El Rey del Sabor has added a third cart to their Mexican food empire. They’ve been flirting with the just out of ML bounds location on 28th Street and 6th Ave. for months now, but made it a permanent spot a few weeks ago. This should considered great news for lunchers in the southern part of Midtown. Their other two carts are located on 60th & 3rd, and 49th & 3rd.
Posted by Zach Brooks at 10:30 am, August 6th, 2009 under Cart, El Rey Del Sabor, Mexican, Out of Bounds.
I think Mister Softee has gotten a bad rep on Midtown Lunch. Sure some of them screw over their customers, get into fights, try to intimidate mobile bakeries, and yes, even sell cocaine. But they’re not all bad! Take the ladies of Queen Frostine, a new collective of female ice cream truck drivers who have taken it upon themselves to bring some of the fun back to soft serve. We mentioned Miss Softee last week, but at the time I didn’t realize that there are more of them. And they all park in Midtown!
Meet them all, after the jump…
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:45 am, August 5th, 2009 under Cart, Mister Softee, Sweets.
I know that most of you already know this, but sometimes it bears repeating for the new folks. There are official ML boundaries that I do my best to stick to. 3rd Ave. on the East, 8th Ave. on the West. 32nd Street to the South, and Central Park South to the North. I know a lot of you work outside those boundaries, but if I expand to 30th Street, then what about 28th? And then from there, it’s only another 2 blocks to 26th. In other words, you’ve got to have limits.
Occasionally, though, something amazing will come to my attention that excites me enough to cross those imaginary Midtown Lunch lines. And those places we refer to as being “Out of Bounds”. There are plenty of cheap Dominican/Cuban/Latin food options in Midtown, but none of them have what Papasito has (on 53rd btw. 8+9th). A $6 lunch special.
For me, paying only $6 for a heaping plate of Dominican food makes it worth the extra bit of walking. (Especially with Margon and Sophie’s Cuban costing $8+) But if the price isn’t enough for you, I discovered an extra little bit of incentive.
Posted by Zach Brooks at 10:25 am, August 4th, 2009 under El Papasito, Latin, Out of Bounds.
Photo courtesy of Food in Mouth
Danny from Food in Mouth hit up Shilla (on 32nd btw. 5+B’way) last week, and was nice enough to report back. They are still running their lunch special, where $6 gets you a different soup or stew each day- plus a ton of banchan (the little dishes you get at the beginning of a Korean meal.) For take out they charge you $1 more. Here’s the daily lineup:
Mon – Kimchi jjigae (kimchi stew)
Tues – Sul lu Tang (beef knuckle soup)
Wed – Dwenjang jjigae (Korean bean paste stew)
Thur – Soon doo boo jjigae (spicy soft tofu soup)
Fri – Haejang guk (tradition Korean beef soup)
Danny went on Thursday, and got the Soon doo boo. You can check out his report here>>
Related:
Choong Moo Ro Introduces new $3 Lunch Special
Shilla Offers $5 May Lunch Special… If You Can Read Korean
Posted by Zach Brooks at 9:15 am, August 4th, 2009 under 32nd btw. B'way+5th, Korean, Shilla.
In case you missed it, on Friday I was grilled over at A Hamburger Today– giving them my thoughts on the almighty hamburger. Here were my picks for best and worst burgers in Midtown:
“Tough to say. Fast food, thin burger: Five Guys (on 55th btw. 5+6th). Fast food, thicker burger: Burger Joint (on 56th btw. 6+7th). Burger from a Cart: Carnegie John’s (on 56th & 7th). As for the more expensive, sit down burgers, I haven’t had very many. But HB Burger (on 43rd btw. B’way+6th) and Beacon (on 56th btw. 5+6th) are both really good. And the worst burger I’ve ever had in Midtown was at this place called Arome Cafe on 32nd between Broadway and 7th Avenue. Somebody twittered @midtownlunch that their burger was “$5.50 and bangin'”. Against my better judgment (Arome Cafe is one of those terrible generic delis that Midtown is famous for, and Midtown Lunch does its best to fight against) I tried the terrible terrible burger. Bad meat (not unlike what I got in my Jr. High Cafeteria), bad flavor, poorly cooked. Couldn’t even finish it. Damn you, Twitter!”
