The Urban Lobster Shack’s Twitter account has been pretty active since they opened their new Midtown location. Just before New Year’s they took over the little take out space in the basement food court on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th, that used to be occupied by Yorganic, and since then they’ve been sending out messages about mascots, shrimp & mussels lunch specials, and of course the $10 lobster roll. In this world you always get you pay for, but the under $10 lobster roll has a special place in my heart. I wrote about the one at Fairway for Serious Eats, and always dreamed that eventually Midtown would get its own.

Did I expect beautiful big lumps of lobster meat, no filler, and a fully intact claw adorning the top? Of course not. I’d settle for a decent size sandwich, that tastes somewhat like lobster. (What can I say… for $10 you have to lower your standards.) Thankfully Urban Lobster Shack doesn’t disappoint.

You could argue about the proper makeup of a lobster roll (and you guys have), but for $10 if you don’t mind mayo, and celery, this guy was pretty good. Decent size, good amount of “meat” (and by that, I mean that they stuff the hot dog bun with a good amount of the lobster salad), and it tasted like lobster. Is it as good as the almost $30 lobster rolls you get around the city? Of course not. And even though I haven’t been, just from looking at photos I can tell it won’t hold a candle to the $14 lobster roll at Luke’s in the East Village. But this is Midtown, and with our options limited- this is the best we’re going to do. Toss in a caesar salad, and I’m sold.

And the best part is, for those who though the $10 lobster roll lunch special was a temporary grand opening special… it’s not. They told me at the register that it’s permanent, not just here in Midtown- but also at the Downtown location. So Urban Lobster Roll is officially a proper Midtown Lunch, and Midtown officially has an under $10 lobster (salad) roll.

THE +

• I love mayo
• I don’t care what it tastes like.  If I can get a lobster roll lunch for $10, I’m in.
• For the price you’re not really going to do much better
• Did I mention I love mayo?

THE -

• I hate mayo
• The lobster “salad” is more like tuna fish.  Where’s the chunks?  Where’s the claw?
• Celery has no business being in a lobster roll.  And where’s the butter?
• I’d rather pay more $$ and get a better product
• Did I mention I hate mayo?

Urban Lobster Shack, 805 3rd Ave. (btw. 49+50th) in the Basement

Silo Cafe has opened in the food court that houses Pampano Taqueria and Sohpie’s Cuban (on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th.)  On first glance it’s just another generic Midtown Deli, but I got this message from a lunch’er the other day:

I know cheap (or even better free) stuff seems to get good mileage on your site, so I thought you’d be interested in hearing that Silo Cafe finally opened in the Pompano food court (50th and Lex). It is probably not much better than your basic (upscaleish) deli at $7.50/lb, except for the udon, bibimbap and sushi bar in the back. My veggie bibimbap was pretty big and also came with miso soup for just $6.50. Chicken and beef are only a dollar more. I’m relatively new to the midtown scene, but to my untrained tastebuds it was also pretty good and they whipped it up for me in about 3 minutes. To top it off, the cashier handed me a coupon for a free breakfast item when I left. You can beat that can you?

Well, you know I’m a sucker for free stuff (and bibimbap), so I headed over the other day to check it out… 

The bi bim bap had some positives and negatives.  We’ll start with the bad.  Scrambled eggs?  Uh… that’s strange.  True bi bim bap should have a fried egg, and ideally it will be fried fresh and sunny side up/over easy so that you can break the yolk over the top of the whole thing.  I kind of think no egg would be better than scrambled egg.  None of the veggies were traditional either, and they mixed it up for you- so you don’t get to regulate how much sauce you want in there.  It was more of a cold Korean beef salad mixed with rice. That being said, it was plenty spicy, and the flavor was not bad. You also got a free soup with it. Not the best bi bim bap (even for a deli), but if you have to eat at a deli, this is one of your better ordering options.

I probably wouldn’t go back, but they gave me a coupon for a free breakfast item- so now I kind of have to.  The coupon expires on September 19th, and they were giving them out on Friday, so I would assume they may be giving them out until the end of the week?  I guess you can take your chances…

In addition to Silo Cafe opening, it appears as if the construction in the Crystal Pavillion food court is finally completed.  There is now extra seating for you to sit and enjoy your lunch.

