticed with increasing frequency the appearance of Bapcha Noodle Cart ramyun on my co-worker’s desks and the unmistakable whiff of jjampong (spicy seafood noodle soup) around the office. After overhearing a trusted foodie (and Korean) co-worker effusively gush over her order of spicy tuna kimbap, I decided it was definitely time for a revisit.

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Since my initial write-up of Totto Ramen, I’ve become somewhat of a regular customer. Customer may be too light of a word – ‘devotee’ is more like it. At the ever so slightly out-of-ML price range, this ever so slightly out-of-bounds restaurant has enraptured me, besting my former #2 ranked ramen shop, Minca in the East Village (Ippudo remains steadfast at #1… for now).

While I was previously constrained to the plain bowl of chicken paitan ramen ($9.25), in keeping with ML cost guidelines, I found true love in the spicy chicken ramen ($10.25), made even more tasty with the added crunch of kikurage mushrooms (+$1), and the opulence of a seasoned hardboiled egg (+$1). Impossibly decadent and deliriously spicy, this nearly perfect bowl of chicken noodle soup is worth the >$10 splurge. They say that perfection has a price, but for $12 and change, I’ll buck the trend of being a lunchtime cheapass and indulge.

Related:
Totto Ramen Is the Closest Thing We’ve Got to the East Village

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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After noticing Chef’s Secret (formerly known as Thai Nam on 45th btw. Lex+3rd) was offering pho bo last week, I went back to try the Vietnamese beef and rice noodle soup to relieve my curiosity. They describe their new offering as “hearty beef broth scented with cloves and anise. Served with thin rice noodle. Choice of beef/chicken/seafood.” All for $9.50! OK, not the best deal in Midtown, but I figured it’s worth a try since they’ve pretty much plastered the NEW pho bo flyers all over their window, their sidewalk sign, and walls inside…

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A few weeks ago Lunch’er “Chris6Sigma” was kind enough to check out the Korean Noodle Soup cart on 49th btw. 6+7th and report back.  This week he has turned his attention to Arirang in Koreatown, and sent in this report:

Being ‘a chicken’ is a multilateral term, but is usually used in negative connotations. e.g. “The French were a bunch of surrender monkey chickens during WWII” or “What are you McFly… a chicken?” Similarly, ‘tasting like chicken’ is a phrase reserved for bland and unimaginative cuts of protein.

At Arirang (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th) the chicken… tastes like chicken. Americans have gotten so used to battering and deep frying their birds, smothering them with sauces, gravy and a heavy hand of spice, we’ve forgotten what chicken actually tastes like. In the process of commoditization and modernization, the once noble fowl has become so bland that it’s an unspoken requirement that a chicken be heavily seasoned or sauced to make it palatable.

However, the chicken soups at Arirang taste cleanly and boldly of chicken. Sheer poultry flavor, savory, fragrant, familiar, and yet exotic for those who grew up eating skinless boneless chicken breasts deep fried or smothered in mushroom gravy or some other Midwestern concoction.

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Back in March, the ML team ate our way through the entire Grand Central’s Oyster Bar Menu. Well, almost the entire menu…the Oyster Bar offers three soups per day and two of those slots are typically taken by their classic New England and Manhattan Clam Chowders. The third slot is the wild card. We tried their excellent Tuscan White Bean Soup and I’ve had their Lobster Gazpacho, but I’ve never had their famous Maryland She-Crab Soup… until now.
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Boi’s Vietnamese restaurant empire, which already has two banh mi offshoots in Midtown East (Boi to Go and Boi Sandwich), will grow by one this week when Boi Noodles opens on 41st 40th btw. 7+8th.  The new location, which is scheduled to open on Thursday in the old Sophie’s Cuban space, will specialize in pho, but they will also sell sandwiches, wraps, salads, rice bowls, and noodle bowls- just like Boi Sandwich on 3rd Ave- plus Vietnamese coffee and bubble tea.  We’re kind of curious how it will compare to Chicken House (on 36th btw. 7+8th), which added banh mi, bun, and a pretty mediocre pho to their menu last year.

Check out the full menu from Boi Noodles, after the jump…

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It’s no secret that Midtown Lunch has traditionally had a bit of an Asian soup bias… aka Zach just didn’t eat non-Asian soups. And while I can respect his assessment that the majority of soups in midtown are overpriced and not terribly filling (I’m looking at you, Hale & Hearty!), I’m a soup fan, and try as I might, I can’t live on ramen alone. Though the dine-in menu at Dervish Turkish (on 47th btw. 6+7th) is pretty much out of the Midtown Lunch price range, they make a mean Red Lentil Soup that’s available for take out and it’s well under $10.
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And here we are, the fourth Friday in Lent. You can do it Catholics, two more to go! We’ve covered some of the fried fish options, but what if you gave up fried things (Brownie!) or have been sick enough that someone (Zach!) told you that if you’ve called in sick to work on Wednesday, you shouldn’t go have burgers off a truck as a sick-day lunch. Well, then it would be Asian vegetable soup time.

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Got this message from Lunch’er “Michael” the other day: “A new cart opened on 53red and Park. Its an “international soup” and “halal” cart that offer 9 soups daily plus a special. 12oz = $4.50, 16oz = 5.50 32oz = 9.50. The guy running it was very nice and generous with the samples.” Turns out the cart is from a newish soup restaurant in College Point Queens called the Herb International Soup Factory. It’s got great reviews on Chow and Chowhound, and like Michael said they’re willing to give you a sample of any of the soups. I tried a taste of the pumpkin soup yesterday, which was really tasty and more of a savory squash soup than the sweet orange goop you’d expect. Super interesting, and a great change of pace from the red signed Hot Soup carts that have come to dominate the Midtown soup scene. It’s parked on the NW corner of 53rd & Park (where the Mexican burrito cart used to be.)