Midtown Lunch

All that talk about dumplings yesterday has put me in the mood for… well… dumplings. A quick look in the comments proves that there are no truly spectacular dumplings in Midtown. No one place here stands out as the best. (For that you have to head to Chinatown or to the outer bouroughs.) But there are some decent options, like the gyoza at one of the Japanese ramen spots (like Men Kui Tei, or Sapporo), wontons in chili oil from Szechuan Gourmet or Wu Liang Ye, or the new dim sum bar at Yushi. And of course there is the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck, which has its fans (to go along with some very vocal detractors.)

For Korean dumplings (or mandoo) there is the well known “Mandoo Bar” on 32nd btw. B’way+5th . But the other day I read something in the forums about a new mandoo bar in Cafe Charlie, an otherwise generic Midtown deli on 41st btw. Mad+5th. Clearly an investigation was in order.

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So it looks like Eliana, the $1 hot dog lady on the NW corner of 43rd and 6th, has survived the onslaught. You might remember that she was part of the crew of carts that got kicked out of that spot by the cops awhile back for parking on a sidewalk that was supposedly too narrow to be a legal vending spot for carts. She even had her cart confiscated, despite the fact that later measurements clearly showed that the sidewalk was the proper width. The other two carts (which included the 3rd El Rey del Sabor cart) decided to cut their losses and set up on the NE corner of 43rd and 6th. Eliana tried that for a bit but, after working the opposite corner for many years without issue, she was eager to return. Thankfully the Street Vendor Project (which hosts the Vendy Awards every year) stepped in and not only helped her get her cart back but also helped deflect any other obstacles to her returning to her original corner.

It looks like she’s there for good again (on the NW corner of 43rd and 6th), and last week I decided to swing by and actually try one of these $1 hot dogs.

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I’d like to pretend that I’ve mastered the art of taking advantage of free food deals.  You know… get in, grab free stuff, get out unscathed.  But sometimes they do work on me.  On Friday, I stopped by Kyotofu to grab their free bag of mini muffins, and ended up buying a pumpkin/chocolate soft serve.  And a week before that I stopped by the Street Sweets Truck for a free mini pumpkin whoopie pie, and ended up with a full sized pumpkin whoopie pie and their latest creation… the macarella.  What can I say, I couldn’t resist.

What the hell is a macarella?

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When Culture Espresso Bar opened on 38th and 6th back in July it was notable for coffee drinkers because they served Intelligentsia.  But it turns out it’s notable for us eaters as well.  Not only do they serve coffee and a small selection of pastries, but they also have sandwiches.  And while I’m normally not super into pre-made, fancy coffee shop sandwiches, these have a trump card that will always get me: they’re all made on bread from Sullivan St. Bakery.  Oh, and they happen to be pretty tasty too.

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So I finally got a chance to swing by Bombay Eats yesterday, the Indian restaurant on 52nd btw. 8+9th that serves New York style pizza with toppings like chicken tikka and saag paneer.  The first time I visited, they weren’t selling the Indian pizza by the slice so I had to ask them to take a piece of cheese pizza and top it with saag paneer from their buffet (which is $10.95 all you can eat at lunchtime, but doesn’t include pizza.)  Of course after Midtown Lunch’ers descended on the restaurant in full force, they decided to finally offer the Indian pizza by the slice.

I stopped by yesterday to check it out.

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Once a month the website Foodbuzz showcases 24 meals, by 24 bloggers, in the same 24 hour period around the globe. This month they chose Midtown Lunch to be one of the showcased blogs, and graciously agreed to fund a Street Meat Walking Tour of Midtown for 5 lucky Midtown Lunch readers and their guests. A contest was held, names were drawn (randomly), and on Saturday at Noon I lead 10 winners on a guided tour of the best street meat Midtown has to offer. We ate, met the vendors, ate some more, and compared. Here’s a little recap of the tour…

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Earlier this week I reported that the generic deli named Cafe Du Monde was forced to change their name to Cafe Amande.  But the far more exciting news about the place came via email from Lunch’er Amanda:

Did you know Cafe Du Monde Cafe Amande on 37th between 5th and 6th has Korean food in the back? Bibimbap to rival that of Koreatown. Comes with miso soup and extra chili sauce (make sure you ask if they don’t give it to you because they almost always do). No sides but I usually just take some kimchee from the pay per pound buffet (it’s homemade by one of the cashier ladies!)

Korean food from a generic deli? Homemade kimchee? I’m in.

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I was planning on eating at the newly opened Lan Sheng yesterday (on 39th btw. B’way+6th), but found myself drawn instead into Madeline’s- the very good catering company/lunch spot on the same block that I wrote about last April.  I won’t lie, a specials sign touting a steak sandwich probably wouldn’t have registered a reaction;  but a “Korean BBQ Steak Sandwich” and I’m in. (What can I say, it’s not just Asian soups I’m addicted to.  It’s Asian everything.)

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After I proclaimed Aura Thai’s duck soup one of the best in Midtown last week, Lunch’er MikeNYC pointed something out in the comments that is hard for me to deny:

It’s strange: If one were to go by this site alone, one would think soup is pretty much an asian food. Try clicking on that food type “soup” link above. The resulting stories skew about 80% or more to asian soups. (I made up that ratio, but it’s a high number) That is not even close to the asian/non-asian ratio of soup sales or consumption, based solely on casual observation in places I go. Which is my long winded way of bitching about the lack of non-asian soup coverage on ML. BTW, anyone got a good chicken pot pie soup near rock center? Bistro does a good one, but not every day. Also, burning question: Pot pie soup – bits o’crust, or no? Maybe I should take it to the forum….

You are so right.  I’m completely prejudiced again non-Asian soups, and it’s not right.  Although, in my defense, a bowl of ramen or udon seems more like a full meal than anything you could get from Hale & Hearty.  Chicken pot pie soup does sound good…  so, I’ll do it!  My next 5 soup posts will be non Asian.  Got any suggestions for me?

Related:
Lunch’er Grace Reports: The Ultimate Midtown Soup List

It’s been a duck kind of a week. Yesterday I wrote about the Thursday duck pancake special at Yushi… and then subconsciously (or consciously) I felt a sudden urge to try the duck soup from Aura Thai. I’ve seen the soups at Aura mentioned a bunch of times on Midtown Lunch (most notably by Lunch’er “Nantini”) but the place is out of bounds (9th Ave. btw. 35+36th) and there are plenty of good soups in Midtown. We don’t need to be hiking out to 9th Ave. just for soup.

Now that I’ve tried the soup, though, I think hiking out to 9th Ave. is exactly what we all need to be doing (especially now that’s it starting to get colder.)

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