Midtown Lunch

After this post, the PR people from Rick’s Cabaret were bugging me to come try their lunch.  I never accept free food from the places I write about on Midtown Lunch (and wanted to stay married) so I told them thanks, but no thanks for that strip club lunch.  If I wanted a strip club lunch I would pay for it myself! Of course popular ML commenter Mamacita is not under the same restrictions- so I gladly sent her in my place, to check out the “scenery” at Rick’s Cabaret.  I also knew that most of you would much rather picture her at Rick’s than me. Here is her story…

While there may be many tasty delights to be had at Rick’s Cabaret, I was restrained by Zach’s Midtown Lunch $10 price limit so I will not be telling how it feels to get a lap dance at Rick’s. I will also not be telling you about a little something I coined the “Corporate Massage,” which seemed to involve older, bald, fat (no offense Zach) C.E.O’s and perky bodiced ladies rubbing your back and perhaps calling you daddy (Should that excite you). I will also not digress to tell you about the enhanced lovelies in g-strings dancing upon the stage to AC/DC and Aerosmith. Furthermore, I will not mention how this lunch was the first time I’ve seen a stripper dance to R.E.M. and rub her ample buttocks up and down a mirrored wall.

No, we will not sink so low today. After all, this blog is about lunch- right?  (Well, maybe we’ll sink a little.)  Read more »

Every few months I gravitate back to the Bulgogi Cart on 49th btw. 6+7th hoping that it will graduate from decent to excellent. Over the year and a half it’s been operating, I think we can all agree on certain conclusions.  1) Their kalbi is much better than their bulgogi.  2) Keeping your expectations low is a good thing.  Not amazing Korean food, but decent considering it’s from a cart.  3) They don’t give you nearly enough kimchee! 

I haven’t been in a few months, but a lunch’er emailed this report yesterday:

I don’t know if you have already been informed, but I walked over to the Bulgogi cart (49th and 6th) to get lunch today and noticed that the prices have increased! Most of the standard fare which was previously $6 has been increased to $7. So now a number 1 with double meat is $9! That is a bit steep for cart food in my opinion, but you gotta respect the effects of the economy.

But wait, there’s more…   Read more »

It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Fashion Soup, a really good take out place on 41st btw. 6th & Broadway featuring tasty soups homemade by its Eastern European owner (who also works in the store during the day.) Seeing as it’s Fashion Week, I thought I’d drop by and see what was going on. In addition to being curious about changes, I was also secretly interested in seeing if business changed considering the influx of fashionable peoples under tents, half an avenue away in Bryant Park.

What I found was a big surprise…  Read more »

I am embarrassed to admit it, but I wasted my time watching that Inside Edition “expose” on NYC Street Vendors last night. Was it gross? Yes. Did they catch 3 or 4 vendors picking their noses, and then handling food without gloves. Of course. Thankfully though none of the vendors covered were popular Midtown Lunch carts (although one I recognized as being on 48th St. & 7th Ave.) They were all non-descript hot dog and kebab vendors mostly frequented by tourists. And you know what I say? Screw the tourists. Maybe these dirty carts will thin their ranks out a bit- get them out of the way so I can walk home in peace after work.

In all seriousness though (I do hate tourists, but don’t wish dysentery on them), amazingly, after watching the 3 minute and 30 second report I felt more sorry for the vendors than anything. So what. 4 street vendors are kind of dirty. So is restaurant food. So is the subway. These guys aren’t criminals. And reports like this tend to do more harm than good. The majority of vendors work hard, follow the rules, keep clean carts, and don’t pick their feet while on the job. They shouldn’t be vilified because there are 3 that don’t. Hell, I’m picking my nose as I write this. And I might go eat something when I’m done (but not boogers. That’s gross.)

If you must watch the video, it’s after the jump…  Read more »

I hate generic Midtown delis. Anybody who reads this site with any regularity knows this. In fact, that stupid deli at the bottom of your building, with its make your own salad bar, prepackaged sushi, and terrible sandwich counter is the reason I started this blog in the first place. Those choices exist solely because your co-workers are lazy losers; unwilling to walk an extra block or two to eat a worthwhile lunch.

