Midtown Lunch

The rumors about the clothing store Strawberry on 49th St. btw. 6+7th closing have turned out to be true, as evidenced by their gigantic closing sale signs.  They will be moving to a new location on Broadway and 54th at the end of August, clearing the way for a “high end” “high profile” seafood restaurant, according to some of the talk going around the building.  This information was made all the more interesting by this, which was printed in the NY Sun today:

Oceana (on 54th St. btw Park+Mad), is moving closer to the heart of Midtown after its lease expires in July of next year. The new space, whose location has not yet been disclosed, will be larger, with 200 seats and room for private dining.

Interesting… that sounds about right. If Oceana does take over the space, then this really has nothing to do with Midtown Lunch, but there is still the business of the former Duane Reade space which is empty on the opposite side of the building. Mini-Sizzler anybody?

I try my best not to be too negative on this site, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to vent. Every once in awhile I’ll share some of the more angry useful emails I get in a post called “Airing of Grievances”. (If the Eater Complaints Dept. would like royalties, I’ll be happy to pay up…)  These are both a week or two old, so apologies to both places if they’ve managed to miraculously fix their issues since these emails were sent.  I’m guessing they haven’t.

Please warn fellow Midtown Lunchers [about John’s Shanghai on 46th btw. 6+7th).] Here’s the review I posted on MenuPages: “I’ve ordered here many many times before and have never been so disappointed. Sure, restaurants have their off days, but today’s food was a complete insult. I had 6 orders in total, none came close to mediocre. General Tso’s chicken was just a pile of red chicken, no broccoli on the side or anything. Chicken and Brocolli was sweet. Double Sauteed Pork was sweet rather than spicy, and pork slices were too thick. Thought that was bad, here’s the icing on the cake. Soy Sauce Chicken over rice, they had the nerve to give us re-cooked chicken. I’m Chinese, I know! It looks like leftover soy sauce chicken reheated in the steamer. The skin on the chicken had shrunken a bit and the color from the soy sauce had come off already. Why would you dare serve something like that to a customer?!!?!?!??!?!!! I will NEVER order from them again!” Thanks, Lily.

Wow… I don’t even know what to say to that.  Luckily, John’s Shanghai has never really been considered a Midtown Lunch, so I don’t even really need to waste any time trying to interpret that rant.  The email I got about Ambrosia was a little more upsetting.  Why the generic deli (that became a ML favorite by adding Korean food) might have me re-thinking my “Best Bi Bim Bap in Midtown” claim- after the jump…   Read more »

Awhile back I posted a “Where to get Bubble Tea” Ask Midtown Lunch post, which yielded a few responses: Dishes (which is supposedly terrible) and Hing Won on 48th btw. 5+6th, which is not that bad. You can get in Koreatown on 32nd btw. B’way and 5th, but for those of us working in the heart of Midtown Lunch, there’s not much. I did however noticed the other day that Ying Du on 38th btw. 7+8th (formerly the 38th St. Restaurant and Bakery) is now serving bubble tea. For $2.50 you get a decent size cup, and the regular black tea version I had was pretty darn good (especially in the ridiculous heat,) and definitely better than Hing Won.

If you’re heading over to Go Go Curry today for your 3 free toppings coupons, you might want to check it out- it’s right next door.  Anybody else have a bubble tea suggestion?  Feel free to put it in the comments below…

I decided to stop by the Treats Truck yesterday after hearing rumors that the Wednesday lines have gotten crazy on 45th & 6th. Sure enough the line was down the block, and that was at 2:30!  I don’t even want to know what it’s like during peak lunch time.  That corner is easily owner Kim Ima’s most popular spot, and she used to park there twice a week, but now that it’s summertime, and the ice cream trucks are back she is only “allowed” to park in that spot once a week (competition among carts in Midtown is fierce, and there is a lot of politics and jockeying for position between the carts.)

