Midtown Lunch

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

Photos uploaded to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Pool by Pabo76

I guess TGI Friday’s isn’t the only one following Subway into the $5 lunch game. Midtown Lunch flickr friend Pabo76 just posted about the new $5 lunch special being offered through the end of May at Shilla (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th). Unfortunately, the special menu is only in Korean- so you may want to check out his post, which translates the whole thing (and includes photos.) The stews and soups being offered don’t look gigantic, but banchan is included for your $5- so it sounds like a good amount of food for the price (and looks pretty damn tasty.) [The Pabo Page]

*******THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CALLED MAD FOR CHICKEN*********

All Photos by Daniel Krieger

When Bon Chon opened up a few years ago in Koreatown (on 5th Ave. just south of 32nd Street), it probably never intended on being a lunchtime destination. It was meant to be an Izakaya style restaurant, made for after work and late night drinking and snacking- in this case, on their much lauded Korean fried chicken. It looks more like a night club, or fancy restaurant, than a branch of KFC- and the service is not exactly conducive to a one hour lunch break. But, after many years of hearing complaints about the lack of Korean fried chicken in the area during lunchtime hours, Bon Chon clearly decided that it was time to capitalize on their popularity. And a few months ago, they opened for lunch.

It took awhile for this unbelievably exciting news to make its way to Midtown Lunch HQ, but once it did, I rounded up a crew and headed to Koreatown for some kfc action!

Read more »

This has been an awesome week for Midtown lovers of Korean fried chicken… this was just posted to the comments, and confirmed by a phone call: “BonChon (the Korean fried chicken place on 5th Ave. just south of 32nd Street) actually IS open for lunch now. I just got some takeout there around 12:45 about 2 weeks ago.” For as long as they have been open, the Koreatown location of Bon Chon didn’t open until 4pm- but apparently a few months ago they started opening at noon. Between this, and the Kyochon news, my Korean fried chicken loving head is about to explode. I know where I’m eating lunch tomorrow…

Bon Chon, 314 5th Ave 2nd Floor (btw. 31+32nd), New York, NY 10001, 212-221-2222

Blondie and Brownie stray from their comfort zone at Woorijip (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th), ordering the ramen with egg and spicy kimchi soup with pork and ham from the Noodle Bar in the back of the shop. But take note: the noodle bar is only opened until 2pm, so make sure you aren’t going for a late lunch.

Related: 2008 Readers’ Poll: Best Korean Food

Danny from Food in Mouth sends along this info about the new ‘wichcraft location in Greeley Square: “32nd St. wichcraft is open now. They got employees in there and everything seems set up. They got a “cash only” sign up front.” Sure the sandwiches are small, and expensive- but if you order correctly, there is a way for to get out of wichcraft satisfied for under $10.

Related: Fat Man’s Gude to Eating At ‘wichcraft for Under $10

Thanks to Danny from Food in Mouth for passing along this info and photo.  The Red Mango on 32nd btw. B’way+5th (in Koreatown) is celebrating their grand opening by giving away free yogurt until 10 p.m. tonight.  Free small with one topping (I recommend cap’n crunch.)  I would say the line may die down after lunch, but 32nd St. is ground zero for New York’s yogurt craze (New York’s first Pinkberry is half a block away) so it’s probably going to look like this for the rest of the day.

If you are a longtime reader of the site, you know my boundaries are well defined.  Central Park to the North, 8th Ave. to the West, 3rd Ave. to the East and… er… 32nd St. to the South.  Sure, *technically* it should be 34th, but then I wouldn’t get to eat in Koreatown “for work.”  Today, I found myself walking down 32nd St. btw. 5th & Broadway- past old Midtown Lunch standbys Woorijip and Mandoo Bar, the now closed Arang buffet, and places I have yet to write about, like E-mo.  I settled on the Han Ah Reum Asian Market, where they had noodles and brown sauce as one of their pre-made lunch box options.

$5.50 and you get a free soup… it was just ok, but doesn’t turn me off to trying more of Han Ah Reum’s lunchtime selection.  Next time I want noodles and brown sauce, I’ll get them from Shanghai Mong across the street.  More expensive, but I’m sure they’re better.

Also noticed a few other things… Read more »

3 weeks ago our Downtown Lunch correspondent Daniel Krieger wrote his inaugural post about Tasty Dumpling in Chinatown.  The purpose of the column is to make Midtowners feel the same jealousy that Downtowners feel every time they log on to this site.  And it worked.  (I want dumplings!!!)  The post sparked in me a craving for dumplings, and while we don’t have any stand-alone Chinatown style dumpling “houses” in Midtown, we do have a very righteous Korean alternative,  Mandoo Bar on 32nd btw. B’way+5th. 

If you have ever walked down the main block of Koreatown (perhaps to visit Midtown Lunch favorite Woorijip), then you’ve surely noticed the women in the window making fresh, perfectly formed, multicolored dumplings every day.  If it’s a thursday or friday, there was probably a line out the door.  “Oooh… that sounds good.  Are they 5 for $1.25?”  No.  They’re not, you snarky downtown lunch’er lucky enough to live walking distance from Chinatown.  They’re not 5 for $1.25.  The prices recently went up, making them more like 1 for $1.25.  But they’re good!  So stop raining on our dumpling parade.

Korean dumpling porn (with innards) after the jump… Read more »

With all the delis in the heart of Midtown adding Korean food to their repertoire, it makes it a little harder to motivate myself all the way to Koreatown at lunchtime.   That being said, as much as I enjoy some bulgogi from Cafe Duke, or Bi Bim Bap from Ambrosia, neither can hold a candle to Woorijip, the king of cheap Korean eats, situated on 32nd btw. B’way+5th, the bloodline of New York City’s Koreatown.

If you’ve never been to Woorijip (which has been mentioned here many times, but never officially written up), it is essentially a Korean version of Cafe Zaiya– which itself is a Japanese version of Cafe Metro.  Loads of pre-packaged hot and cold Korean food plus a by the lb buffet of hot and cold Korean treats, for those who can’t settle on one or two of the pre-packaged goodies.  Recently Woorijip underwent a little makeover, so I decided to head down to 32nd street and check it out.

What I got, the “improvements” to the set up and a +/- after the jump… Read more »