Silo Cafe, 805 Third Ave. (btw. 49+50th) in the Crystal Food Pavillion, 212-532-0639

The food court on 3rd Ave. (btw. 49+50th) that is home to Pampano Taqueria, Sophie’s Cuban, Pump, and Yorganic is about to welcome another addition: the Silo Cafe. This will be the chain’s second branch in Midtown (there is another one located just-in-bounds on 32nd St. btw. Park+Madison), and from the looks of their website it’s just another generic Midtown deli. However, the 32nd St. location does have udon, teriyaki and bibimbap, so this place might be worth a quick looksee, provided they follow suit. The basement of the Crystal Pavillion is finally starting to look less like a war zone, and more like a food court.  (I love food courts.)

Anybody been to the Silo Cafe on 32nd? Feel free to comment below- the good citizens of 3rd avenue are eagerly awaiting your opinions. And if you want to see photos of the interior, they are posted after the jump… 

As you know, we’ve been burned by offers of “free yogurt” before, so I confirmed with the owner- it’s a 5oz serving of yogurt with one topping.  (I don’t know if that’s alot, but i’m pretty sure it’s more than a thimble full.)  As you can see from the flier above, they’ll have another free yogurt day on May 27th from 11am to 3pm, exclusively for the tenants of the building- but it’s unclear exactly how they are going to differentiate from the average freeloaders (check building IDs perhaps?)  Might be worth a shot on the 27th if you work in the building next door- but if you don’t want to chance it, tomorrow is the day.

Thanks to Gracenotes NYC for the orginal heads up…

UPDATE: Plus I totally forgot to mention that our Downtown Lunch Correspondent Daniel Krieger took some sweet ass yogurt photos, and forwarded them along (did we mention he does weddings too?).  Check out the yogurt w/ topping porn, after the jump  

Photos by Daniel Krieger

Man I love free food.

Unfortunately, the one drawback to this food (and the thing that makes it difficult in the context of Midtown Lunch’ing) is the price.  Smoked fish is expensive.  It’s tough to get a bagel with lox or whitefish in this city for under $10, which made the “discovery” of Ess a Bagel all the more exciting.  I say “discovery” because Ess a Bagel is not exactly a hidden gem.  When people argue about the best bagels in New York City, it will almost always come up, and while their original location is on 21st & 1st Ave., they have a second location on 3rd Ave. & 50th.  Or as I like to call it Midtown Lunch East.

What they’ve got, bagel porn, the +/- and exactly how they “got me”, after the jump…

Ess a Bagel has got everything you could ever want in a bagel place (and a few things you don’t).  The bagels are made on premise, steaming up the plastic shelves that hold them, and they have a wide selection of smoked fish, and salads to top off your bagel.  They also have a not quite natural size selection of cream cheese, but I don’t know if I consider that a +.  Blueberry, Strawberry & Apple/Cinnamon are words that should never appear in front of “Cream Cheese”, especially in any self respecting deli in New York City.  South Miami, maybe.  But New York?  I’m sure they are delicious (why wouldn‘t they be?),  but it’s just not right.  Raisin walnut?  Come on now.  It’s bad enough they started putting raisins and blueberries in bagels.  Do we really need them in the creamed cheese?

I’m also not a big fan of the bagel sandwich.  It throws off the whole bagel to topping ratio.  Bagels should be eaten open faced, each side topped with cream cheese, smoked fish and whatever else you like.  Eating this way allows you to enjoy twice the amount of fish, and it’s not overpowered by the double shot of bagel.  Bagel sandwiches are for the same kind of people who like their pastrami sandwiches on white bread.  It’s an abomination of nature.  Although, I do understand that it is lunch time, and a lot of people need to take their lunch to go.  Platters are offered, but they are more expensive, and I understand the sandwich is much more convenient for Midtown Lunch’ing purposes.  I’ll let it slide this time, but if I see you doing that at your Grandma’s house it’s not going to fly.

