Midtown can always use more spicy tofu dishes. Just ask the the profiled Midtown Luncher from this week. Even though what we have today isn’t exactly a ’stew’, it does have all the elements of a good spicy tofu stew – soft luscious tofu, fiery heat, and some meat/vegetable element to compliment the flavor of the dish. A tofu dish is exactly what one would expect from a restaurant named Mapo Tofu. This location used to be a Wu Liang Ye and was embroiled in some contraversy about who the owners are. We’re not exactly sure what the real truth is about the restaurant, but when in doubt- we choose to side with the food!

On the menu, it says lunch specials ($8.15 after tax) are served with soup (wonton or hot & sour), and some pickled vegetables. As you can tell from the picture, you get the dish you ordered, soup, rice, and then a fourth thing- which was neither vegetables or pickled.

Instead it was melons. Actually I was happy to get fruit since it offers a nice and refreshing break after the chili oil assaults your mouth (in a good way). These melons weren’t that sweet though so it was a bit of a let down. Also, I’m not sure whether they just did away with the pickled vegetables or if they ran out and substituted with the fruit. (I seem to remember this same issue coming up with another newish Sichuan restaurant.) If it’s a huge deal for you to get pickled vegetables, I’d always call ahead to be sure.

But the main event of the meal was of course… mapo tofu. The benchmark for a dish like this is the one at Szechuan Gourmet, the only NYTimes starred Szechuan place in Midtown. So what exactly do we look for in a good mapo tofu? As a Midtown Luncher, portion size is going to be a big issue. Szechuan Gourmet gives you a good amount, so any legitimate challenger is not going to be able to skimp on the portions. Mapo Tofu passed this test… actually offering slightly more than what you get at SG.

As for the taste, we’re going to need to feel the heat. If you’re lucky, you’ll get the kind of heat with Szechuan peppercorns that’ll give you that mala feeling in your mouth. You don’t quite get that here, but it’s still fiery good. There’s a red film at the top of the dish because of the chili oil, that would be a crime to skim off. You wanna drink that (it’s good for you.) There’s also bits of ground pork studded throughout the tofu and that’s good because without the salty and meaty components, the dish would fall flat. There’s also some leeks incorporated with the mapo tofu dish but it’s mostly there as an afterthought. I don’t need it but it’s nice.

Mapo Tofu has some Sichuan dishes on their lunch special menu, and if they’re anywhere as good as their mapo tofu, then I would have to say this place will be a good alternative to Szechuan Gourmet for those people who are stranded on the east side of Midtown.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• I like my food hot and spicy
• I work in Midtown East, and want some quality Sichuan food
• The portion is good enough for two meals!

THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• I don’t like that much chili oil on my food
• I’m a vegetarian! Why do they have to ruin a perfectly good tofu dish with pork
• This restaurant is owned by the Chinese government!  And gave their workers the shaft!  Boycott!!!

Mapo Tofu, 338 Lexington Ave (btw 39th and 40th st), (212) 867-8118

It appears as if the now closed Good Portions(on Lex. btw. 39+40th) is going to be replaced by an equally wretched place called “Recharge”. I don’t know about you, but I’d take mediocre Asian food, over THE BEST, most delicious “health” food any day of the week. I’ve got nothing against healthy food itself… but I do have something against a lunch menu where 3 of the 6 sections contain the words “Low Carb”. Didn’t the Atkins thing die along with the man?

There was one menu section I did find a little funny… it’s after the jump. 

“The Cheat Day Menu”! I love it. Unfortunately, like a vegetarian who doesn’t want their veggie burger cooked on a griddle encrusted with beef fat, I don’t like any of my fatty foods prepared on a surface that may have come in contact with something that is actually good for you… like “low carb pizza” (wha???)

Alright… I kid Recharge. I kid. Maybe their food is good… and I should probably give them a chance before bashing them outright. The original location is on the Upper East Side. Anybody ever been? Feel free to post in the comments. They hope to be open in the next few weeks.

