Midtown Lunch

Yesterday we introduced you to our newest contributor, Jeremiah. Today, he introduces us to a decent hot beef sandwich from a generic midtown deli.

In many ways, Green Emporium (on 8th Ave. and 48th St.) is just another dime a dozen, sandwich slinging bodega (except for all the flowers out front). They use the same unimpressive ingredients as their counterparts, but I find the sandwiches to be constructed a little better. What really sets them apart though, is the big board of their sandwich creations. There are over 50 of them, hot and cold, with names that range from the obvious and boring (Tuna Melt) to the confounding and intriguing (Matrix – which is unfortunately just turkey and Swiss on whole wheat). The sandwiches are mostly pretty standard (Reuben, Italian Hero, Cheesesteak), but the sheer number of options makes it a pretty reliable place. In addition, a few of the choices stray enough from the ordinary to command my attention… and one of those is the Chicago.

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Last week I noticed Richmond’s Homemade Italian Ice truck parked on the SE corner of 40th St & 6th Ave. near Bryant Park.  I’ve actually seen them parked randomly at different places throughout the city, and I guess now they’re trying to settle into Midtown? Sadly, when I went by Bryant Park around 12:30pm yesterday the truck was nowhere to be found. The guy in the truck had mentioned last week that they had trouble finding good parking, and it’s no surprise they had trouble parking near Bryant Park (bet you $$ that Mister Softee was involved.)  They have all your standard flavors like lemon, cherry, watermelon, and they also do milkshakes. Hopefully they’ll find a spot in Midtown… after all, more trucks = a good thing, right?  (Crazy batshit insane Misguided City Council members, you don’t need to answer that question.)

Anybody seen this truck pop up elsewhere in Midtown?  Let us know in the comments…

Damn, that looks good!

Miss Softee returned to action this week (not just to live blog the City Counil meeting on Wednesday) but to sell soft serve too!  Today she’s parked on 44th and 6th, and there’s been a bit of drama with the coffee vendor on that corner… so as a way to coexist they’ve decided to offer ice cream coffee floats for $4 for the rest of the day.  We can totally support that, and not just because it’s a delicious looking treat.  It’s also nice to see vendors working together, as opposed to the alternative.  Get out there and show your support…

El Camioncito, the truck that popped up on the radar this spring when it added tacos and later tamales to it’s otherwise typical food cart menu, has returned to Midtown South. After weeks of disappointing many a taco hunter, the truck is back at its just out of bounds location on 31st Street and 7th Avenue. I stopped by yesterday to take a look at what’s new.

The menu’s Latin section has continued to expand, adding a number of tasty-looking options. See what’s on it and one of the new snacks after the jump.

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Today The New York Times shared a few spots around town for shaved ice, and one of them just happens to be in Midtown! Many of you who frequent K-town maybe already know about Koryodang Bakery (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th) for their baked goods (and strawberry shortcake?), but did you know they also serve up a good shaved ice? They offer two kinds, one with fruit and ice cream, another without it (although who would get it without!?) For $6.25 you get a large bowl of shaved ice with ice cream (green tea or red bean), and an assortment of fruits and a couple of mochi bits. It comes together really well and it’s definitely a refreshing summertime option for those of you in lower Midtown who want to forgo froyo.  Thanks New York Times!

Koryodang, 31 West 32nd St (btw. B’way+5th), 212-967-9661

If you were wondering what was going to take over the now shuttered Juan Valdez on 41st and Broadway, we finally have an answer, and it’s more burgers! Thanks to Lunch’er Douglas for sending along this article in the WSJ (gated, requires subscription) which tipped us off to the news… apparently The Counter, a 7 year old Los Angeles based burger chain with locations all over California (and a few other states) is taking over the space. Combine that with the new Shake Shack coming to 8th Ave., 4Food opening on Madison, the new Bill’s Bar and Burger coming to Rock Center, BLT’s Go Burger Truck and planned brick and mortar franchises, plus-according to the same WSJ article- a new Goodburger opening in Columbus Circle, and what we’ve got is a full fledged burger onslaught.

What makes “The Counter” different? It’s a “build your own burger” situation, featuring 4 kinds of burgers in 3 sizes, 4 different buns, 12 different kinds of cheese, 30 toppings, and 21 different sauces (they boast over 300,000 different combinations you could make.) Construction hasn’t started on the location, but they’re hoping to open “Fall of 2010”.

Lamb over rice. Chicken over rice. Combo over rice. All these things are what brought you here to Midtown Lunch. These things gave us Streetmeat Palooza. This year, one of my favorite carts (Little Morocco) came in dead last. Yeah, out of fifteen competitors they’re last? How could that be? The cart with a great hot sauce and serves kofta over rice (which is hard to find in Midtown), is last?! But I knew that Little Morocco was better than that. And I went back this week to the corner of 39th and 7th to check out something on the menu that was always intriguing to me… fish over rice.

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The Trini-Paki Boys cart (on the SE corner of 43rd and 6th) is well known to Midtown Lunch’ers.  It’s mostly famous for their Pakistani version of chicken over rice, topped with Trinidadian pepper sauce- but Zach was pretty excited to discover that they also served biriyani, dahi bala, polourie, samosas, and most importantly doubles.

I discovered doubles in my college days through a Trinidadian ex-girlfriend. It’s been years since we’ve been on speaking terms, but doubles are still a fond memory. So a week or so ago I finally got a chance to check out the Trini Paki Boys cart for myself- and for once skipped the street meat in favor of a double.

After the jump, some doubles porn and a little background on the whole “Trini-Paki” thing.

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You guys know I love my sweets and now that it is officially summer it’s time for an all-out attack on anything sweet and frozen. I got super jealous of you Midtown Westerners with the opening of Grom last month, but it inspired me to search out what Midtown East has in the way of delicious summertime treats…

Best Ice Cream: 5th Avenue Chocolatiere (3rd btn 43rd+44th)

I’ve never picked this chocolate shop to satisfy my cravings, until now. I got the Italian Cookie Ice Cream, and it was crazy good with a melty chocolate ribbon going through it. Bonus points: you also get a free truffle.

Honorable Mention: Cafe Zaiya (41st btn Mad+5th)

One of the few places around where you can get soft serve with an Asian twist, my favorite’s the Black Sesame. They now offer Kinako, made with soybean powder, and little servings of hard ice cream. Your best bet is to let this sucker melt a bit or you’ll be flinging ice cream all over.

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‘Tis the season to eat ice cream and with some sunny and warm weather in the forecast today, might I suggest a slightly out of bound excursion to Holey Cream in Hell’s Kitchen for a donut ice cream sandwich? After all if there’s any day it would be ok to enjoy a doughnut ice cream sandwich for lunch, it’s National Doughnut Day!

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