Midtown Lunch

The two Midtown locations of Junior’s have decided to shake up their quietly reliable existences by recently adding cupcakes to the menu (apparently getting you fat off their cheesecake was not enough!) The five different flavors-chocolate/chocolate, chocolate with cream center, red velvet, peanut butter cup, and vanilla/vanilla-in honor of their 60th Anniversary, are all just under $4, and available in the Grand Central Terminal and on 44th btw. B’way+8th. I hit up the Grand Central locale when four of the five were available, decided on the Reese’s Peanut Butter one ($3.95) and found the cake quite enjoyable.  It was fresh and moist, but a bit sweet on the frosting (then again, what brand-name bakery doesn’t add too much sugar?!) For the GCT cupcake loving commuters Junior’s might actually be more worthy of your money than the other cupcake places… although we still don’t quite understand why they’re not doing a cheesecake cupcake!

As much as I love a cheap meal, I haven’t really been able to get behind the 99 cent pizza trend, which is why back in February, it was Brownie who hopped the subway to try the dollar slice at K Food Pizza (on 33rd btw. Mad+5th) even though I work a block away. This pizza joint, located on the site of the old Golden Krust, has been churning out dollar slices ever since and it hasn’t once tempted me to walk in the doors. That is, until I saw the sign advertising a Latin Food Buffet for $5.50!
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Hello, my name is Chris, and I have a problem. I am (forgive me Zach) hopelessly addicted to Subway® sandwiches. Admission of guilt is the first step, and identifying a moral substitute for our shortcomings is the… 6th step? (I could never pay attention in those meetings). This is how I found myself as one of the first customers at the newly opened Submarina. Yes, like Subway, Submarina is a chain – perhaps less evil than the aforementioned sandwich shop, with only 78 national locations (vs. 33,346), an unassuming mission statement, and a suitably proletariat past. But my quest was to kick my $5 foot long habit, and I was lucky enough to pass by Submarina yesterday, which happened to be in the middle of their grand opening.
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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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Earlier this year midtown lunchers celebrated International Waffle Day at Wafels & Dinges with the wearing o’ the yellow in honor of the Belgian flag. Well, today in honor of National Waffle Day the Wafels & Dinges Truck has more ways for you to enjoy free waffles… W & D is inviting any child – or anyone who draws like a child (that’d be me & you, dear reader)– to create pictures of wafels or the Wafels & Dinges truck, which will be then decorated with the artwork. Anyone submitting a picture will receive a free wafel, regardless of their artistic talent. For the non-artists, anyone who buys something from Wafels & Dinges on National Waffle Day will have their name entered into a raffle for wafel-themed prizes.

But wait… there’s more.

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Passed by this on 8th ave and 38th and thought I’d share this with y’all. It’s still in plywood but they finally put up the signage for Roll and Go, and there’s a sign on the window saying they’re hiring sushi chefs… sooooo I’m assuming this is referring to sushi rolls. Is this just going to be just another generic Midtown sushi place? Or could it possibly be something worthwhile? Will it be in the $10 ML price range? Only time will tell.

In my book, nothing can replace my favorite Blarney Stone (3rd btw. 44th+45th), but some of my fellow office drones don’t feel the same way I do. “I’ve seen roaches there,” is a normal excuse to not go, despite having some of the best and cheapest burgers around. Meanwhile, Connolly’s was never on my list of lunch spots simply due to past experiences of subpar food at high prices. So when I was passing the 47th and 3rd Connelly’s location and spotted that they had begun $9 Bar Specials, I was hesitant to try it out… but this is exactly what Midtown Lunch is for.

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If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Meru from the Biriyani Cart (on 46th and 6th) should be incredibly flattered this week! A new cart called “My Biryani” has popped up on 44th and 6th selling “Bombay spicy biryani”, and kati rolls.  We can’t imagine it’s better than the Biriyani Cart, but there could be some spillover action?  (The lines on 46th have gotten pretty long.) Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.  And thanks to Lunch’er “Adam Prato” for the tip and photos.

High end restaurants offering lunch specials that dip into Midtown Lunch range is a common ploy to increase midday business. For me, the appeal of these deals (and what makes them worth technically going over $10 with tax and tip) is that you get something special, something you can’t normally get for that amount. Del Frisco’s legendary, and now defunct, steak tips deal is perhaps the best example. Recently, we got tipped off to a $10 burger at the decidedly un-Midtown Lunch-ish Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse, so I headed over to the (slightly out of bounds) 9th Ave. location btw. 34+35 (the other location is on 56th btw. 5+6th, right near Beacon- who have a $10 burger of their own available from their new “Side Door”).

See if Uncle Jack’s is a worthwhile contributor to this phenomenon after the jump.

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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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