Midtown Lunch

Got this email from Lunch’er “Spencer” who has been stalking a lady selling Latin food on the sidewalk of 48th btw. 5+6th on Fridays for the past few weeks. Not sure if a) she’s only there on Fridays, and b) if it’s the same Ecuadorian lady who used to sell food on 46th btw. 5+6th. (I haven’t seen her in awhile…)

“Two Fridays ago I was with a co-worker who gets a jump on the lunchtime rush by going out every day at 11:30. He hits Variety Cafe 19 out of every 20 lunches (the other one being Tina’s Restaurant). As we’re walking from 6th Ave. on 48th towards Variety, someone drops a can of soda and I pick it up and hand it back to a little lady with what is essentially one of those metal laundry/grocery upright carts filled with plastic bags of all sizes and colors. I see it is food and waste no time asking what she’s selling. She says sheepishly “food” as if I’m going to bust her. Instead I said I’d take a plate, and to allay her fears I take the first thing she offers. It ends up being a piece of fried fish over a bed of awesome yellow rice, drowned in a great shrimp sauce.”

But wait… there’s more.

Read more »

I will admit, I’m not a big fan of turkey sandwiches- or turkey in general for that matter.  In a lot of ways, Midtown Lunch is completely anti-turkey sandwich.  Every day I post lunch recommendations so you don’t have to go to a place like Cafe Metro for a turkey sandwich.  But there will be no turkey hate this week… and while nobody will want to eat turkey for lunch next week, there are probably a lot of people who can’t wait for Thursday to get their turkey on.  So, here are three turkey sandwiches I can wholeheartedly recommend- if you can’t wait for Thanksgiving Day.

The turkey sandwich at City 75 (on 51st btw. 5+6th). $6.45. Every day this otherwise generic Midtown deli roasts a whole turkey (sometimes 2) and carves it up fresh for turkey sandwiches.  There isn’t any stuffing or gravy or cranberry sauce, but it’s still a big notch above Boar’s Head.

The cranberry sauce and stuffing option is after the jump…

Read more »

Photo by 52 Projects

It’s been awhile since I’ve eaten at Yips, and I have to say I’m a little concerned about the fast food Chinese mainstay on 52nd btw. 5+6th. The last time I walked by I noticed they had condensed their operation from 2 steam tables and 3 lines, to 1 steam table and 1 line. It can’t help that better options, like Hing Won on 48th btw. 5+6th) are so close by. But Jeff from 52 Projects stopped by last week and vouches for his favorite fast food Chinese place. “Their excellent BBQ Chicken on top of Lo Mein [is] cheap, fast, plentiful-times-two, and absolutely delicious.” Well, there you have it. No need to worry…

Midtown Lunch has always been a community effort, and I have no problem turning the site over to contributors.  Especially when it comes to desserts.  I love the sweets just as much as the next fat guy (or skinny girl), but if given the choice between dessert, or an extra entree- I’m going for the savory.  So when Danny from the blog Food in Mouth offered up a post about his “all dessert, under $10 lunch” I was like… uh… yeah! -Zach

Awhile back one of the Profiled Midtown Lunch’ers posed a question about Midtown desserts that got me thinking. “What if I just ate desserts for my $10 dollars? What can I get with that?” I know how this must look- guy forgoes street food, pizzas, or a hearty sandwich in place of… banana pudding. Might as well trade in my fantasy basketball team for the current issue of Vogue or spend my Saturday nights watching Sex and the City instead of catching up on Heroes and Chuck. I don’t really have a response, so I’ll get started on the actual eating…

First up was Magnolia’s Bakery on 49th and 6th Ave. You could probably spend ten dollars here without going anywhere else. Some of you might take exception to their cupcakes, which sometimes lack moistness. Instead, try the banana pudding which is on-par with most other cupcakeries in the city. It’s rich, lucious, and velvety. It’ll remind you of Ivanka Trump, and it’ll disappear just as fast as she did during that free food giveaway.

Read more »

“I went to the new Walgreen’s in Times Square today and I noticed they have food there!!!  I dare you to try a sandwich, or worse, a salad.”

