Midtown Lunch

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Alison, a media salesperson who wishes we would do a Street Coffee Palooza!

Name: Alison

Age: 35

Occupation: Media Sales

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Rockefeller Center

Favorite Kind of Food: Things I can’t teach myself to cook at home, and that are so much better in restaurants anyway, like Thai, Sushi, and Ribs.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything I had to wait for, pay a lot for, or that left me hungry.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Roast Beef and Arugula sandwich at Pret a Manger, the C1 sandwich from Lenny’s, ‘Wichcraft, Koi at the Bryant Park Hotel.

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Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Eric, a financial analyst who loves Mexican food and is looking for a decent Philly cheesesteak.

Name: Eric

Age: 33

Occupation: Financial Analyst

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 52nd & Lex, where I do my best to make spreadsheets look pretty.

Favorite Kind of Food: Raw tuna, the super amazing cheese used on the tortas at El Rey del Sabor, and Mexican/Latin food in general. That being said, I’ll eat pretty much anything.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Blue cheese, cinnamon, dessert. Why would I waste room on dessert when I can have more meat?

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: El Rey del Sabor for their amazing tortas (spicy pork is my fave). Hallo Berlin (on 54th and 5th) – the cart is great but ever so slow, so I usually bite the bullet and get delivery. Try the Brat Burger! Barros Luco (on 52nd & 2nd) for the baked empanada. The BL Ace is definitely a top choice as well. Sophie’s Cuban, for roast pork/steak/grilled chicken platters, and La Bellezza for the grilled chicken parm, are both staples. You just can’t argue with getting nearly 2 lbs. of food for under $10. Halal – I LOVE the lamb over rice at Kwik Meal (on 45th and 6th). Other regular spots include Uncle Gussy on 51st and Park (good white sauce) and XPL on Park and 48th (best quality generic gyro meat). And I’ve been digging the lobster rolls over at Urban Lobster shack (in the basement food court on 3rd btw. 49+50th), although I have to take my time with those or they are gone in 2 bites.

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Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Angela, a PR…uh… person (is that what you call it?) who love Mexican food and is looking for some ice cream!

Name: Angela

Age: 24

Occupation: Associate Director at a PR firm

Where in Midtown do you Work?: A couple blocks north of Saks (dangerous)

Favorite Kind of Food: Mexican, Tex/Mex, Latin, Spanish (just to cover all the bases because I have been warned by many that these are VERY different cuisines), Italian, cupcakes, walnut brownies, beef patties, clam chowder, bagels, plantains and anything with cheese. So apparently, anything high in fat.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: The overpriced kind, salmon, crawfish, Reuben sandwiches, bibimbap, eggs benedict, beets, licorice

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The Mediterranean falafel at Crisp, Roast pork sandwich and maduros at Sophie’s Cuban, slice of white pizza from Pizza Rustica (on 2nd Ave btw. 43+44th). “Alternate” lunches for those days when regular food just won’t do: $3 margs at Blockheads, a PB&J cupcake from the Cupcake Stop truck when it’s in town

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Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Antonina (aka Nina), a software boss who hates Chipotle but loves chopped cheese sandwiches.

Name: Antonina

Age: I turned 25 on Saturday

Occupation: I PM at a software company (That means I boss people around)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Just north of Herald Square, but south of Bryant Park.

Favorite Kind of Food: You could put just about anything in a dumpling and I will eat it, all kinds of pasta/noodles, Indian food, cheese, pizza, raw crunchy vegetables, ice cream sandwiches. If I am ever on death row, my last meal will be Mexican food. Also, “chopped cheese” sandwiches. If you ever do a Harlem Lunch spinoff this sandwich needs to be your first entry.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Salads from delis or salad chains, most sushi, raw tomatoes, anything pickled in vinegar, olives, fennel, chicken, cooked mushy vegetables, processed foods. I think Chipotle is an abomination.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: At my office, we get delivery as a group almost everyday, some of the places on our regular rotation are: Pongsri Thai (on 48th btw. B’way+8th), Washoku Cafe (on 37th btw. Mad+5th), Mooncake Foods (on 30th btw. 7+8th), Lan Sheng (on 39th btw. 5+6th.) I’ve had Szechuan Gourmet too but I personally think LS is way better, and they’re much faster for delivery. We also order Taiwanese-style fried pork chops from Chinatown about once a week. (Think NYC Cravings truck but with pork.)

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Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Today it’s Jason, an investment banker dude who (like the rest of us this week) wishes he was lunch’ing in Austin.

Name: Jason

Age: 30

Occupation: Programmer Analyst

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Investment Bank in Midtown proper – 47th/Madison

Favorite Kind of Food: Sweets. Dinner last night was a dozen cookies.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Vegetable matter.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Onya (on 47th btw. Lex+3rd) has become my winter friend – I love the fresh noodles here. Oleg and his schnitzel truck broke my heart when they left 48th/Park but I occasionally track them down. With spring approaching I’ll get back to Daisy May’s (on 50th btw. 6+7th), Kati Roll (on 39th btw. 5+6th), Cafe Cello (on 46th btw. 5+6th) and similarly distant locations (5th to 6th is the longest block ever).

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Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Today it’s our very first librarian!!! (So exciting) Meet Rebecca… a NYPL employee who is looking for a good fish taco.

Name: Rebecca

Age: 34

Occupation: Librarian

Where in Midtown do you Work?: New York Public Library, 42nd and Fifth Avenue.

