Midtown Lunch

Café Duke is such a tease. Ever since initial reports that bulgogi tacos were being haphazardly offered as a daily special at their Korean entrée counter, I’ve been fascinated by these tacos. After all, Bann Next Door took on the Korean taco concept and hit a home run, so I don’t see why Café Duke couldn’t replicate this success (and it’s a few avenues closer to work.) Besides, assembling a competent Korean taco is laughably easy in concept – just jam Korean meat into a taco (no double entendre intended), and you’re the next Roy Choi.

Café Duke has always been a staple in my weekly lunch rotation, given that it‘s a smorgasbord of wallet friendly options that appease my co-workers’ finicky spectrum of palates. But for weeks, I’ve bolted straight to the back counter, only to see a non-bulgogi taco special coquettishly playing with my emotions. We even sent ML contributor, Jeremiah, on a wild goose chase to hunt down these tacos at the 41st Street location, to no avail. However after weeks of speculation, my dumb perseverance and gullibility was finally rewarded.

I came. I saw. I conquered the elusive Café Duke bulgogi taco.
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I would never eat at Ted Montana Grill (on 51st btw. 6+7th).  What is this Mickey Mouse, owned by Ted Turner, we make bison burgers and are environmentally friendly BS. I’ve got much better places to eat lunch. What’s that you say?  They’re offering a $10 lunch special with mini burgers, meatloaf and more?  Well, I suppose I could check it out.  You know, for work purposes.

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A new day, brings another sandwich entry in the Midtown Sandwich Challenge. Actually… another *two* sandwiches. That’s right. The Jamaican Dutchy cart (on 51st & 7th) has created two sandwiches, and one of them is the first vegetarian entry in the challenge. Although the spirit of the challenge is to create something outrageous and unhealthy, that shouldn’t disqualify the sandwich from being vegetarian. And I commend the Dutchy for coming up with a sandwich that allows people who don’t eat meat to take part in our fun sandwich taste off. It also helps that the vegetarian sandwich is freakin’ good.

Check them both out after the jump… 

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Uh… yeah.  You heard me right.  Soft shelled mother f’ing crabs on a Midtown by the lb. buffet.  That is what I discovered at the Cafe Duke on 51st btw. 6+7th yesterday. I’ve already written a bunch about how much I love their by the lb. buffet, but this just put it over the top.  Soft shelled crab! I’m still giddy thinking about it.  This could be the biggest money item to ever show up on one of these generic Midtown deli buffets (the ones that cost under $10 a pound anyway).  And, they don’t even weigh that much (especially compared to other stuff like fruit and bone in chicken).  It really is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen at a by the pound buffet.

At $7.79 a pound, Cafe Duke by the lb. is on the high end of these kind of crappy Midtown options… but for the quality it is definitely worth it.  The food always looks fresh, every choice looks damn tasty, and the sauce they put on their fake jumbo shrimp makes me not mind that they are trying to fake you into thinking you’re actually getting shrimp. 

How they were, a shot of my lunch, and the one big downside- after the jump…

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A few weeks ago I wrote about how the new Carribean Spice cart (on 46th btw. 6+7th) was distinguishing themselves from the Jamaican Dutchy (on 51st & 7th) by offering coco bread, the perfect vehicle for a Jamaican patty.  Well, it turns out the Jamaican Dutchy has coco bread as well… in fact they’ve always had it.  For $3.25 it’s still the perfect snack, and now that I know the Dutchy has it, roti is really the only reason to go to the Carribean Spice cart.

Oh… and speaking of the Jamaican Dutchy, they’ve got a new LED screen:

Exciting news for the people who wondered if anybody would ever upstage that hot dog cart on 53rd & 5th.

Jerk Chicken at the Jamaican Dutchy

Julia Moskin has a great Jamaican jerk feature in this mornings New York Times and guess who should pop up, but our good friends at the Jamaican Dutchy (on 51st & 7th Ave.)  She interviews owner Oneil Reid and calls his jerk chicken one of “the best truck lunches in the city.”  No argument here.

But the most interesting part to me is what the article had to say about jerk pork, and why Oneil doesn’t offer it at the Dutchy:

He said that he would like to make jerk pork sometimes, but that many of the other food vendors, and the taxi drivers who inch past his cart in Midtown traffic, are Muslim, and the pork smell bothers them.

That’s a bummer, although entirely commendable.

The new location of Golden Krust on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th. has finally opened.  The Caribbean chain (which has multiple locations in NYC) will be offering a special grand opening lunch special price of $5.99 for fried chicken, stewed chicken or curry chicken served with rice & vegetables.  They have 3 other locations in Midtown…

• 33rd St. btw. 5th+Mad
• 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th
• A kiosk in Grand Central Terminal food court 

Golden Krust too much of a trek from your office?  Or maybe you’re just feeling lazy, but still want some jerk chicken?  The Jamaican Dutchy cart on 51st & 7th now offers delivery.  It’s a $15 minimum order, so you’ll need to get at least one other person in on the plan before calling (646-287-5004 or 347-213-2851).  Actually an afternoon office Jamaican beef patty party doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

Cupcake question, and El Sabroso hits the blogs, after the jump… Read more »

Gotta take it easy at lunch today so I’m in tip top shape for the Choice Eats Festival tonight at the Puck Bldg (advance tickets are sold out, but there will be limited $35 tickets at the door starting at 5:30pm- more details here).  So, I headed over to one of the few generic Midtown delis I can stomach (Cafe Duke on 51st btw. 6+7th) for some sushi (that’s about as light as it gets for me).  I could do without the california roll, but any place that gives me eel, spicy tuna and one other raw fish/avocado roll together in one sushi box is alright in my book (even if it’s $8.95, and the rolls are half the size of a normal sushi roll).

Of course, I can’t leave Cafe Duke without some of their delicious fake shrimp.  With $1.05 left in my budget, I can handle two “shrimps”… Read more »

After a one month “process” of securing a new license for their cart, The Jamaican Dutchy has returned to 51st St. & 7th Ave.  And not a moment too soon (it’s getting freaking cold).  A new line of hot soups, potato pudding and a complete breakfast menu has been added to the old standby lunchtime favorites, like jerk chicken, sweet and sour chicken, oxtails, and curry goat. 

It’s a two year license, so they won’t be going anywhere for awhile.  And for all you weekend warriors, having the Dutchy open on Saturday is in the works…

Midtown is about to lose an O.G. lunch destination…

House of Pita has lost the lease to their original location– the window space on 48th btw. 5+6th.  You can still enjoy their delicious falafels & burekas (plus more) at the newer full service location on 46th btw. 5+6th,  but today is the last day to get your fix out of the window.  It was one of my first Midtown Lunches, and I will miss it (the window, that is).

The Jamaican Dutchy Cart on 51st & 7th will also be closed starting tomorrow.  More on that, after the jump… Read more »