Midtown Lunch

I think it’s safe to say that our dream of having a Momofuku’ish lunch available in Midtown all those years has finally come true.  And as if to completely seal the deal, Momofuku Milk Bar is now serving bonafied lunch specials.  They’re $8, 9 and $10 and come with one of their signature items (like the pastrami croissant), plus chips and a drink.  Not all items are available at all locations (for example, as of the other day the pork and veg buns were not available in Midtown as part of this deal), but we’ll take it! We’re being told that the pork bun special is available at the Midtown location!

Momofuku Milk Bar (inside Ma Peche), 15 W. 56th St. (btw. 5+6th)

UPDATE: Remember that nonsense about dreams coming true? We take it all back. Blondie headed over to Milk Bar today only to discover that the lunch specials aren’t available in Midtown! We still love you Milk Bar. Your twitter account and PR people? Not so much.

Photo by Donny T

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, all of the ML contributors have turkey on our minds. And of course this wouldn’t be Midtown Lunch if we didn’t try to think outside of the generic deli turkey sandwiches box (hello, Thanksgiving pizza anyone?). So we polled a few of our contributors to recall some of their favorite Midtown turkey dishes.
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Peace out Halloween, it’s time to think about turkey and stuffing! The croissant that inspired “Grease is nature’s lip gloss” is back at MomoMilkBar (56th btw 5th+6th) today! If you’re nursing a post-Halloween hangover, turkey, cranberry sauce, and gravy are waiting for you. Chocolate chocolate cookies and Chocolate Chip Cake are also returning to the menu!

Related:
MomoMilkBar Selling a Thanksgiving Dinner Stuffed Croissant!

So bummed to read yesterday on Eater that Tien Ho has left as chef of Ma Peche (on 56th btw. 5+6th).  We’ve always been huge fans of his, and not just because he brought Momofuku to Midtown, installed a Midtown Lunch menu, and made sandwiches for our 5th Birthday Party. (Wait… that’s actually exactly why we love him!)  Anyway, Tien will be sorely missed but he let us know that his replacement, Paul Carmichael, is awesome and will do the restaurant proud.  I think I speak for everyone when I say, as long he doesn’t do away with the Midtown Lunch menu, we’ll all get along just fine!

Related:
Tien Ho is Our Vote For Best New Chef

Brian had Beef Seven Ways meal at Ma Peche, Blondie says Levain Bakery has one of the best cookies in New York, Brownie is searching for fresh Colombian arepas con huevos, Chris panned Telepan, Donny’s been writing about New York’s Hidden Gems for the Wall Street Journal and I’ve been posting film photos from Peru.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… Andrea asks the preposterous question, “Should you eat ribs” at Backyard Chicken downtown, Jamie shared the Duck for Two special at Sang Kee in Philadelphia and Zach carbo-loaded on all sorts of Persian rice at Javan restaurant in Los Angeles.

It’s been 2 1/2 years since we first begged Momofuku to come to Midtown. Obviously Má Pêche opening was huge, and we love everything that they’ve done for the lunchers of midtown. But we also love Momofuku’s pork buns, the lusciously fatty and sweet morsels that launched an empire. But up until this week, Ma Peche was pork-bun-less.  No longer. Yesterday Eater broke the huge news that pork buns are now available at Má Pêche for both the sit down lunch service, as well as the take-out service at the bar ($10 for 2). Naturally I used this as a excuse ran out and immediately got an order, and can confirm that these babies are just like the version we’ve enjoyed countless times from the Downtown Momofuku locations. Between this and the Ippudo news, our long held East Village jealousy might finally be coming to an end.

Related:
Your First Look at Ma Peche’s “Midtown Lunch” Specials

Ma Peche (aka Momofuku Midtown) brought their A-Game to our 5th Birthday Party, and the reaction to the special banh mi was so positive they’ve decided to add it to the menu. The sandwich features pork belly and beef, paired with crunchy pickled daikon, crab mayo and green papaya, in a crusty roll. It’s not showing up on their online order form, so we can only assume that for now it’s available for eat in only. UPDATE: The sandwich is $10 and available to eat in or to go from the balcony bar.

Ma Peche, 15 W. 56th St. (btw. 5+6th)

On Saturday we gathered together at City Winery with a couple hundred of our closest friends to celebrate the 5 year anniversary of Midtown Lunch (yes, we too are surprised this thing has been around for 5 years!)   A great time was had by all thanks to the amazing food (provided graciously by Kwik Meal, The Biryani Cart, Cer Te, Ma Peche, Food Gallery 32, El Rey del Sabor, Tri Tip Grill, Wafels & Dinges, Miss Softee & the Rolling Cones, Kelvin Slush, and Momofuku Milk Bar) and the endless drinks courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery and GuS’s soda.

Check out the highlights, after the jump…

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Ever since Momofuku Má Pêche opened back in 2009, they’ve done an admirable job of giving us good reasons to come back time and time again, whether it’s for their sandwich specials, avant-garde croissants, or ever-changing line-up of tasty sweets.

And last week, they unveiled two new sandwiches, a lamb neck banh mi and a braised beef hero with bone marrow.

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