Midtown Lunch

Let me just admit something off the bat… unlike like many bloggers who consider their opinion worthwhile because they have access to software that transmits their words onto the interwebs, I will admit that there are some things I don’t have a ton of experience with (so maybe my opinion should come with a grain of salt).  And one of those things is Japanese udon soup.  Even though there are many cheap versions all over Midtown (a lot of delis now carry it), it has never really made it into my repertoire of lunches. (Sauteed udon is a different story!)  If I want soup, I usually go with ramen… and when it comes to ramen, two of my three favorite places (Menchanko Tei & Men Kui Tei) were kind of bashed by Rameniac.  So either he’s wrong, or I don’t know shit about ramen either.

So, with that in mind- I headed over to Udon West, the third outpost of the East Village chain which replaced Teriyaki Boy on 46th btw. Lex+3rd a month ago.

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The blog Rameniac has released their list of the best ramen from coast to coast, and 3 of the top 10 ramens in New York City are Midtown Lunches: Sapporo (6), Men Kui Tei (8), and Menchanko-Tei (10). While the site has some nostalgic words of kindness for Sapporo, they are less than enthusiastic about Men Kui Tei and Menchanko-Tei, which, despite being the lowest on the list, was voted best Ramen in the Midtown Lunch Readers’ poll. I guess there is no accounting for taste… [via Serious Eats: New York]

Last September it was reported that the shuttered Teriyaki Boy (on 46th btw. Lex+3rd) would become a Japanese noodle shop, and surprisingly it has happened in the time frame they specified. Udon West has opened in the old Teriyaki Boy space, serving up 13 different bowls of Udon under $10. They also have teriyaki, curry, and combinations (although the combinations are all over $10), and I believe they are the same Udon West with locations in Flushing and on St. Marks in the East Village. It will be interesting to see how this place competes with Menchanko Tei, one block over on 45th btw. Lex+3rd…. but at least while the  weather is still cold I’m guessing there is room for both. Let the soup wars begin! Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.

A shot of the pretty nice interior is after the jump…

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Blondie and Brownie stray from their comfort zone at Woorijip (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th), ordering the ramen with egg and spicy kimchi soup with pork and ham from the Noodle Bar in the back of the shop. But take note: the noodle bar is only opened until 2pm, so make sure you aren’t going for a late lunch.

Related: 2008 Readers’ Poll: Best Korean Food

 

The Outpost has been mentioned a number of times on this blog, most notably in Lunch’er Grace’s Ultimate List of Midtown Soups at the beginning of the year.  Described as “the soup deal of a lifetime… hidden in the MTV/Viacom Building” this place sounded like a proper Midtown Lunch kind of place. With the weather starting to get cold, I decided to check out the Outpost last week;  but when I entered the building on the NW corner of 44th and Broadway, and rode the escalator up, I found a place called the “V Stop”.  They had soups, and as promised by Grace a 12 oz cup cost $1.25, but the place itself looked like just another generic Midtown crap hole… and the soups looked like they were made by some central catering company- not a random old chef with a whimsical love of soup.  I was kind of thrown off by the whole thing and didn’t even bother trying the admittedly cheap $1.25 soup.

Is this what the original Outpost was like? Has anybody been recently?  Are the soups still good?  My gut tells me this place is now a pass…

It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Fashion Soup, a really good take out place on 41st btw. 6th & Broadway featuring tasty soups homemade by its Eastern European owner (who also works in the store during the day.) Seeing as it’s Fashion Week, I thought I’d drop by and see what was going on. In addition to being curious about changes, I was also secretly interested in seeing if business changed considering the influx of fashionable peoples under tents, half an avenue away in Bryant Park.

What I found was a big surprise…  Read more »

On Friday I had lunch plans with my brother, who is hands down the soup aficionado of our family.  I don’t mind soup; he can’t get enough of the stuff.  To decide where we would go for lunch, I sent him a link to Lunch’er Grace’s Ultimate Midtown Soup List, and after careful perusal, he chose Sapporo- so we could try their tantan-men, a Japanese sesame paste broth with pork and scallions.