You may remember the Treats Truck only started parking in that space regularly last winter, when the ice cream truck that has occupied that spot for years went into “hibernation.”  Clearly he’s back (it’s freakin hot out), which is why Sugar is only there once a week now- but I have a great idea to get the Treats Truck more days on 45th & 6th, and hopefully make the lines shorter…  Read more »

Whether you’re a Yankees fan, or a fried cutlet with Japanese curry fan, you’ll want to be at Go Go Curry tomorrow (Thursday, June 12th) where they’ll be celebrating Hideki Matsui’s Birthday by giving away 3 free topping cards to every customer. It’s not as good a deal as their $5 1 year anniversary day, but I’ll take it.

More important than that though, Go Go Curry has decided to top their oh so giant and awesome “Grand Slam” with a newly introduced “World Champion Curry.” Check it out (in all its greatness) after the jump…

Read more »

Fried Pork and Plantain Sandwich

Yesterday it was Gourmet Magazine editor Ruth Reichl shining a light on Midtown Lunch’ing, this morning it’s the New York Times.  Sophie’s Cuban, one of the more popular lunch’ing options we have (and not just because of their free lunch grand openings), is reviewed in the $25 and under column in the New York Times today.  Considering that the newest location (40th btw. 7+8th) is across the street from their building, it’s not all that surprising.  Pete wells pays special attention to the pork and plantain sandwich, calling it “authentic sandwich bliss.”  He also mentioned the all too familiar sensation of having your “mind go blank” shortly after eating it.  My brain is going numb just thinking about it. [NYT]

According to her profile on the Village Voice blog this morning, Ruth Reichl, the editor of Gourmet Magazine, works in Times Square and loves to eat lunch at Minar (46th btw. 6+7th) and the Chicken & Rice Cart on 43rd & 6th.  “I get white rice, the curried chicken with vegetables and extra red sauce, no white sauce.”  I don’t even understand what the words “no white sauce” mean, but you certainly get extra points for your choice of cart, and the guts to pile on the heat. I should take you to the Jamaican Dutchy.  Are you free tomorrow for lunch?  [Fork in the Road]

The new location of Joe and the Art of Coffee is scheduled to open tomorrow (6/11) in the graybar passage of Grand Central (enter off of Lex).  But according to an email they sent to “regular customers” they’ll be doing a “dress rehearsal” from 4 to 6pm today (Tuesday, 6/10) where they’ll be serving FREE coffee drinks and snacks.” 

Photo courtesy of Blondie and Brownie, the tip came courtesy of Tina “The Wandering Eater“.

If you missed the one on the left this weekend, get the one on the right today in Midtown

It was a porktastic weekend for everybody who braved the heat and hit up the Big Apple BBQ Block Party this weekend.  I stopped by for a bit on Sunday and enjoyed my personal favorite: Ed Mitchell’s whole hog sandwich.  A creation just as amazing as it sounds, he literally takes a whole pig out of the smoker, and chops it down into sandwich form (you may say the secret ingredient is the crispy bits of skin.)  If you missed it, and now you’re craving some ‘cue (there are alot of meat photos from Madison Sq. Park floating around flickr today) there really is only one for lunch today in Midtown:  the Daisy May’s BBQ cart on 50th btw. 6+7th. 

I though everybody knew about this pretty famous cart, but you’d be surprised.  They used to have a couple more carts on the east side, and one downtown- but it looks like those are gone for good, leaving 50th as your only option.  (Actually the last time a Daisy May’s cart was on the east side was for the filming of that new Adam Sandler “Zohan” movie.  Anybody see the cart in the movie?)

Seeing as how you probably won’t want to eat outside today (“Feels Like” 102° + 43% humidity = a very sweaty Zach), the cart does a real good job of packaging up everything to take back to your desk.  If you do eat outside,  you might want to snag one of their awesome sweet teas.  At $4, it’s a little pricey, but you get to keep the mason jar.