Midtown Lunch

Photo courtesy of HungryK9

I’ve been very curious about the French onion soup that recently returned to the menu at Macaron Cafe. I’ve been a huge fan of onion soup since I first had it on my honeymoon in Paris a couple years back. When done right, it’s an amazing bowl of oniony beef broth with chunks of bread inside and topped with a thick layer of gooey, chewy gruyere on top and a bit more tossed in the middle for good measure.

Luncher HungryK9 recently gave it a try and posted about it on her blog. She was sorely disappointed. Apparently, she searched and searched but barely found any cheese to speak of. Now, that’s just not right. Has anyone else tried the soup with more success? Or know of a great French Onion Soup in Midtown?  Let us know in the comments.

The new Sunrise Mart location (41st btw. Madison+5th) is open, and not only is it a Japanese grocery store, it’s also a fully functioning restaurant. Sunrise is a worthy addition to the Japanese Trinity of Cafe Zaiya, Yagura and Mai Cuisine (I guess now it’s a tetrad or a quadrumvirate). Sunrise’s unique combination of a full store and a full restaurant make it one of a kind (in Midtown). Get a look at what they have to offer after the jump.
Read more »

Early today we reported that Food Gallery 32 in Koreatown would be opening in the next few weeks, an event that I have been closely following since back in April. It excited me so much I took some  time from my vacation (greetings from The Philippines, btw) to badger the nice lady at Food Gallery 32 for more information.  It worked! She tells me that they do indeed plan to open before the end of the month and sent along  a quick list of the vendors and some details about what they’ll be selling.

Check it out after the jump!

Read more »

According to the Daily News eight 7-11s in Manhattan are now offering a range of vegan food options. Somehow I doubt this is going to drive the same traffic as the Simpsons transformation 7-11 pulled back in 2007, but I couldn’t help but think of how happy this would have made Apu.  In fact, according to a 7-11 rep they’re actually doing it more for the employees than the customers.

As mentioned in the forums last week, Tri Tip Grill (in the Rockefeller Center Concourse) has recently opened for breakfast, including an egg sandwich featuring their trademark beef. This is great news for people who believe it’s never inappropriate to enjoy some medium-rare red meat. People like me.
Read more »

Burgers made from Pat LaFrieda beef are becoming more and more common in Midtown. It’s long been the calling card of Shake Shack, and recently other burger places like Bill’s Bar & Burger and Schnipper’s have used LaFrieda beef to try to separate themselves from the pack. With so many “burger places” using LaFrieda beef, it wasn’t a total shock when Zagat reported that Bread Factory Cafe (on 8th btw. 55+56th) was now advertising LaFrieda beef, even though Bread Factory is an all purpose, generic Midtown deli (minus the by-the-lb buffet), not a place that specializes in burgers. Clearly this situation warranted further investigation.
Read more »

The Boi restaurants were at one point a God-send for those of us in Midtown East: pretty decent Vietnamese, only slightly overpriced for what it was. Plus, Boi To Go was one of the first places to offer the elusive banh mi in Midtown; granted it wasn’t Chinatown-cheap style banh mi, but we take what we can get here, don’t we? For a while they’ve been going through some changes, beginning with Boi To Go shuttering back in August which wasn’t a huge shock considering that Boi Sandwich is practically identical and one avenue over.  But when we heard yesterday that they had closed Boi Restaurant, their slightly upscale Vietnamese flagship (on 44th btw. 2+3rd), that was kind of surprising.  Even more surprising? The new name. Ladies and gentleman, meet “Foodie”.

Read more »

Over a year has come and gone since we’ve written about the food that Frites n Meats offers to lunchers all over the city. Since then, they’ve shown quite the penchant for generating non-food headlines, whether it be the frequent tussles with other food trucks, their indirect involvement with an increased crackdown on food trucks in Midtown, or even DeBragga-gate of 2009. As interesting as it may be to read and report on restaurant and food truck drama, it’s always been about the food here at ML, and I decided to fight this week’s cold weather with their spicy jazz burger and a cup of chicken noodle soup.

Read more »

The other day when I was walking down 46th street I spotted a small sign in what looked to be a generic halal food cart: “Kati Rolls $2.99, 2 for $5.99” and yet another sign on the same cart for biryani. I did a double take. This cart is literally directly across the street from the two time People’s Choice Vendy award winning Biryani Cart. Naturally, I had to check it out. Read more »