Curry Dream Indian Buffet
Ever since the $8.99 Rangole Indian Buffet closed, I’ve been searching for a replacement in Midtown. Sure, I could spend $12.95 and up for a fancy Indian Buffet (there are plenty of them)- but I really wanted to find something under $10. Sukhadia, the vegetarian Indian buffet is really good, but it’s $10.95, and there’s no meat- so it doesn’t really qualify as a full fledged replacement. When I posted about that place, a few people recommended Curry Dream.
Curry Dream is a middle of the road Indian restaurant on 39th btw. 5th & 6th with a lunchtime buffet that costs $9.95. (Anything under $10 is very exciting to me!!!) Overall the food was better than Rangole (not too difficult), and for the price it is easily the best Indian buffet deal in Midtown.
What’s on the buffet, pictures and a +/- after the jump… Read more »
Posted by Zach at 8:36 am, March 1st, 2007 under 39th btw. 5+6th, Buffet, All You Can Eat, Curry Dream, Indian.
City 75 is not usually the type of place I eat at (or write about), but after last week’s 
Now, before you email me with “I’m a woman, and I eat at the ‘Man Bar’!!!”, I want to say this- I’m sure a lot of you women eat at the “Man Bar” in City 75- but you also read this blog… and those two things put you in the minority of Midtown Lunching Women (When I say “most women”, I’m talking about your annoying co-workers. If they are not reading this blog, they clearly have no taste in food). The simple fact is this… if the “Man Bar” wasn’t there, most men would not set foot into City 75 (it’s way too fancy, and expensive). And if the rest of the place disappeared, and City 75 was only the “Man Bar”, and nothing else, most Midtown Lunch’ing women wouldn’t eat there. It’s the perfect blending of the two that makes a nicely dressed business woman (with every intention of eating a salad) willing to eat a steak and cheese sandwich, and a guy like me willing to eat at a place like City 75.
I finally made it down to the brand new Popeyes 
Fried chicken is a whole different ball game. I don’t care what kind of prejudice you have against fast food places, I’m telling you, Popeyes is frickin good. If you want delicious fried chicken, you will be hard pressed to find some that tastes better than the spicy chicken at Popeyes. Sure, your extra money might buy you better side dishes, a fancier atmosphere and organic chickens that were treated very nicely before they were dipped in batter and fried up crispy… but in the end, when you are just talking about taste- Popeyes can hold its own with the best of them.
There seems to be a new trend emerging in Midtown. Korean food is taking over! It seems as if everywhere you go, someone is serving Korean food in an unlikely place. It is almost as if the Korean restaurant owners in Midtown have realized, “We don’t have have to serve Mexican food and Sushi! Our food is delicious, and people will eat it!” Sure, a lot of people still don’t know what Bulgogi is (it is Korean BBQ’d beef by the way), and Bi Bim Bap sounds like weird Jazz… but it doesn’t change the fact that if you like Asian food, you should not be afraid of Korean. It’s delicious, and this is a welcome trend. 
For me, the whole thing started with 
Pro Hot Bagel, a deli on 56th btw. 5+6th has been taken over by Korean & Japanese food. It started slow when a few months ago they added a small sushi bar to their mammoth list of sandwiches (and bagels). But recently they have gone all out, adding a Udon/Soba station, that also serves Bento Boxes, Bulgogi Boxes & Bi Bim Bap.
Every day I have to think about what defines a Midtown Lunch. There are definitely rules that I have set up for myself, but not all places fit exactly into the guidelines. I don’t usually eat at fast food chains, but my love of New Orleans gives me a soft spot for Popeyes. I almost never write about delis, but if there is one that is willing to stuff a burrito with fried plantains, then I’m there. All my lunches are under $10, but for good ramen, or an all you can eat buffet I’ve been known to go up to $12.
But that is just one end of the spectrum. The other end is the place that fits every rule. Weighing the positives and negatives isn’t necessary, because it is the perfect Midtown Lunch spot. El Rincon del Sabor is one of those places. Cheap. Check. Something different (it’s Ecuadorian food). Check. Authentic. Check. Homemade. Check. Not a chain (owned by real people). Check. Hidden (it’s on the fourth floor of a Diamond District building with a paper sign that you wouldn’t notice unless you were looking for it). Check. And best of all, it’s got history. 
El Rincon del Sabor has spent the past 12 years dishing out delicious Ecuadorian food on 46th St. btw. 5th & 6th. A few months ago, they moved to a new location (47th St. btw. 5th & 6th), but the food is still the same. There is a rotating menu of dishes every single day, and even though there is a printed menu a breakdown of the week, it doesn’t always match exactly. The best way to find out what’s being served is to give them a call. I went last Wednesday with 3 co-workers and we sampled four of the 10 or so dishes they had available.
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. 
Everybody loves falafel! So the second week of Midtown Lunch’s existence was dubbed Falafel Week- and each day I visited and wrote about a different Midtown falafel joint (
Bread & Olive is a Lebanese take out place on 45th btw. 5th & 6th ave. They have both beef and chicken shwarma, kafta, delicious homemade breads, and an array of maza (Lebanese salads and dips). There is a small seating area in the back, but most people take the food to go. Everything is Lebanese style, so the spices are going to be different than the shwarma at an Israeli place, or the gyro from a Greek place.