I hadn’t been to Sapporo (on 49th btw. 6+7th) in awhile so I was happy to oblige. Out of the three Midtown Lunch’ish, sit down ramen places in Midtown (Sapporo, Menchanko Tei and Men Kui Tei) I’d probably rate Sapporo my least favorite, but after this visit, I am starting to really enjoy the charm to the place.  It has a casualness and vibrancy that is missing from the stodgier other two.  And while their ingredients (especially the pork) aren’t as high quality, they do make a mean bowl of soup.

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It’s freakin’ hot as shit outside (can I say that?)  That means Japanese Ramen places are rolling out the cold noodles.  I’m pretty sure Menchanko Tei (55th btw. 5+6th & 45th btw. Lex+3rd) always has Hiyashi Chuka on their menu, but Men Kui Tei (56th btw. 5+6th) and Sapporo (49th btw. 6+7th) only serve it in the summer time.  And I think it’s pretty safe to say… it’s summertime.  (I called to confirm… all three restaurants are serving it.

But the most exciting news is after the jump… Read more »

I am not a huge soup person, but when the weather gets like this it’s tough to resist… so rather then attempt to fake expertise, I asked Midtown Lunch’er Grace, our resident soup expert, to compile a list of her favorite soups in Midtown.  Here’s what she came up with:  

Turkish

• The Creamy Chicken Soup ($4.95) at Akdeniz (46th between 5th and 6th) — Akdeniz is hands down my favorite Turkish place in midtown. I normally go for the Sultan’s Delight (stewed dark meat chicken over smoky eggplant puree) as an entree, but when I just have to have soup, the creamy chicken soup can’t be beat. The silky, milky broth has a butteriness to it that complements the sweetness of long simmered vegetables and goes perfectly with the rich dark meat chicken chunks.

Healthy/Vegan

• The White Bean Escarole Soup (about $3.50 and for a small) at Green Symphony (43rd btw 7+8th) — This place bills itself as a “healthy” food place and many of their soups are vegan for those that flow that way. Most of the soups here are pretty tasty, but I particularly like the white bean escarole on a cold winter day. I probably like it because despite being vegan, it tastes like it has meat in it. The owner tells me that the secret ingredient that gives it that carnivorous richness is miso—never would have guessed that a little soy could make a soup taste like that.

Carts

• The Jamaican Jerk Chicken at the “hot soup” carts (Multiple Locations) — I use to work by one of these carts on 34th and Park, and my take on it was that the soups were a bit too artificially starchy for me so I sort of avoided them. However, I remember the Jamaican jerk chicken being somewhat tasty despite the gunky cornstarch thickener.
• Potato Cabbage Soup at Hallo Berlin (54th and 5th ) —Though German sausages are the star at this cart, my co worker once brought me back a creamy potato cabbage soup from this cart that tasted like a German grandmother slaved away in the kitchen all day to make it. He said it came as part of the “Dictator’s Special,” so he wasn’t allowed to choose from the other soups on the menu. I haven’t tried any of the other soups, but if the potato cabbage is any indicator of the rest of the soup, it’s definitely worth the trek to try the rest.
• Soups at the Jamaican Dutchy (51st between 6th and 7th) — Now I haven’t had a chance to try the soups here yet, but they just sound plain intriguing. A” Goat’s Head” soup? Bring on the weird animal parts!

Chains

• The Harvest Pumpkin Soup (about $4 for a large) at Au Bon Pain (Multiple Locations) — Of all the commercial, mass market soups out there, ABP’s are probably some of the best in terms of consistency and seasoning. This creamy pumpkin creation that starts to be available around October has the perfect amount of spice (the ingredient list includes curry) and sweetness with a silky consistency.
• The Macaroni and Cheese with Beef Soup and Mulligatawny Soup ($4.39 Small/ $ 6.19 Medium/ $ 7.19 Large) at Hale & Hearty (Multiple Locations)— I’m not generally a huge fan of Hale & Hearty because many of the soups taste gummy and I think they are overpriced, but I do really like these two soups—to the point where I have Hale & Hearty send me email alerts when they are available. I’m not sure it’s fair to call the Macaroni and Cheese with Beef a Soup because it is so thick that it is almost the consistency of a casserole, but whatever it is, I can never resist the meaty, cheesy goodness of this comfort food classic turned soup. I love the bold curry flavor of the Mulligatawny soup reminds me of a number of Indian dishes, but has a sweetness that is almost like a Japanese curry you might get at place like Go-Go Curry. 

The longest list of Asian soups you’ve ever seen… after the jump Read more »