Midtown Lunch

I am a little gay for farmer’s markets.  It’s something that’s happened in the past year, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  I love picking out fresh produce, and knowing that it is not only super fresh, but that it was actually grown really close to where it’s going to end up being eaten.  You might be surprised to know that underneath this fat exterior of a guy, who eats some of the unhealthiest things for lunch every day, is actually somone who goes home every night and cooks dinner for his hard working wife.  Last night, it was Thai green curry, with fresh basil purchased yesterday from the just opened Midtown Farmer’s Market!

I’m excited to report, yesterday was the first day of the annual Midtown Farmer’s Market.  Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for the next two months, there will be a Greenmarket, with fresh fruit, veggies, cheese, jam and more- all set up right in front of 30 Rock (between 49th & 50th, between 5th & 6th Ave.)  It may not be ideal for Midtown Lunch’ing, but it is great for a piece of fruit to go with your already purchased lunch, or a little dessert from one of the places selling baked goods.

Each day will bring a different rotation of local farms selling stuff, but here are some of the ones I saw yesterday:  Red Jacket Orchards, Newfield Farms, Migliorelli Farm (Trivoli, NY), Katchkie Farm, Valley Shepherd, Meredith’s Bread (Kingston, NY), and Breezy Hill Orchard.  To find out more about the greenmarkets in NYC go to http://www.cenyc.org/.  Now, on to the porn:

More pics after the jump… Read more »

I always thought the cheap Chinese place in a food court was untouchable.  Like a hot dog stand in front of the Museum of Natural History- some places don’t need to be good to make money, they just need to show up.  After all, who can resist orange chicken in a food court.

So much for that theory.  Manchu Wok, the terrible Chinese food place in the Rock Center Councourse, has closed.  I never met a cheap chinese food place I didn’t like… until I ate at Manchu Wok- so I’m not too upset.  But you can rest assured there a ton of lazy Chinese food addicts in 30 Rock who are finding it hard to get out of bed these days.  I guess they’ll have to walk a few blocks to Hing Won, Yips or Wo Hop/Ho Yip to fill their urge.

In a related note… this weekend I will be stepping up my praying for Panda Express to move into the now vacant space.  If anybody else would like to join in, feel free.

I love New Orleans and it seems to come up a fair amount here on MidtownLunch.com.  My wife and I were married there, I’ve written about it a few times, and 3 of our Profiled: Midtown Lunch’ers mentioned it as a place they’d rather be (Liz, Elizabeth  and Nick).  But for some reason, it didn’t sink in- until recently- that Two Boots was part Cajun.  That’s right.  The NY pizza chain with the strange decor and the weird, slightly overpriced slices of pie is actually half Italian, half Cajun… hence “Two Boots” (Italy & Louisiana).

Now, I’m sure some of you “smart” “observant” people, who don’t walk around with your “head up your ass” might be saying to yourself- “Gee Zach… what are you an idiot?”  And to that I say, “Yes.  Yes I am.”  Alright, so I’m not that quick.  I’ve gotten pizza from many of the various Two Boots locations around the city, and in all that time I never really noticed the Po’Boys or Jambalaya on the menu painted on the wall… just the pizzas in the glass case.

I’m not sure who clued me into the whole “Two Boots” thing, or the fact that they have things other than pizza… but as someone who is constantly on the lookout for quality New Orleans style food, I figured it was time to give the non pizza boot a try.

What I ordered, a run down of the pizzas and the +/- after the jump…

Read more »

Does cheap, pre-packaged sushi that’s good exist?  Or is it some sort of enigma- like cheap General Tso’s made with real chicken.  Is it even possible?  Or, is pre-packaged sushi all bad, because it is pre-packaged?

Now, I should probably quantify what I’m talking about, because the word “sushi” can mean so many different things.  I feel like when talking about good sushi, you can divide people into two main camps.  The first camp is the real fish eaters.  People who love sashimi (just the raw fish) and/or sushi (slice of fish laid over some rice).  The more you spend, the fresher and better the fish, so you don’t really want too much of a bargain when it comes to eating this kind of sushi.  If you are in this camp, and can’t imagine eating sushi that doesn’t fall into this category- you might as well stop reading… because my search is for something totally different.  You might say “The cheap stuff”.

The second category, is the rolls camp.  When someone in this camp says “I love sushi”, they really mean, I love rolls.  Totally different animal, because in this camp the flavor of the roll doesn’t necessarily come from the fish.  In these rolls the fish comes prepared in many different ways.   Fried in batter (tempura), chopped and mixed with mayo (spicy tuna rolls), or sometimes in a special “imitation” form that isn’t actually fish (that crab stuff in cheap California rolls).  Liking rolls also means that you can probably tolerate eating at cheaper places…

Which brings us to my dilemna.  I’m one of those people who falls in both camps.  I can enjoy the $100 omakase at a real deal sushi place, but I can also eat a $4 pre-packaged Eel & Avocado or Spicy Tuna roll with the best of them.  And when it comes to having lunch in Midtown, I’m looking for that elusive cheaper, quicker option. 

With that in mind, I had lunch at Yummy Sushi the other day.  It’s a take out only, quick sushi place underneath Rockefeller Center.  It’s fairly cheap, good selection and like most cheap sushi- not particularly great.

What we ate, the +/- and my plea for help, after the jump… Read more »