Midtown Lunch

Cafe Zest (on 47th btw. Lex+3rd), the semi-upscale Japanese bento place from the owners of Cafe Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th) is about to get some competition. A few doors down, the space that used to be a Burger King now has signs for “Dainobu” a Japanese Grocery/Bento/Sushi/Deli coming soon from Japan. Their website is no help at all, but I’m always up for more Japanese fun in Midtown! I’ll keep an eye on the progress…

Got another great tip from the commenter who goes by the name of “Bossman”:

You want to talk about crazy ass shit? There’s always been this Halal cart on 55th and Mad (Southwest corner) that had a fryer setup. Convenient when the urge strikes for fries along with your street meat. Aside from that there’s nothing that stands out about the place. I used to frequest it because they’ll throw your gyro on a hero and I always found that held up better than pita. The guys are real nice and if I found myself getting lunch at 2:45 (like today) I’ll hit it up.

So today I see a sign saying Fried Chicken w/ fries (4 Pieces) $6.00. It’s all your fault Zach- prior to reading ML I would’ve ran for the hills, nowadays it just raises a bunch of questions:

Fried chicken truck, yes. But cart? Has Zach done that? How could they? Pre-cooked and just warmed through?

…and finally “how could I not?”

Anyway, what I got was 2 tenders, a wing, a drumette, and a thigh and fries all freshly fried (obviously they’re better at dishing the food than counting it). Of course, it’s not your Grandma’s chicken but it was pretty damn good for what it was (especially as a conduit for hot sauce). What will they think of next?

The photo he sent in, after the jump…  Read more »

Dean & Deluca seems to be opening more of more of these new lunchtime take out spots. At the end of last year they opened the branch on 48th btw. 5+6th (right around the corner from another Dean & Deluca location) and now another has opened on 55th 56th btw. 6+7th. But this one is kind of different… they’re serving burgers! Kind of exciting, and they looked pretty good being grilled behind the counter. Unfortunately, they are all over $10 so I think I’ll just stick with the Burger Joint or Five Guys. But there is a menu of under $10 sandwiches and hot panini that look kind of appealing- and completely different than anything they have the other Midtown locations.

For those D&D fans who work in the southern part of Midtown, there is a big Dean & Deluca that will be opening on the ground floor of the New York Times Building (on 8th Ave. and 41st Street) but no word on when that will be happening.

After a few days down on Wall Street, the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck is back in Midtown today- parked on 52nd and Lexington Ave.  Ever since it was announced that the Rickshaw Dumpling Bar (which has two brick and mortar locations in the lower of half of Manhattan) would be opening a truck, there has been a lot of criticism in the comments.  And a lot of it is is warranted. The place is freakin’ expensive. And it’s fancy pants Asian food, not the sort of cheap, authentic Hing Won/Ying Du’ish chinese food we normally praise here on Midtown Lunch.  Who the hell would spend $6 on 6 dumplings, when you can go to Chinatown and get 5 better dumplings for the price of 1 dumpling at the Rickshaw truck. Even with the subway ride there and back it would still be cheaper! 

All of this 100% true.  And yet, it doesn’t mean that nobody will like the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck.  And that’s why we do the +/-

Read more »

From the NY Post: “Ray… the self-described ‘burger freak’ plans to open a hamburger joint in Midtown next year. ‘I’m going for a ’60s back-in-the-day Rat Pack-y kind of hangout, and I want the bar to be really central [and] the burgers to become a very social thing,’ says Ray. ‘I want people to come to the bar to see beautiful proper martinis being made and to enjoy some sliders while they’re doing business or sit in the dining room and have fine dining in ground form.'” Chance that a Rachel Ray burger joint in Times Square will be annointed a proper ‘Midtown Lunch’? Zilch. [via Eater]

Spice Fusion (the Indian buffet on 8th Ave. btw. 47+48th) used to have a big blow up of the Midtown Lunch post hanging in front of their restaurant. Not anymore. It probably has to do with the headline, where I claimed that Spice Fusion had perfected the “Under $10 Indian All You Can Eat Buffet”. Like most of the Indian buffets in Midtown, Spice Fusion raised their price at the beginning of the year. But is it worth the extra buck? (As you know, I will break my $10 rule for all you can eat buffets.)

I used this silly reasoning as an excuse decided to buffet it up on Friday to “check it out”.  Read more »

I guess the best philly cheesesteak is not in Midtown, if you believe this exhaustive head to head cheesesteak battle royale done by Jason Santa Maria. Wogies Bar & Grill in the West Village came out on top, with 99 Miles to Philly (2nd Ave. & 52nd St.), Carl’s Steaks (3rd btw. 34+35th), Shorty’s (9th Ave. btw. 41+42nd), and Philly Slim’s (9th Ave. btw. 52+53rd) coming in 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. Each have outposts in the outer reaches of Midtown but it isn’t entirely clear if he visited the Midtown locations (except in the case of Shorty’s-formerly Tony Luke’s- which only has one NYC location.) Either way he goes on to say that “all three of our top scorers rank on par with some of the best cheesesteaks I’ve had in Philly and I can confidently recommend any of them for a good time.”  [via Serious Eats: New York]

Added to Midtown Lunch Flickr Pool by nycblondieandbrownie 

Fans of mediocre cupcakes, your day of joy has finally arrived.  Magnolia Bakery is set to open their 3rd location in Midtown next week on 49th and 6th, in the space formerly occupied by Citarella. Brownie from Blondie and Brownie crashed their opening party last night, and sent along a ton of photos.  Just what we need… more lines of gawking tourists clogging up the sidewalks during lunch. Thanks, but no thanks.

More cupcake news after the jump…   Read more »

The original Pick-a-Pita (on 38th btw. 7+8th), home of the french fry stuffed schwarma/falafel sandwich, has closed for the holidays (Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur) and will not re-open.  Instead the business will shift to their new location on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th (the former home of House of Pita.)  Originally they said they were going to keep both locations open, but that didn’t make any sense. The sign says they will be opening on October 7th, but the guy inside said it would open after the holidays. Considering that Yom Kippur starts at sundown on October 8th, it would make more sense if they opened on the 10th. I guess we’ll see.

The holidays may also explain why some of your favorite Kosher lunch spots were closed at the beginning of the week.  Most are back open, but expect Kosher Deluxe, Olympic Pita, Moshe’s Falafel and others to be closed on October 9th (and maybe even the 8th) for Yom Kippur.

I guess the newsstand on 6th Ave. btw. 37+38th isn’t the only weird combo in Midtown. Sarah DiGregorio from the Village Voice ate at this “Indian-Pakistani-Spanish-American restaurant” on 33rd btw. 6+7th. The one downside?  All the food is halal, so it’s missing “the porky dishes that you’d find at any other Spanish lunch counter.”