Recharge, 347 Lexington Ave. (btw. 39+40th) 212-682-7900

Well, clearly I was wrong.  After 20+ comments nobody had anything positive to say about Good Portions- and my “You Decide” experiment was a total failure.  My intention was to take one of the recommendations, try the dish, and report back to everyone.  But with nothing to recommend, there was nothing for me to try.  So much for that.  But then something unexpected happened.  Last Tuesday, as part of Jennifer Lee’s profile, I asked lunchers to comment with their favorite Chinese food dishes in Midtown- and this was posted by “Cait”:

Tie between the roast pork lo mein and pork buns at Chinese Noodle House (down the street from Manchenko-tei) and Scallop Wonderland w/brown rice at GoodPortions on Lex between 39th and 40th. The sweetness and crunchiness of the scallions goes perfectly with the soft scallops and the chewy brown rice, and the sauce is to die for.

Now wait a second.  That’s not a “this dish is pretty good”, that’s a “This is my favorite Chinese food dish in Midtown” comment.  So yesterday, I trekked over to Good Portions to eat scallops, for only $7, at a take out place loathed by most of the Midtown Lunch’ing community.  Another example of me sacrificing my body for the good of this site, after the jump…

I remember hating scallops when I was a kid.  I think it had something to do with that “scallopy” taste that all scallops had.  It wasn’t until recently, after trying good scallops at fancy NYC restaurants that I realized that “scallopy” taste is not the taste of scallops, it’s the taste of cheap scallops.  Good scallops don’t taste like that.  At $6.95, can you guess which taste these scallops had? 

That being said, they were still edible (I’d be lying if I said I didn’t finish them) and the sauce is perfect for anybody who has ever thought “Gee, I love that orange sweet and sour sauce you get at Americanized Chinese restaurants.  I just wish there was a version that was a little more watery.”  It wasn’t terrible, but I don’t think I would ever list it as “one of the best Chinese food dishes in Midtown”.  Probably not even in the top 50%.  Sorry commenter.  Although in fairness to you, I didn’t order the brown rice.

But in the end I am forced to relent.  I think it’s a combination of my love of (and addiction to) all Asian foods, plus that little voice in my head that says, ‘maybe just this once, Pad Thai made in the same wok as beef and broccoli will magically come out right’.  (It hasn’t yet.)  It was this addiction that brought me to Good Portions, a fast food Asian place on Lexington btw. 39+40th.

What I got, and why I need your help (the “you decide” part), after the jump…

Upon entering Good Portions, I got my second red flag:  giant pictures of food hanging on the walls.  Normally this is also a no-no, but in this case they had pictures of dim sum- my ultimate weakness (and a food group not well represented in Midtown).  Granted their menu was limited (pork buns, shumai, har gao, and a couple other things), and each item costs $3.75 (a travesty of justice).  But they had it.  And that’s all that matters.

In addition to the dim sum menu, they also had various Japanese and “Malaysian” appetizers, hot plates of Thai, Japanese, and Chinese dishes, a list of Chef’s specials, a few noodle soups, Japanese bentos, and of course sushi.   For a junkie, it’s a menu that can only be summed up simply as ’too much to choose from’.

I panicked and went for the Pad Thai, which I’ve been missing since Yum Thai closed.  How great would it be if by some miracle of nature this place with giant pictures of dim sum on their wall, made a mean Pad Thai.  Of course I was disappointed in the dish, due in no small part to the fact that it tasted like Chinese food (think weird Lo Mein with a slice of lime).  I tried the pork buns too (how could I not?), and while they looked perfect, the inside just didn’t taste right.  They probably were frozen.

But like any addict, I’m not ready to write this place off.  I’m sure something on their gigantic menu of Asian delights is a winner.  But I am one man.  And I just don’t have the luxury of working my way through the menu.  (And nobody I work with will walk with me all the way to Lexington).  So here’s what I propose.  You decide.  I normally tell you what I think is good.  With this place, I want you to tell me what’s good.  Have you been?  Is there something edible on the menu?  Post it as a comment.  Never been, but you’re intrigued?  Go.  Eat something.  Post your thoughts.  One person’s opinion about a single dish is not that useful-  but combined, maybe we’ll get a better idea of the place.

I’ll take the comments into consideration, go back next week, try something new, and post about it again.  And don’t worry-  I won’t blame you if you don’t try the sushi.

Good Portions, 347 Lexington Ave. (btw. 39+40th), 212-867-2979