Midtown Lunch

Bento Sushi is bringing its pre-made sushi rolls to Midtown East next month when it opens a new location on 3rd Ave. (btw. 43rd+44th). Bento Sushi has been covered fairly extensively on this blog ever since it was known as Sushi by Bento Nouveau. We’ve found its udon soup and rice dishes good, but its sushi left us wanting.

I’m most excited to try the udon, but having an option for decent, affordable grab-and-go sushi isn’t bad either. Anyone else looking forward to its opening?

From the outside, My Pie Pizzeria Romana doesn’t look like much. In fact, I’ve hurried by dozens of times without noticing it at all, since it almost blends in with its neighboring shops. But, once I walked into the tiny shop for one of their square slices, I was in love. And that’s something, considering the stiff competition in the pizza department in this city. There are several signs that will tell you they’re serving up homemade Romano-style pizza crust, which has no sugar, and they use flour imported from Italy. I was intrigued.

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Since I’ve been working in Midtown, I’ve walked by Fagiolini (Lex btw. 40th+39th) almost everyday on my way home, and always wondered if it was any good. Certainly, any restaurant that calls itself the “House of Lasagna” had better be able to back it up. Alas, I never stopped in, mostly because its prices are outside the ML limit. At least, they used to be, until I spotted a chalkboard sign advertising an $8.50 express lunch special.

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Remember the days when we used to beg for somebody to open a Thai food cart in Midtown? Well, now we have two! Lunch’er Teresa checked in yesterday to let us know about a new Thai food cart on 52nd and 6th Ave.

Not sure if you’ve seen, but there’s a new thai food cart on the SW corner of 52nd St and 6th Ave – located next to Gobuki (korean cart). I haven’t seen anything about this cart on the internet anywhere so thought you might want to review it. Not sure of the name, but there’s a single guy working in an old halal cart. This cart definitely gives tuktuk boy a run for its money.

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I’d walked past Nirvana (Lex btw. 39th+40th) tons of times on the way to my office, but it never struck me as the type of place that would do take-out, let along the type of place that would have take-out deals for under $10. Then one day I happened upon a menu and discovered that, indeed, Nirvana offers several lunch deals at the ML price level.

As with most other Indian restaurants, the lunches at Nirvana included a choice of meat with a vegetable, rice, naan, and raita. I ordered the lamb curry for $8.95, but they also have seafood ($9.95), chicken curry ($8.95), vegetable curry ($7.95), and tandoori chicken ($7.95). Even better, you get 10% off when you order online.

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I was heartbroken when the Schnitzel & Things storefront (3rd btw. 45th+46th) closed down recently, just days after I shared some of my favorites from their menu with all of you. But while I was sad to see them go, I was looking forward to seeing what would open next. Now we know that in Schnitz’s stead will be… Turkish and Mediterranean cuisine. What does everyone think? Excited for doner kebab and mixed grills, or were you hoping for something different?

As a general rule, the more options a restaurant has, the more likely they are to be mediocre ones. Think about it. Who’s more likely to make a better torta? A Mexican joint that only makes tacos, burritos, and tortas, or a deli that makes tortas plus a plethora of other sandwiches, plus soups, salads, ramen, and who knows what elese? Hint, it’s the Mexican joint.

That’s why you wouldn’t expect a place like Treehaus (3rd Ave. btw. 50+51st), which has a menu that reads like a Russian novel, to do one thing really well. They’re far more likely to do a few things pretty well. Still, when I saw that Treehaus had a small section of its menu dedicated to ‘smashed’ burgers, I had a feeling that might be one area where they excelled. Having eaten a couple, I think I was right.

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If you’ve walked by Daheen Wang Mandoo (32nd St. btw. Broadway + 6th) recently, you’re probably wondering what’s going on. Have they shuttered for good? What we know for sure is that they haven’t been open and there are two signs on the windows with something written in Korean. Well, according to Luncher Sam Kim – who wrote our Guy Fieri live-blog – and his somewhat shaky handle on the Korean language, it appears that Daheen is closing and will reopen with a new concept.

We’ll keep you posted as we find out more.

Considering how often I’ve been to Treehaus (3rd Ave. btw 50th+51st) in recent weeks, it’s hard to believe that inside I missed  Kosofresh, a separate eatery specializing in build-your-own bibimbap-style rice bowls.

Kosofresh follows the basic Chipotle model: you choose either the Koso-Bap (rice bowl, $8.45) or Koso-Green (salad bowl, $7.45), you choose your protein (bulgogi, soy garlic chicken, spicy pork, or tofu), additional toppings typically found in bibimbap, and your sauce.

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