Of course every once in awhile a Midtown deli innovation occurs, pushing the boundaries of gastronomic advancement; begging to be noticed, unwilling to following the standard formula. By the lb. buffets were one of the early innovations. The good ones are tough to resist (despite being a curse to us fatties.) Korean deli owners selling Korean food is a more recent example. The stations set up at Cafe Duke and Ambrosia elevate those delis to worthwhile status. Now, we have reached a new plateau… brought to my attention in this email:

Anyone tipped you off to this yet at the Old Bridge Deli? For about $6.50, you can get a fresh baked (i.e. made, then baked on the spot while you wait)… what is essentially an elongated calzone with a thinner crust with custom ingredients of your choosing (they call it a rolly wrap).

The fresh baked part is killer. So is the fresh chopping the guy does if you order chicken, or any cheese other than mozz. I’m a sucker for a little fresh cutting and baking on my lunch order, especially when it’s a FULL lunch and costs $6-7. Just wait in line, pile on pretty much as many ingredients as you like, and wait while it bakes. He’ll even give you a sour cream or hot sauce on the side if you ask nicely.

I usually roll with a choice of cheddar and/or mozz (sometimes rotate in the jalapeno jack too) the breaded chicken (grilled if I’m going “healthy”), some pepperoni or bacon, rotate the vegetable (onion, mushroom, broccoli, red peppers), then top it off with salsa and either sour cream or guac. Delicious.

Fresh baked? As many ingredients as you like? In a generic Midtown deli? Wait- ignore that last part and this kind of sounds amazing…  Read more »

That headline is cruel to anybody who has ever been to the real Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. I’m sorry… but I couldn’t help it. Clearly New Orleans’ Cafe du Monde is not opening up on 37th btw. 5+6th in Midtown. There is no mention of beignets on the sign, and the logo is terrible. I kind of have to wonder- are these people idiots? I know technically it just means “Cafe of the World”, and there is no fear of anybody confusing a generic Midtown deli with one of the greatest coffee shops/fried-dough-covered-in-powdered-sugar makers in the world. But is this legal?

Beignet lovers… I’ll make it up to you after the jump Read more »

The blog Hungry Travels points out the horribly amazing logo of the Oriental Noodle Shop on 45th btw. Lex+3rd.

I’m waiting for the P.C. police to come storming in and shut the place down. That’d be a shame, because if you ignore the mildly offensive logo and name, you can get tasty noodle dishes and noodle soups here at reasonable prices, especially for midtown (lunch will run about $7-$10). I especially like the thick, almost chewy texture of their pan fried noodles.

After last weeks (still going in the comments) debate about the Trini Paki Boys Cart (on 43rd & 6th) I shudder to think of what people are going to say about this.

There will probably never be consensus on the best chicken parm sub in Midtown, but the search will continue on. I had a enjoyable one at Tuscany Catering (on 55th btw. 5+6th), but was surprisingly disappointed by Little Italy Pizza (on 46th btw. 5+6th) and Park Italian across the street. The best I’ve had so far is probably at Labeleca on 40th btw. 7+8th (and their sister location La Bellezza on 49th btw. Lex+3rd.) In order to keep up with lunchtime demand, none of these places fries their chicken cutlets to order- and while they’re all fine, none will end the search.

So on Friday after I walked by the still plywooded Washoku Cafe (the new Cafe Zaiya’ish Japanese place that is opening soon on 37th btw. Mad+5th), I decided against my better judgement to check out Mondello’s, a standard take out pizza and subs place right next door. I say “against my better judgement” because I pride myself on my strange sense for good Midtown Lunch’ish food. There is a vibe a place gives off that lets you know it’s going to be good, and this place didn’t have it.  But there were alot of people in there, and sometimes you just feel like a chicken parm.   Read more »