Midtown Lunch

And there she is… the new Milk Bar at the front of Momofuku’s Ma Peche (on 55th btw. 5+6th). Not a “preview” photo. Not a “friends and family” photo. But the real deal… open to the public… serving up food photo! (The main dining room wasn’t open when this photo was taken, but is expected to be open by 12:30. Update: It’s open!) As reported last week, there is salty pistachio soft serve in the Milk Bar (along with the requisite pies and cookies). And they will offer one savory bread a day for $6.

Check out the bread “schedule” after the jump…

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In case you hadn’t heard, Monday was Friends & Family day at Ma Peche (aka Momofuku Midtown on 55th btw. 5+6th) and the few who made it into the belly of the beast have had nothing but good things to say.  Kate Krader’s early lunch review just makes us wish we could afford to eat in the actual restaurant, and the new “Franken Pie” looks amazing. On the cheaper side of things, UrbanDaddy sort-of suggested there will be $6 sandwiches– which would be a nice lunch’ish addition to the $10 specials and pistachio soft serve we confirmed on Friday. They said the place could open as early as today, but you never know with these things. If it actually does happen, you know we’ll be there to give you the lowdown!

Related:
Ma Peche Update: “I’ll See Your $10 Menu, and Raise You Salty Pistachio Soft Serve”

The lunch menu from Ma Peche (aka Momofuku Midtown on 56th btw. 5+6th) was revealed yesterday,  and obviously we were a bit worried to not see the $10 lunch specials listed anywhere.  Well, got an official update and the $10 Midtown Lunch specials aren’t going anywhere! You’ll be able to order them online daily for pick up. As for the Milk Bar, there’s good news and bad news.  The bad news is, they won’t be serving pork buns.  The good news is, they will be serving cookies, pies, whole cakes (office party!), savory breads (green curry banana bread FTW) and salty pistachio and cereal milk soft serve. Yes, you read that right. Salty pistachio soft serve will be making its triumphant return to NYC next week… and it’s happening in Midtown. Take that East Village!

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

Related:
Ma Peche Reveals Lunch Menu! (Cheap Bastards Mourn)

When Ma Peche (aka Momofuku Midtown) soft opened with a $10 “Midtown Lunch” menu in the mezzanine of the Chambers Hotel last year, it was possibly the happiest day in Midtown Lunch’s entire life. Not only was Momofuku coming to Midtown (a dream come true), but they were offering lunch at a price that fell in the ML boundaries? (Shocking.) Of course we didn’t expect the actual restaurant menu to follow suit (Midtown hotel restaurant rents are freakin’ expensive, you know) and today Grub Street confirmed what we knew all along would be the case. According to GS Ma Peche might open for lunch as early as next week, and the menu [PDF] is so not a Midtown Lunch. (But damn does it look tasty!) The bun du riz and pork ribs have made the cut, but the banh mi are nowhere to be found.  But there is now photo confirmation of a Milk Bar, and talk of a “Balcony Bar” with a limited menu…. so we’re still holding out that the $10 Midtown Lunch menu will still be available in some form.  No official word yet, but as soon as we know you’ll know. [Milk Bar Photo courtesy of Grub Street]

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

My name is Brownie and I have…a cookie problem. I can trace this cookie issue back to childhood. You see, my mom wouldn’t let me have an EasyBake Oven (“it’s just a light bulb, Brownie“). So I turned to real ovens and a cookie baking/eating fiend was born. Remember, this is the same woman who wouldn’t let me eat cart food as a child, so clearly I have a problem with authority. When I read that New York Magazine called the Chocolate Chip Cookies at Má Pêche (aka Momofuku Midtown) the best in the city, I knew that I had to check it out. For science and the good of the ML community, of course.

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The New York Post gets more details on the actual Ma Peche, which is hoping to open on 56th btw. 5+6th in late winter. Apparently the food being served in the Mezzanine of the Chambers Hotel won’t necessarily make it to the final Ma Peche menu, but at least we’re getting a Milk Bar in the front of the restaurant (which will hopefully serve the ML-friendly-under-$10 pork buns and volcano available in the East Village location.) The Post’s critic also weighs in on the food being served in the Mezzanine, but proves he doesn’t know shit about clean Vietnamese flavors by comparing the absolutely delicious squid salad with something you can “get on a good day at China Grill”. [via Eater]

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

The pop up version of Ma Peche in the Chambers Hotel (on 56th btw. 5+6th) has just added an online ordering system for take out. Only 3 of the $10 Midtown Lunch specials are available right now, and it’s pick up only, but for those of us who didn’t feel like eating our banh mi in a hotel lobby (or waiting for a table during peak lunch hours) this is great news. UPDATE IN THE COMMENTS: “You need to order by 11am for same day lunch pick-up”  [via Eater]

The pop up branch of Ma Peche located in the mezzanine of the Chambers Hotel (aka Momofuku Midtown) has made a few changes to their lunch menu.  The $10 Midtown Lunch specials remain untouched, but they’ve replaced with the fennel salad with a satur farm lettuce/leeks number topped with a poached egg ($14).  And they are also starting to randomly offer items from the dinner menu during lunch service as specials. Yesterday, you could have gotten the dinnertime pork ribs ($16) or the fried brussels sprouts dish (that is just like the ssam bar dish minus the puffed rice.)  Now all this stuff is completely outside of the ML price range, and you know I never spend more than $10 for lunch. But let’s say I happened to forget that rule on one particular day… and maybe ended up trying a bunch all of those new dishes… and then posted about it… that post would probably say that everything I ate was delicious.

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