Check out the worst burger I’ve ever had, after the jump…
From the looks of things 55th and Madison has become one of the most interesting street cart corners in Midtown. On the NW corner you’ve got the liver sandwich from Charcoal Grill. On the NE corner, there is a cart that serves grilled hot dogs, chili, and chicken sausages. And on the SW corner there is the “Fried Chicken Cart”, which Lunch’er Bossman reported on back in October. I finally made it over there to check out their fried chicken… and it was good. Although I’m not sure styrofoam containers are the best vehicle for fresh-out-of-the-fryer fried chicken.
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:55 am, July 30th, 2009 under 55th btw. Mad+5th, Cart, Fried Chicken, Street Meat.
You know how much I love the Asian sandwiches (I can’t get enough!) so there was no question I was going to travel the extra avenue outside the Midtown Lunch boundaries to check out Xie Xie– the newly opened sandwich shop from Angelo Sosa (formerly a chef at Jean Georges.) You’ve already seen the menu, and heard the reports from the ML early adopters. But the question still remains… for Midtown Lunch’ing purposes, are these freakin’ sandwiches worth the $8+ price tag.
In short, yes…. if you love Asian sandwiches as much as I do. And provided that the chef makes one small change.
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:42 am, July 29th, 2009 under Out of Bounds, Sandwiches, Xie Xie.
The ML Guide to Beating the All You Can Eat Buffet shouldn’t need an entry telling you not to eat on your way to the buffet (it’s just common sense), but there is a part of me that has a tremendous amount of respect for a guy who stops at Woorijip and Mandoo Bar on the way to the Ichi Umi sushi buffet (fmr. Todai.) [Tasty Chomps]
Posted by Zach Brooks at 8:15 am, July 29th, 2009 under Buffet, All You Can Eat.
For those of you in denial (our Happy Hour Correspondent Mamacita for one) here is proof that not only does the “white sauce” from your favorite street meat often contain mayo, but sometimes it’s just mayo: “I was just at the Steak Truck (on 47th and Park) and the guy in front of me ordered a combo over rice with white sauce and hot sauce. He got served his food with the typical squeeze from a white bottle and red bottle. But here’s the interesting part: when I then asked for ketchup and mayo on my burger, the Steak Truck guy pulled out the SAME white bottle he had used for the halal combo and spritzed my burger with it. Proof that white sauce = watered down mayo at a lot of truck and carts. -Will (aka Lunch’er WaitingForBajaFresh)”. Once again I’m going to file this under things I wish I didn’t know.
Related:
“White Sauce” Has What In It?!?!
Posted by Zach Brooks at 10:45 am, July 28th, 2009 under Steak Truck, Street Meat.
It’s been almost three years since Macchiato Espresso Bar opened on 44th btw. Lex+3rd, selling their line of Italian coffee, sandwiches, salads, and pastries. When it first opened, I posted my first impression (meh) which drew the ire of the owner because I hadn’t actually eaten any of the food or tries the coffee. At the time I just wasn’t interested in trying another turkey and swiss sandwich for $9. So sue me. Well, it’s taken me almost three years… but I’ve finally gotten enough positive emails to warrant actually trying Macchiato Espresso Bar. Well not me, but our resident coffee and baked goods expert Kathy YL Chan (from A Passion For Food). I thought this place would be right up her alley, and asked her to check it out and report back. Here’s what she found…
Welcome to Macchiato Espresso Bar on 44th Street, the last thing you’d expect to discover in discover in midtown. Coming in from 3rd Avenue, the bright blue entrance looks like some sort of strange oasis. The Bar exudes a Euro-trash meets midtown business vibe. Music is energetic, and the counter service is knowledgeable, efficient. Prices are high, though quality justifies to a certain extent.
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:45 am, July 27th, 2009 under 44th btw Lex+3rd, Coffee, Macchiato Espresso Bar, Salads, Sandwiches, Sweets.