Favorite Kind of Food: Dumplings, Fish soup, Pasta, Duck, Indian food,
Pizza

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Salad Bars, Mix-em-up Salad Places, Subs/Heroes, and
“Grill Stations”.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Kati Roll on 39th btw. 5+6th (paneer roll and the chana masala roll); Szechuan Gourmet on 39th btw. 5+6th (pork dumplings, eggplant in garlic sauce, braised crispy tofu with pork), Kunjip on 32nd btw. B’way+5th (Soon Doo Boo Chigae)

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Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Brett, a govt. employee who loves buybacks, and wishes he worked in Africa!

Name: Brett (aka “klaus ok”)

Age: 27

Occupation: Government drone/Proprietor of www.buybacknyc.com

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 40th and 8th (used to work at 45th and 1st)

Favorite Kind of Food: Asian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Pizza, Sushi, Almost any meat + starch, Anything with maple and/or bacon (as evidenced by the doughnut in the photo)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything fishy (the truly authentic stuff at Pam Real Thai or anything with a fishcake at Sapporo – gag), mediocre midtown sports bar food, most anything in Times Square (uhh… do you guys like stand-up comedy?).

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Pad Khee Mao at Pam Real Thai (49th btw 9th and 10th) , Ma po Tofu or Twice-Cooked Pork Bellies at Szechuan Gourmet (39th btw 5th and 6th), anything at Bali Nusa (9th btw 46+47th), The Bird at Two Boots (9th at 44th), Chorizo tacos at Las Poblanitas (38th btw 8th and 9th) or El Rey del Sabor (43rd and 6th), the Salad Bowl at Maoz (40th and 7th – I say don’t bother with the sandwich – you can’t fit much of the good stuff in it), Chicken and rice with harissa-based sauce at the Little Morocco Cart (39th and 7th), Spinach Burek at Djerdan (38th btw 7th and 8th), the buffets at Spice Fusion (8th btw 47th and 48th), Darbar (46th btw 3rd and Lex), or Indigo (50th btw 1st and 2nd), the #1 chaat, in the summer at the Newstand Indian (6th btw 37th and 38th), the burgers at Five Guys (55th btw 5th and 6th), anything at Oms/b (45th btw 3rd and Lex), AYCE sushi at Ichi Umi (32 btw 5th and Madison), the giant $6.50 hero at Big Apple Meat Market (make sure you specify Boar’s head meat) (9th btw 41st and 42nd), $1 pizza at Two Bros (9th and 40th) or 99 cent fresh pizza (9th and 41st), Falafel and Fries in a Laffa at Baraca (38th btw 5th and 6th, service has slipped since the name change though)

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Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Amy, a Kosher journalist who wishes she could eat more food from a cart!

Name: Amy

Age: 20

Occupation: Journalist and Student

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 43rd and Broadway

Favorite Kind of Food: Oh, so many: chicken, Chinese food – of the kosher variety like Eden Wok on 34th, salads, potatoes of every incarnation. And I seem to make dinner by going through my fridge and cabinets and placing everything in a wrap. Of course my one true love is dessert – you can check me out at http://www.bakingandmistaking.com

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything fish except tuna, not a big cheese fan (I know, I know blasphemy) except for the -cake kind, hate tomatoes and olives.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: So with my strict kosher limitations (and incredible laziness), I don’t have a whole lot of options. That said I find myself continually heading to Schnitzel Express (on 39th and Broadway) which I love. For $10 you get a seriously big sandwich, which is pretty cheap for kosher food. I’ve tried the classic, Greek, French, American (corn flakes!) and am still waiting to get the pretzel encrusted version. I also put fried onions and garlic mayo on everything sandwich. Delicious. I’ve been too scared to try the schnitzel sushi or schnitzel bourekas but I’d love to hear from others.

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Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Rachael, a publicist who loves eating BLTs in the summertime.

Name: Rachael

Age: 29

Occupation: Publicist

Where in Midtown do you Work?: CUNY Grad Center 5th and 35th

Favorite Kind of Food: Nachos. Also: raw tuna belly, oysters, fried chicken, pomegranates,
concord grapes, homemade pickles, cheeseburgers, Bun thit nuong, street cart cinnamon buns

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Pre-made sandwiches, gummy ice cream, overboiled eggs.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Spicy Masala Dosa at Minar (on 46th btw. 6+7th), Chocolate rice donut from Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th), Falafel Laffa from Olympic Pita (38th btw. 5+6th), Lazarras (38th btw. 6+7th), and of course there is the always fun game of chicken and rice plate roulette.

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Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Steve, an analyst who loves Asian food but would choose tacos over anything and would rather be working in Venice!

Name: Steve

Age: 23

Occupation: Corporate Control Analyst

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Right in between Times Square and Herald Square

Favorite Kind of Food: Ermmm…I am Korean, so liking anything ridiculously spicy is just how I was raised…I’m pretty non-discriminatory about foods…my girlfriend one time said, “while most people either have a sweet tooth or a savory palette, you seem to just like things that are tasty.” I assumed that was just another way of saying I like everything flavorful…But if I could only eat one food for the rest of my life? Tacos.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything bland, anything with a squeaky texture, and cilantro. I have no clue why I don’t like it…I just don’t. I love pho, but I’ll pick all of it out…for some reason I just can’t stand cilantro, though I love mexican + vietnamese food…

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The grand slam (with a friend! hopefully) at Go Go Curry (on 38th btw. 7+8th). The spicy chicken sandwich, curry pan, or the crab bowl at Cafe Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th). The double sauteed pork at Lan Sheng on 39th btw. 5+6th (preferred over Szechuan Gourmet for it’s nicer service.) The kim bap at E-Mo (a little kim bap only place next to Woorijiip on 32nd btw. B’way+5th – try the cheese!) Jja jja myung at Hyo Dong Gak on 35th btw. 5+6th (oh yes, the special Korean person menu…) Wait, why were these all asian…?

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