After eating the terrible banana sushi at Bagelfeller on 48th (R.I.P.) I stupidly said I would eat anything in Midtown if dared by a reader.  It’s what lead me to finally summon the courage to enter Tad’s Steaks… and it has clearly led to the email above from “Bionicgrrrl”.

Seriously?  Walgreens?  C’mon now. Really?  I mean, it’s not even that I’m scared of eating a disgusting sandwich;  it’s more a matter of being morally disgusted. Is there any getting out of this one?

There is only a certain number of times a guy like me can walk past a place like this without stopping.  I have a special place in my heart for Chinatown Express, the pay-by-the-pound cheap Chinese place on 7th Avenue btw. 33+34th (right next to Gyro II).  Long before I lived in NY, I used to visit from Boston- and Chinatown Express was usually my first stop after leaving Penn Station or even Port Authority. What can I say?  I’ve been addicted to cheap Chinese food for a long long time (in fact, General Tso’s chicken put me in the hospital in college… *allegedly*). Of course my early flirtation with Chinatown Express was long before they set up the satellite stand on the sidewalk selling cheap chicken wings, egg rolls, fried chicken and lo mean. And, after walking by this sidewalk “cart” more times than I can count on my hands, I finally succumbed to the pressure of the easy access super cheap Chinese food.

What I got (who am I kidding, I ordered everything), and how it was (who am I kidding, you know I loved it) after the jump.

Read more »

It’s freakin freezing outside today, so I had no choice but to go for my favorite non-soup, gut warming lunch: a bowl of Texas style red chili from the Daisy May’s cart on 50th btw 6+7th. It’s a beanless chili (your co-workers will thank you) filled with big chunks of super tender beef. Cheese, sour cream, onions, and a tortilla come on the side, all for $7. I don’t know if the tiny cup of rice and beans was worth it, but I was glad to have it at the end to mix with the leftover sauce and condiments. Slightly spicy, completely satisfying, and most importantly- it warmed me up.

And we have another entry in the Grand Central Terminal Market sandwich challenge.  To recap: can you make an under $10 Midtown Lunch’ish sandwich, or sandwiches, from ingredients purchased from the newly opened Murray’s Salami (and the other shops in the Grand Central Terminal market.)  Blondie and Brownie weighed in first, followed by Lunch’er Dave, and now… Max.

2 of my compatriots and I ventured in the semi-brutal cold to Grand Central Market to try the Murray’s challenge. (We went a little crazy, also picking up 3 pieces of very nice seasonal Murray’s pumpkin cheese cake for dessert, but I am excluding that splurge from the challenge.) We gorged ourselves on speck, mozz, and salami, had a photo shoot and assembly party back @ the office. I think our per capita expenditure will definitely be lower next go round (oh yes!), but this was gooddamn delicious!!

Last week there was a complaint about not being about to get a sense of scale from the photo… so after the jump is a list of ingredients, plus a photo that gives you better perspective of the sandwich size.

Read more »

Wow… today has not been good for the Midtown Lunch’ing news.  This just in from Lunch’er Jill: “Two Boots under Rockefeller Center is closing!  Today is their last day. They are opening a new place at 9th and 45th.” And confirmed on the Two Boots website:

And it was one year ago this month you guys voted this best slice in Midtown. The end of an era… and a big loss to the lazy lunchers of 30 Rock who hate leaving their building.

I’ve got some really sad news to report to all-you-can eat buffet lovers:  The International Food House Buffet on 35th btw. 7+8th has turned into a pay for what it weighs, by the lb. buffet.  Considering the current economic state, this isn’t too surprising, but it is still depressing on many levels.  1) Serving up a wide range of Latin food, it was one of the only two or three non-Indian all you can eat buffets in Midtown.  2) It was a shockingly cheap $8.95. 3) By the pound buffets are a big kick in the pants to fat guys everywhere… especially when you’re serving heavy food like rice, beans, plantains, and stewed meats.  For $5.95 a pound, the price can get up there pretty quickly.

Unable to turn away from their massive selection, I decided to see how I would fare under this new format.  In the process I came up with a few suggestions for anybody looking to brave the *new* International Food House Buffet.

Read more »