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, on to Ess a Bagel.  The good.  Bagels are quality, and cooked fresh.  The bad, neon colored cream cheese.  Now, onto the price.  I was excited about Ess a Bagel, because there were a few smoked fish options that fell well within the boundaries of Midtown Lunch’ing.  I want a bagel with lox or white fish, but I don’t want to pay $10 or more for it, and while I don’t mind the cream cheese with lox mixed in, it’s a cop out- and if I could find the real thing, I wouldn‘t have to settle. 

Ess a Bagel offered me just that.  The Nova or Lox w/ Cream Cheese bagel was $7.45.  Still an expensive lunch, but well within the bounds of Midtown Lunch, and better than what you usually get for an $8 sandwich in Midtown.  But that wasn‘t good enough for me.  I was drawn to a different item on the menu.  White fish sandwich.  $5.95.  Jackpot!  We have a winner.  Not whitefish salad, but whitefish- and a whole $1.50 cheaper than the smoked salmon.  Very exciting, and immediately ordered it.  That’s when the shennanigans began.

Me: “Do I get cream cheese with that?”  (Because after all, what’s a bagel without cream cheese)

Guy behind the counter: “You can get whatever you want.”

Me: “Great.  I’ll take cream cheese”

Guy behind the counter: “You want the works?”

Me: “What’s the works?”

Guy behind the counter: “Onion, tomato, capers.”

Me: “Sure, sounds great!”

A few minutes later, my creation comes out- cost to me, $8.45.  What happened to $5.95???  We were cruising.  I was excited.  And now, my lunch is $8.45?  How did that happen?  The cashier kindly explained.  The extras.  Tomato.  Extra.  Cream Cheese.  Extra.  Capers.  Extra.  (Onions, I think were free- thankfully).  All in all, $2.50 extra for things that rightfully belong on a bagel (I don’t remember saying I wanted lettuce, but I’m pretty sure I got charged for it.)

Alright Ess a Bagel.  You win.  You got me.  I was fooled.  I should have read the fine print.  I should have looked closer to the part of the menu that said “Things that you would expect to be on the bagel, free of charge, will cost you extra money.”  But here’s the thing.  There is no part of that on the menu.  Nowhere did it say that tomato is extra.  Or capers.  Or even the freakin cream cheese.  Who is going to order a whitefish sandwich on a bagel without cream cheese.  The guy behind the counter could have told me, but I guess he was too busy.  They could have put it on the menu, but they didn‘t.

And that ladies and gentleman, is how they getcha.

THE +

• Arguably some of the best bagels in New York City
• Everything you could ever want from a real New York bagel place.  Nova, Lox, Whitefish, Sable, Pickled Herring… the list goes on and on.
• If you know what to order, and are careful, the prices are not terrible.  You just have to know what you are getting into.

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

• I live around the corner from the H&H Bagel Factory, where they make the bagels for the rest of the city.  From a pure bagel standpoint, you can’t find a better bagel in New York than the one that comes fresh out of the oven from the H&H on 46th & 12 Ave.
• No self respecting bagel place should have fruit flavored cream cheeses.
• The pricing structure is not written anywhere on the menu, so it is very difficult to gauge exactly how much you are going to pay for your lunch
• They have various “salad” sandwiches but the only bread is bagels… so if you are looking for an Egg Salad sandwich on rye, you are out of luck.

Ess a Bagel, 831 3rd. Ave. (btw. 50+51st), 212-980-1010

I got two, and discovered one of the greatest scams I had ever fallen prey to.  They’re not real shrimp!!!  I couldn’t believe it.  Actually, I could believe it.  It reminded me of this thing I once learned about Professional Gamblers.  There are teams of gamblers who when a new table game opens up anywhere in the world, they find out about it, and run the numbers, trying to find a single wager that will beat the game.  While most are games are tirelessly tested before being put into a casino, every once in awhile a game’s creator will make a mathematical error that leaves the game open to being “broken”.  The team will fly to his location, bet the one wager for hours and hours, until the casino realizes their mistake and shuts the game down.

