Midtown Lunch

I know that most of you already know this, but sometimes it bears repeating for the new folks.  There are official ML boundaries that I do my best to stick to.  3rd Ave. on the East, 8th Ave. on the West.  32nd Street to the South, and Central Park South to the North.  I know a lot of you work outside those boundaries, but if I expand to 30th Street, then what about 28th?  And then from there, it’s only another 2 blocks to 26th.  In other words, you’ve got to have limits.

Occasionally, though, something amazing will come to my attention that excites me enough to cross those imaginary Midtown Lunch lines.  And those places we refer to as being “Out of Bounds”.  There are plenty of cheap Dominican/Cuban/Latin food options in Midtown, but none of them have what Papasito has (on 53rd btw. 8+9th).  A $6 lunch special.

For me, paying only $6 for a heaping plate of Dominican food makes it worth the extra bit of walking.  (Especially with Margon and Sophie’s Cuban costing $8+) But if the price isn’t enough for you, I discovered an extra little bit of incentive.

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You know how much I love the Asian sandwiches (I can’t get enough!) so there was no question I was going to travel the extra avenue outside the Midtown Lunch boundaries to check out Xie Xie– the newly opened sandwich shop from Angelo Sosa (formerly a chef at Jean Georges.)  You’ve already seen the menu, and heard the reports from the ML early adopters.  But the question still remains… for Midtown Lunch’ing purposes, are these freakin’ sandwiches worth the $8+ price tag.

In short, yes…. if you love Asian sandwiches as much as I do.  And provided that the chef makes one small change.

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And now a Public Service Announcement from Captain Obvious:  “Asian sandwiches are blowing up people!”  And it seems like they’re all attracted to the outskirts of Midtown Lunch’ing. First, Baoguette brought the almighty banh mi to Lexington btw. 25+26th.  Then last week Mantao hit us with the mantou Chinese sandwich on 53rd btw. 2+3rd.  And now welcome the latest upscale Asian sandwich joint to (almost) land in Midtown: Xie Xie (pronounced Shay Shay), which will open on 9th Ave. btw. 45+46th today. Last night they had some sort of “let us know what you think by filling out these comment cards” soft opening that was by invite only, and “unless the place blows away overnight” it should be open to the public today at 11:30am.  So if you’re one of those “I want to be the very first ones to eat this thing that everyone will be writing about in a week”, and don’t mind the hefty price tag for a sandwich, today is the day.  (I’ll probably stop by… I’m sorry, I can’t help myself when Asian sandwich are involved!)

The 5 sandwich menu, which they were handing out on the sidewalk last night (and appears to be unchanged since Grub Street posted it last month, minus the wine)- can be seen after the jump…

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When I posted about the newest addition to the 2 Bros. Pizza menu a few weeks back, I mistakenly thought they’d catch some flack from their neighbors to the north, Piece of Chicken (on 45th btw. 8+9th.) Well it looks like they’re getting it from the south instead. Lunch’er Janine (from Life With Food and Drink) sent in this report earlier today:

“There are currently guys in atomic wings sandwich boards prowling/picketing outside of both 2 bros pizza and sandwich planet…trying to poach customers, I assume. I sense a war coming on…”

Picketing? Were they calling for a boycott, or just promoting their new lunch special? Sadly, by the time I got there the Atomic Wings marketing machine had shut down for the day.

Related:
2 Bros Pizza Finally Adds $1 Fried Chicken

Ever since visiting Thailand 2 1/2 years ago I’ve been borderline obsessed with khao soi, the soup-like curry noodle dish topped with pickled cabbage, shallots, lime, and deep-fried crispy egg noodles. Despite all the great Thai food we have in New York, khao soi (being a Chiang Mai specialty) isn’t as ubiquitous here in the states as your pad thai, pad see ew, or the standard curry dishes (red, green, massaman, etc.) According to this post in the forums Sripraphai (unsurprisingly) makes a good version at their restaurant in Queens (I haven’t tried it yet), and I had a decent (but hipster’ish) version at Thai Market on the UWS.

So when I heard last week that Talent Thai (on 34th btw. 2+3rd) specialized in Chiang Mai style dishes, like khao soi, I was pretty excited. And yesterday, I traveled that extra 25 feet outside the Midtown Lunch boundaries to check it out.

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Got this message in the old ML Inbox this morning from Lunch’er Mark:

“A sign in the window of Mantou (on 53rd btw. 2+3rd) says they will be open “the week of July 13″. The menu is intriguing–a combo box is $9.95 and comes with choice of two sandwiches, green salad and shrimp chips. The sandwiches must be small because they offer two in a combo and a la carte prices range from $2.95 to $4.95. Sandwich choices include pork bun, short rib with kimchi, spicy pork, mackerel, chicken meatball with chinese bbq sauce and angus beef with spicy sambal. Also, they offer kimchi as a side order.”

But when he walked by at lunchtime they were already serving food…

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I don’t know if this is a coincidence or not, but two days ago we were having a conversation in the ML forums about where to find good khao soi (a noodle dish that is popular in Chiang Mai, Thailand), and then yesterday I got an email about Talent Thai Kitchen- a newish Thai place on 34th btw. 2+3rd that specializes in “Northern Thai Noodle Soups… like khao soi.”  It’s technically outside the Midtown Lunch boundaries, but their lunch specials are only $7.95 and I will go an extra 1/2 an avenue to get my khao soi on. If it looks anything like the photo of khao soi after the jump, you will see a very happy Zach.

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There has been a lot of press (and even more twittering) about the new Schnitzel and Things truck, coming soon to Midtown.  Hell, they even have “merch” for sale– and they haven’t even sold a single bite of schnitzel yet!  Well, Fressagirl is reporting that another truck serving schnitzel quietly hit the scene a month ago on 9th Ave. btw. 32+33rd (just outside the Midtown Lunch boundaries.)  In fairness to Schnitzel & Things, schnitzel is just one of the many items on the Brucha Caterer truck- which is entirely kosher.  (And, as you know from this post, Austrian schnitzel and kosher schnitzel can be two completely different things.)

Of course Midtown has plenty of room for two schnitzel trucks.  And I’m still looking forward to the arrival of veal schnitzel!  In fact, Schnitzel & Things just released the first photo of their truck, which you can check out after the jump…

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The new, just out of bounds, Two Boots on 9th Ave (btw. 44+45th) is now open, which is great news for all the folks in Midtown West who really miss the now shuttered Rock Center Location. Even though they are already open, the official “Grand Opening” party is tomorrow night (6/18), with music and free pizza from 6-8pm.

Related:
First Look: Lebowski’s Two Boots is 2-3 Weeks Away