Midtown Lunch

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…

Tomorrow is Jamaica’s Independence Day, and Golden Krust  is celebrating by selling their jerk chicken patties for 99 cents the entire month of August. With the Jamaican Dutchy (on 51st & 7th) readily available, I’ve never given GK their full +/-, but with 4 locations in Midtown- maybe it’s time. Thoughts?

4 Locations in Midtown:

• 33rd btw. Mad+5th
• 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th
• 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th
• Grand Central Terminal Food Court (although this is just a kiosk, so I’m not positive if they are participating in the August promotion)

Fresh on the heels of yesterdays post on how to make a complete Midtown Lunch out of free samples comes this ridiculousness.  Free sushi samples, on the street, in the hot sun, from a pizza place.  No joke.  Yesterday, Madrit’s Pronto Pizza on 55th btw. 5+6th added a sushi bar to their establishment, and to generate interest they were giving away free samples today in front of the store. I’d like to pretend like I didn’t try it, but I’m a gross man, and couldn’t help myself.  Luckily I’m still alive to type this…

I don’t think I’ll ever be getting the sushi from Madrit’s Pronto, but they do have a pretty sweet outdoor seating area in the back, so I may have to go back for a slice.

Photo by seraphim1970

Thanks to Gen from Foodies R Goodies for passing this info along.  Naruto Sushi, the take out Japanese place on 49th btw. Mad+5th is now Shinbashi 49.  Operated out of the back of the upscale sushi restaurant of the same name, Naruto was originally designed to be its own separate store, with its own management.  The owners decided that wasn’t working, so now it’s being run by the same people who run Shinbashi on 48th btw. Mad+5th.

I may be on crack, but it looks like there may have been an improvement in the quality of the rice since I wrote about Naruto.  I didn’t try anything, so I don’t know for sure… but if you work in the area, and are looking for decent take out sushi, you could probably do a lot worse than this place.  If you check it out, feel free to comment below.

And for more photos, check out Gen’s post at FoodiesRGoodies

 
Remember when I wrote about the bento boxes Chiyoda Sushi (on 41st btw. Mad+5th) was selling out of plastic tubs on 49th btw. 6+7th?  Well it appears as if the Chiyoda guy has been replaced by another dude selling Japanese bento boxes out of plastic tubs in the same spot.  This new guy is from the Washoku Cafe, a new Japanese lunch place that is opening soon on 37th btw. Mad+5th.  The actual storefront isn’t set to open for a little while, but in the meantime you can sample their food from this random sidewalk vendor.  Every day he’s on 49th btw. 6+7th with different bentos, rice bowls, noodle dishes, sushi and rice balls (omusubi).  Almost everything is $6 to $7.50, and depending on the day he’ll offer anything from eel ($9) to beef bowls ($6), sushi sets ($7.50) to cold udon and soba ($6).

The guy is only out there until around 12:30/12:45 so by the time I showed up yesterday the pickings were slim.  What I got is after the jump…  Read more »

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…  Read more »

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.

The summer edition of the Rock Center Farmer’s Market is officially up and running.  They’ll be setting up every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from now through the end of August.  Just like last fall, they’re just north of the Rink Bar, serving up fruit, veggies, cheese, bread, pastries, and more.  Blondie and Brownie hit it up yesterday, and have a complete report.

It’s been four months since the last new burger place opened in Midtown (crazy, right?) so you knew just by the law of averages we were due.  The winner… Burger 41, which appears to be taking over the Burger King that used to be across from Cafe Zaiya on 41st btw. Mad+5th.  What you see on their very Burger King’ish sign is all I know about this place, and from the look of the inside we’re still a ways away (unless they plan on keeping the Burger King menu, and set up.)

The Burger King graveyard, after the jump… Read more »

After Frank Bruni awarded Szechuan Gourmet 2 stars in yesterday’s New York Times, I panicked. Of course I was excited for the place, but a lot of that excitement merely served to hide an underlying fear. I will never be able to eat lunch in Szechuan Gourmet again. And even if I could get in, would it still be the same? Doesn’t Wu Liang Ye (on 48th btw. 5+6th) and all the rest of the Midtown Chinese dinosaurs have New York Times articles in their windows? And look at them now. Not terrible, but shells of their former selves. Granted, those articles were from 1984, but who’s counting.

With all this in mind we rushed over to Grand Szechuan for lunch yesterday, mere hours from the time that Bruni’s accolades were made public, super curious over what we would find. Pandemonium? Sub par food from a cocky overwhelmed kitchen? Mass hysteria? As I walked up 39th St. I noticed a few people with dejected looks on their faces carrying take out menus back to their office. Not a good sign. Read more »