I guess that’s why I wasn’t surprised about the shrimp.  Can you imagine if the Jumbo shrimp were real?  For $6.99 a lb?  Hoards of fat guys (like me) would be crowded around the buffet, loading up on jumbo shrimp… trying to ”beat the game”.  Thankfully, the fake shrimp were delicious so I wasn’t too upset about being duped.  I’m not sure exactly what they are made of, but I’m guessing it is a rice cake type of mixture (or imitation crab meat… although it didn’t have that fake fishy flavor that imitation crab has).  The best part about the scam… the “shrimp” are not only colored and shaped to look like shrimp, they even have the indentation where the tail was pulled off.  Such detail.  It’s like art.

The Midtown Lunch guide to eating at a Buffet by the lb… after the jump.

Although I don’t eat at deli by the lb. buffets too often, I’ve decided to give the five tips I use when taking the very dangerous plunge of eating a lunch where the price is determined by how much it weighs.  Here goes…

1. Beware the fruit!!!!  Aside from the fact that I usually avoid things that are healthy, fruit can be very tricky at one of these places.  If you must have fruit, try to avoid the melons (especially watermelon).  They are cut in gigantic chunks for a reason, and heavy with water.  If you have to get fruit, try to find a buffet with more expensive fruits, like raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.  And under no circumstances should you top that fruit with yogurt or cottage cheese!
2. Load up on meats (and seafood and cheeses).  While the Asian choices are usually bogged down with heavy breading, it’s still always better to eat the meats then not eat the meats.  Chicken and pork are ok, but beef is usually your best choice, and if you find a buffet with seafood, you’ve hit the jackpot.  Most shrimp dishes are loaded with other items, so try to pick out the shrimp- and salmon or calamari is always a good choice.  In the case of fried chicken, boneless strips are always better.  With the wings, don’t forget you’re paying for that bone.  Fresh mozzarella is also a decent item… just make sure to pick around any cheaper items they mix it with.
3. Atkins diet anyone?  Beware the carbs.  It’s tough, but try to avoid the carbs at buffets.  Rice, lo mein, potatoes and noodle salads are all very cheap to make.  If you are going to go for one of these items, it better be really tasty… and don’t load up.  Or, pick a carb that is mixed with a bigger money item, like “Shrimp Pasta”.
4. Beware the dumplings.  One of my favorite things about these buffets is the Asian items (big surprise)- but you have to be very careful, especially with the dumplings.  Beware of the super doughy ones.  They are very very heavy.   If you do have to get them (personally, I’m addicted) make sure they are filled with meat- not vegetables.  A veggie filled, super doughy dumpling, can seriously impact your bottom line.
5. Find a good balance between price and quality of choices.  In the end, the most important decision you can make is which buffet to go to.  Find a middle ground between price and quality.  Some buffets may be $5 per pound, but don’t have any quality items, making it very difficult to beat.  But the nicer buffets, with various fishes and big money items, may charge you upwards of $10 a lb, making the cheaper, filler items a gigantic rip off.

I don’t eat at these places too often, but there are two that I’ve eaten at and would recommend.  On the West side, I’m still a fan of Cafe Duke (51st btw. 6+7th).  It turns out a lot of these buffets use the fake shrimp… so I’m not too mad (and at least their version tastes delicious).  On the East side, Azure (picture to the left) is better than most (3rd ave. & 51st).  Both have a nice balance between quantity, quality and price.  And of course, I have to mention Ho Yip the chinese buffet by the lb that is $3.75 if you go after 2:15pm!

I don’t intend to eat at too many of the these buffets, so if you know of a good one (or have better tips than mine), feel free to post your recommendations as a comment below.

If you need an example of what I’m talking about, go to Tehuitzingo on 10th Ave. (btw. 47th & 48th) after work one night.  It’s far west, but worth the trip.  It’s a tiny bodega that happens to have a small window in the back, where these two women turn out some of the best tacos I’ve ever had.  And by “best” I mean done the way they do them on every street corner in L.A. (where I spent the two years before I moved to NYC).  Nothing fancy… just good.  Two soft corn tortillas, some delicious meat (roast pork, delicious stringy beef, stewed chicken, etc), onions, cilantro and some salsa verde on the side.  Delicious!  No hard shell tacos served from a cart with a sombrero.  No fancy rice or grilled vegetables.  The real deal.

