Midtown Lunch

I’ve been meaning to stop in for after work drinks at Sake Bar Kirakuya ever since I saw the shimmering curtain sign in the window months ago. By the end of the workday, though, my instinct is usually to get as far from the office as possible and I just keep forgetting to try it.

So, I was excited to find a good excuse to check it out during the day now that they are open for lunch. The other day a friend and I stopped in to see what these new Japanese options are all about.

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Your resident shiksa goddess has finally made it to Quick Stop Kosher (aka the kosher waffle truck) the other day. It was hard to track them down; first there wasn’t a Twitter, then they went to serve Mt. Sinai and on a religious fast. But I finally got my chance to have some falafel, and a waffle for lunch- even though it came with quizzical looks from their kosher patrons. For extra Jewish points, they now serve the layer-challenged Moshe’s Falafel (whatever that means. Maybe they buy all the ingredients from Moshe’s?)

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You might have seen part of this story on Eater this morning, but starting tomorrow (Friday, 7/23), the Mia Dona Meatball Cart that Clay tried back in April (on 58th just East of 3rd Ave.), will extend their lunch hours to 3pm.  And in even more exciting news for those who have a sweet tooth… every weekday at 3pm it will be replaced by a cart selling gelato sandwiches.  For $6 you’ll get your choice of pistachio or ricotta gelato drizzled with honey, and sandwiched inside a toasted house baked brioche bun with a dusting of powdered sugar. That’s kind of pricey for an ice cream sandwich, but I’m sure one of the contributors (Blondie and Brownie, I’m looking in your general direction) would be willing to take one for the team and see if it’s worth it.

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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Got this email from Lunch’er Robert this morning about the Joyride Fro Yo Truck (first reported about by Grub Street last month) “Spotted a new truck in midtown – Joyride.  52nd and 6th.  They say it’s their second day of ops.  Fro-yo and coffee.  You can get the fro-yo caffeinated (aka “buzzed”).  I’m trying the caffeinated offering now.  Pinkberry-esque.  Coffee = Stumptown!  V tasty.  Had a double espresso at Zibetto right before so might be altogether too much buzz for me.  Now back at the office and the hands are a little shaky.  Not many people sampling.  I have a feeling they’ll eventually flee this corner (a la Schnitzel Truck) so people should try it out before they move on.”  You can follow them on Twitter here.

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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In yesterday’s hot weather I was craving some soft serve and decided to walk over to the Momofuku Milk Bar inside Ma Peche (on 55th btw. 5+6th) to see if they had changed up their flavors since they opened. They hadn’t, but I did notice a few newish developments. Cake slices are still out but now they are selling cake truffles. And midtown Milk Bar office catering is definitely in.
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I wasn’t immediately excited when I read about the $10 lunch special at the bar of McCormick & Schmick’s. I like cheap lunch specials at a fancy restaurant just as much as the next guy (i’m looking at you burger from Wolfgang’s, but schlepping up to Rockefeller Center didn’t really seem worth it in this heat. Then I saw that a half po’ boy and lobster bisque was among the options – I reconsidered. I love a po’ boy and haven’t had a one since our ML Team excursion to the Grand Central Oyster Bar. Clearly I was past due.

See what ten bucks gets you after the jump.

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In Midtown, we’re used to the sight of fast food joints, generic “design your own salad” bars, and gimmicky interpretations of pizza. But when Hello Pasta (Lex btw. 54+55th) and Nooi (Lex btw. 40+41st), two expansion-hungry fast food pasta chains, opened within walking distance and a week of each other, it caught our attention. As skeptical as we are about fast food pasta, a Midtown Lunch Ultimate Taste Test Pasta Showdown to the death clearly was in order. Who’s pasta is worth its salt? Which sauce to get and which ones should they pour down the drain? Or do we declare a double TKO, and send both of these chains back to where they came from. The answer is after the jump…

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We’re being beat by the heat here in Midtown, so imagine our joy on Friday when Lunch’er Asaf told us about a new ice cream pop cart Lily Lolly which just started parking on 34th and Broadway last week – opposite of Macy’s massive red sign. We stopped by a couple of hours ago to see if the ice offerings were worth the $3.50 price (especially with $1 soft serve available this afternoon.) Happy to report: YES THEY ARE.

Check out Lily Lolly’s ice pop flavors after the jump.

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