Midtown Lunch

It might surprise you to hear me say this, but being forced to work in such a tourist driven part of New York City is not always a bad thing. Sure, a glut of fat mid-westerners means that Midtown will never have a shortage of TGI Friday’s, Sbarro’s and shrimp restaurants based on Tom Hanks movies. But an abundance of Japanese tourists and businesspeople create the same, albeit more positive, effect:  Midtown is full of authentic Japanese food-  and I’m not talking about sushi.  I’m talking authentic kaiseki meals at places like Hakubai (in the Kitano Hotel), ramen at places like Menchanko Tei, amazing izakayas (after work drinking and eating spots) like Sake Bar Hagi, and the grill-centric Yakitori Totto, and its two sister spots Yakitori Torys and Aburiya Kinnosuke.

Traditionally yakitori (and the izakaya that often serve it) has always been an after work or late night snack type of thing, to accompany drinking, so it made sense that these places wouldn’t be open for lunch.  Of course this is America, and my desire for meat on a stick knows no cultural boundaries!  Many of us who work in Midtown have always lamented that these places weren’t open for lunch… and as a business owner, what’s more important?  Authenticity, or paying the rent?

So, you can imagine my excitement when Yakitori Totto announced last month that they were now open for lunch. But Totto is not cheap-a single skewer costs $3+ at dinner time- and even though I had begged for this moment I secretly knew that it probably wouldn’t be cheap enough to quality as a true Midtown Lunch.

Yesterday, I walked over to 55th btw. B’way+8th for the moment of truth.

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A new cart popped up this morning on 52nd & 6th, and Lunch’er Yasmin sent in this report: “I was getting my daily fruit smoothie this morning when I noticed a new cart had been set up directly next to the smoothie truck on NW corner of 52nd and 6th. This DEFINITELY wont appeal to you, but might appeal to your vegetarian readers, or those on diets. Here are some crappy phone pictures…”

I was in the area when Yasmin emailed the photos, so I decided to swing by this new cart and found a “scene” that at this point should surprise nobody.

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Lunch’er Brian sends word that the new Katsuhama (on 55th btw. 5+6th) is now open.  He had lunch there yesterday, and was nice enough to send along this report:

I really like Katsu-Hama and have been waiting impatiently for the one on 55th to open ever since I saw the notice on midtownlunch as it is much closer to my office. I used to walk down to the one on 47th to eat their katsu lunch special, but it’s a bit of a trek. Even though they promised to open at the beginning of August, it took them until the very last day of the month to open, which made it more of a September opening, but it’s finally here!

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Whether or not you think the Garment District is an amazing area for lunch or not can probably be determined by a single factor:  whether or not you love “strange” Chinese food.  And by strange, of course I mean real Chinese food- made for actual Chinese people who work in high 30s on the West side of Midtown.  At these places the General Tso’s, Beef and Broccoli, and egg rolls have been replaced by fried pork chops, various types of offal, salt and pepper shrimp with their heads still on, and at least 3 or 4 vegetable options (no American broccoli though.)  My favorite of these places is Ying Du (on 37th btw. 7+8th), but there is also Fuji Bakery (on 35th btw. 7+8th), and the Lunch Box Buffet (on 34th btw. 7+8th) which is the least strange of the three and features the most excellent Fay Da Bakery.

On Friday, I noticed a sign in the window of Sushi Osaka (on 8th Ave. btw. 36+37th) touting a new “Lunch Special” featuring 3 Chinese items over rice for $5.  Apparently another one of these “strange” Chinese spots has now opened in the back of this sushi restaurant.

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I would never eat at Ted Montana Grill (on 51st btw. 6+7th).  What is this Mickey Mouse, owned by Ted Turner, we make bison burgers and are environmentally friendly BS. I’ve got much better places to eat lunch. What’s that you say?  They’re offering a $10 lunch special with mini burgers, meatloaf and more?  Well, I suppose I could check it out.  You know, for work purposes.

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My quest to find a real gyro sandwich in Midtown never takes a vacation. So when I spotted this sign on 34th btw. 8+9th in the window of Lezzette, my curiosity was piqued. Sure, it’s out of the technical Midtown Lunch boundaries. And Lezzette looks more like a generic Midtown deli, than an authentic Greek restaurant. But whatever. “Homemade Gyro”! How could I not?

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Did you know that La Maison du Chocolat (on 49th btw. 5+6th in 30 Rock) serves up ice cream and sorbet in the summertime? Serious Eats New York highly recommends the chesnut ice cream, but warns everybody to get there at least 45 minutes before the shop closes.  (That’s when they stop serving the cold treats.)  You have three more weeks to check it out, and then the ice creams  and sorbets are gone.

I’ve walked by Bombay Eats, the just out of bounds Indian restaurant on 52nd btw. 8+9th, a million times… but had only noticed this sign for the first time last week.  Indian pizza!?!  And not some strange Indian creation with some similarities to real pizza. This is real New York City pizza, with Indian toppings.  Tandoori chicken, minced lamb, chicken tikka, saag paneer (!?!)

I mean, how could I not right?

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How upset were we to discover the Eggs Travaganza cart back in July (thanks to Serious Eats: New York), only to find out that they closed before lunchtime?  After all, there ain’t no shame in eating egg sandwiches or pancakes and bacon for lunch- right?  Yesterday, I stopped by just before Noon hoping to snag an early lunch- and find out if they had heard our cry for longer hours.

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Midtown’s Kosher scene has seen a flurry of activity this week, as reported by the website Kosher-NY.  Eli’s Deli, in the Citigroup Building Food Court will close at the end of the week, the Mendy’s in the Rock Center concourse has officially moved to their new digs on street level (on 48th btw. 5+6th) and may have some Grand Opening specials, and Mr. Broadway (on B’way btw. 37+38th) was closed by the DOH on Tuesday. They hope to reopen tomorrow.  Also, in Downtown Lunch news… Little Lad’s (the vegetarian place Daniel reviewed this past Friday) will no longer be under Kosher supervision after this week.

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