Midtown Lunch

Always up for challenging my stomach, I decided to hit up Milant yesterday (on 39th btw. Lex+3rd) despite the fact that they’ve been closed for most of the past month or two. Since they were shuttered by the DOH, there has been concern about the freshness and cleanliness of what was once considered Midtown’s finest sandwich place.  All the food in the display case looked fine, although there is a creepy-ness that will probably only go away after multiple visits without incident (i.e. sickness). I went with my standby #13.  Chicken cutlet, fresh mozarella, sundried tomatoes, and pesto. 

Check it out, plus more- after the jump…  Read more »

Listed on the right as my favorite sandwich in Midtown, Milant on 39th btw. Lex+3rd has been having some issues of late. Shuttered by the DOH, they’ve now been “closed for rennovations” for a few weeks. Before their rennovations, one commenter had this to say: “Went to Milant in June because I was craving gazpacho. There was a definite funk in the air, the sandwich was on at least day-old bread (tough and chewy), and the gazpacho, which cost an extra $1, had huge chunks of onion and tasted like canned tomatoes and refrigerator.” Even the rennovations are sounding a little dicey according to another commenter: “Walked by Milant. People inside looking like they were doing inventory or something. Place hasn’t been “renovated” and all the same food is sitting in there.”

It’s not sounding good. I walked by yesterday and the place was as described. Shuttered, with all the food still sitting in the windows and display cases. Not a good sign. We’ll see what happens when they re-open, but one thing is for sure… I may stay away on opening day (they’ve got to replace the old food, right?) In the meantime, I’m taking taking Milant off my favorites until they get their act together. Anybody have a worthy replacement for best sandwich in Midtown? Homefront Deli? Macaron Cafe? Feel free to post your thoughts in the comments…

Upsetting news from Midtown East… it appears as if the Department of Health paid a visit to Milant (on 39th btw. Lex+3rd) Friday afternoon, and shut them down. The “review” hasn’t been posted to the DOH website yet (their last one in March looks pretty stellar, aside from the fact that the DOH got their name wrong), but I talked to somebody at Milant who claimed it was a freezer temperature issue, which they immediately fixed on Friday afternoon. Now they’re just waiting for the inspector to return to give them the green light, which they hope will happen in time to open for lunch tomorrow (Wednesday).

I can’t help but wonder if this is related to the Food Trends DOH’ing that happened a month ago.  The post for that received a bunch of anti-Milant, pro-Food Trends comments that all came from the same IP address.  It certainly wouldn’t be unheard of for a competing deli full of internet shillers to call the Department of Health on a clearly superior next door neighbor.

But the real shocking news in this whole thing, comes after the jump… Read more »

Walked by a couple of shuttered establishments yesterday…

Super cheap Chinese steam table, Rong Bao Fast Food, on 38th btw. 7+8th, was mysteriously closed yesterday.  Not sure if this is permanent, but if it is, it’s no big surprise.  Given the choice between Rong Bao, and the newly renovated Ying Du directly across the street (formerly the 38th St. Restaurant and Bakery), I’d always go to Y.D.

How the DOH is pushing more business to the best sandwich shop in Midtown, after the jump… Read more »

Some places you just know are going to be good.  It may be rare, but it happens.  I trekked over to Milant, a tiny deli on 39th St. btw. 3rd & Lex. after getting a tip from a Midtown Lunch’er named Corey.  I’m not usually a big sandwich guy, and I almost never write about “delis”, but when I walked into this tiny take-out only place, something said to me “This is going to be good.”  Don’t let the name fool you though.  Milant is tiny, and sort of dumpy, but I think that’s part of its charm.  Take the same place and dress it up in fancy Midtown duds, and it probably wouldn’t be as good.

I don’t know if it was the crowd (there were about 5 or 6 people cramped in there waiting for their sandwiches), the price ($5 to $6.50 for some pretty sweet sounding sandwiches), the free soup (you get a free cup of soup) or the fridges full of nice cheeses and assorted pates- but I was not leaving this place empty handed.  Corey had told me to get the #13.  No explanation, or description… just an ”Order the #13.  It rocks.”  When I saw it on the menu, I knew I had found a winner. 

The #13, more food porn and a +/-, after the jump…

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