When I wrote these things a month ago, I got a number of suggestions for good Mexican food in Midtown- and they all pointed me to the same place:  Pampano Taqueria.  It was recommended to me as a great place, with delicious tacos and burritos, in the basement of this building on 3rd Ave. btw. 49th & 50th.  With visions of Tehuitzingo East running through my head… I ventured cross town in search of some decent Midtown Mexican!

My disappointment, happy surprise, pictures, and the +/- all after the jump…

Let me first say, I wholeheartedly recommend Pampano Taqueria.  It’s not the savior I was looking for- but I admit, any problems I had with the place were solely because of expectations, and had nothing to do with the food (which in the end is the most important thing.)  My first problem was, I couldn’t find the stupid place.  I saw a sign that said Pampano, on 49th st btw. 3rd and 2nd- so I went in and was surprised to find a pretty upscale, modern Mexican sit down restaurant with $11 and $12 lunch entrees.  This was definitely not the taco mecca I was looking for…

The lady at the front kindly informed me that the Pampano Taqueria was in the Crystal Pavillion Food Court, which I could find around the corner.  I entered on 3rd Ave., went down the escalator, and found what can best be described as an “Under Construction” Food Court.  Now, I am a huge fan of the food court.  Always have been.  What’s not to like?  Something for everyone… There’s always the cheap Chinese food (with the free samples of orange chicken) for me- and then a bunch of other crap that my wife can choose from.  (Quite frankly, I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t eat the cheap Chinese food.)

Anyway, this was easily the worst food court I’ve ever been in.  No cheap Chinese food.  No Japanese teriyaki place.  Not even a Chick-Fil-A.  And nobody giving out free samples of anything.  As a matter of fact, only three places were even open.  Some “fitness” health place that helps you to bulk up, or tone up or whatever, some other place that I didn’t even bother to check out., and Pampano Taqueria- a Mexican take out counter with food made in the fancy modern Mexcian restaurant upstairs.  All hopes of an authentic taco mecca, down the tubes.

That’s it for the complaints.  Here’s the good news.  Once I got over my shock of how nice a place it was (I was hoping for authentic… and by authentic, I mean dirty), I ordered a torta and a taco.  A torta is a Mexican sandwich usually stuffed with pulled pork or beef, avocado or guacamole, maybe some lettuce and or tomato, and sour cream.  This one was not the best, but it was in the better half of tortas I’ve had.  The roast pork, or chilorio, as it’s listed on the menu was delicious, and it came on nice crusty bread with guacamole and the flavor of cilantro.

The taco was a bit more hit or miss.  I thought the chicken part of the taco was a little boring… but the corn tortilla was the big star of the day.  You only get one, but that one tortilla is totally delicious- probably due to the fact that they are homemade (if they aren’t than they have a really amazing supplier).  3 tacos, with rice beans and a drink is a moderately priced $8.95… but you can only choose from carne asada, chicken or shrimp.  Based on my experience, the next time I go back- pork taco is the way to go!  They also have agua fresca ($2), a different flavor every day- made with fresh fruit.  I tried the melon one, which was clearly made with fresh cantaloupe.  Refreshing, and good.

The food is made fresh to order, so expect to wait at least 10 minutes for your order.  Right before I got there, a huge order came in, and I ended up waiting over 20.  I would recommend calling ahead to order, so you don’t have to wait.

THE +

• Your options for cheap, quick Mexican are pretty limited and this is one of the best Midtown has to offer
• Amazing homemade corn tortillas
• Really good roast pork (if you are into that sort of thing)

THE -

• The chicken was sort of boring… so if you don’t like pork, beef or shrimp, and you like your chicken stewed in plenty of spices- you may not like the chicken tacos at this place (on the flip side, if you like your chicken boring- they might be perfect for you!)
• Really long wait during peak lunch times, if you don’t order in advance
• Can get a little expensive depending on what you order… but overall it is really well priced
• It’s not a dingy shack.  It’s actually part of a “Modern Mexican” food empire that includes restaurants in Vegas, NYC, Denver, San Fran & D.C.   I wanted a dingy shack!!!

Pampano Taqueria, Crystal Food Pavilion, 805 3rd Ave., btw. 49th & 50th.  212-651-5257