About a year ago, Chris H. traveled to Hawaii and reported back on 5 plate lunches he thought Midtown Lunch’ers would enjoy from his travels, including Hawaiian favorite loco moco. As I write this, I’m enjoying my final hours in Honolulu, and I have found myself thinking along the same lines — wishing a few items from my trip would find themselves in Midtown one day for ML’ers to enjoy (none of which appear on Hawaiian Island Grill menu!)

The best thing we did was book the Hole-in-the-Wall food tour, which is an extremely informative tour of the best local food found in Honolulu. If you’re a foodie finding yourself booking a vacation in Honolulu, this tour is not to be missed. The first stop was at Royal Kitchen in Chinatown, where they make the best baked manapua on the island.

A kind of char siu bao, manapua is short for mea’ono-pua’a (meaning “pork cake” in Hawaiian). The Hawaiian version is typically larger than its Chinese counterpart (although Royal Kitchen’s are on the smaller side of large) and can be either steamed like the Chinese or baked. Our guides explained that Royal Kitchen actually uses a Hawaiian sweet bread dough instead of the traditional bun. And, of course, there are several Hawaiian filling choices beyond the original pork, including smoked kalua pork, chicken, curry chicken (pictured above), Portuguese sausage, Chinese lup cheong sausage, Okinawan purple sweet potato, coconut and Chinese black sugar. At $1.15 a pop, you could literally try them all … and be so, so full.

The last stop on the tour was Leonard’s Bakery, which is famous for introducing malasadas, or Portuguese doughnuts, to Hawaii in the 1950s. At about $1.00 a piece, we got these puppies freshly baked — still warm, even! — from the kitchen.

Rolled in granulated sugar, these light and puffy balls of fried dough can be eaten plain or filled with a number of different custards. I got coconut, and it was to die for. Not overly sweet, but distinctly coconut in flavor, the filling perfectly complimented the sugar-coated dough. Interestingly enough, Leonard’s already operates, not only this famous location, but also some others (one’s in Japan!), plus a couple of food trucks. I’m just sayin’ … it wouldn’t be such a stretch to expand to Midtown New York.

I’m a such sucker for Japanese noodles, and there are countless options in Honlulu, many of which are ramen joints. However, there is a reason for the huge line outside Marukame Udon off Waikiki on Kuhio street. Don’t worry, it moves quickly, and we were ordering (cafeteria-style) in no time.

I got ontama udon ($4.25 for the regular size, which was still rather large) in cold broth and chose 3 pieces of tempura: yasai kakiage ($1.50), satsumaimo ($1.25) and nasu ($1.25). I poked the half-cooked egg, and yellow yolky goodness oozed over the noodles and mixed with cool broth. Is there a more delicious sight than that? The udon here is definitely al dente, so if you like your noodles on the softer side, I suggest going with hot broth so the noodles cook a tiny bit more while you find a table. For me, the chewy noodles were perfect. Along with various kinds of tempura, Marukame Udon also offers musubi for $1.50. It would be very easy to go overboard, picking out side items for your meal. For just $8.25, I had an extremely satisfying dinner. So, just imagine the lunch possibilities! Now, there’s nothing particularly Hawaiian or fusion about this place, and it is pretty similar in concept to Onya, but I’d still love to see a Marukame Udon outpost come to Midtown.

Now, the food in Hawaii — as well as traditional Hawaiian food, which is an important distinction — has been influenced by many cultures and traditions, so there are plenty of delicious dishes to try. These three suggestions don’t even begin to scratch the surface of what’s available in the ML price range, but upon reflecting back, these are the items I found to be stand-outs on my trip.

Royal Kitchen, 100 North Beretania St, Honolulu, HI
Leonard’s Bakery, 933 Kapahulu Ave, Honolulu, HI
Marukame Udon, 2310 Kuhio Ave, Honolulu, HI

From Lunch’er “Jason”:

I just spent a week in Scotland visiting my little brother who is spending the semester practicing non-sobriety/studying. Well, GB is now flooded with a blooming middle-eastern population, resulting in myriad British takes on things we find in NYC all the time, including plenty ML type versions of chicken/lamb and rice. However, there was one item that I had never seen before, and that was the Doner Calzone. Being the gluttonous sucker that I am, I of course had to order one. I ordered the above behemoth- chicken tikka donner, extra spicy (you know how calzones here sometimes have that pocket of steam that deflates at the first cut? Well this baby was jammed to the roof with chicken tikka). It came in a 10-inch pizza box, left a grease streak for days, and easily weighed 2+ lbs. This was all on top of well spiced chicken vertically shaved from the rotisserie, smothered in tikka masala, complete with grilled onions, and melty crispy cheese smothered over the top. Unfortunately I only have exterior photos because at the beginning, I was too hungry to use a fork and knife, and by the end (I only finished 2/3), I was seconds away from a devastating food coma. Perhaps this is something that a Cer Te could tweak or reinvent, because it was delicious.

We want to go to there.

Related:
5 Lunch Items Midtown Needs from England

I was recently in Hawaii for a week-long vacation. As I write this, my cheeks are flushed with sunburn, my legs are sore from tromping through tropical forests, my arms ache from surfing, and my belly is full of delicious indigenous Hawaiian food. With the plethora of active sports and hobbies that Hawaii natives have at their disposal, it’s no surprise that the local cuisine centers around hearty, calorie intense food. And for a caloric gut bomb of truly epic proportions, it doesn’t get any finer than a plate lunch, or more specifically a plate of loco moco ($6.75 at the Rainbow Drive In – Honolulu, HI), the #1 food item that Midtown needs from Hawaii.

Admittedly, the average midtown luncher likely isn’t engaging in the level of physical activity to necessitate such sustenance, but loco moco serves a dual purpose – it’s great for hangovers. Feeling a little rough after the office holiday party? A healthy dose of salt, grease and starch from the garbage plate – and I use the term ‘garbage’ with the utmost respect here – of white rice topped with hamburger patties, gravy and over easy eggs will cure what ails you. In theory, the loco moco, as well as the subsequent dishes that I describe, are laughably simple to recreate in a Midtown kitchen. It’s a shame that no one has.

Plate lunches can manifest themselves in multiple forms, whether it be the aforementioned loco moco, or a mixed plate ($9.50), such as this one from Kawaihae Kitchen in Kawaihae, HI. This mountain of fried shrimp, Korean style chicken, fried rice and the obligatory mac salad was remarkably reminiscent of lunches that I’ve had from Kim’s Aunt Kitchen Cart. Hell, if Kim’s Aunt threw in a scoop of mac salad to their standard dishes, it would be pretty close to this Hawaiian lunch staple. But for now, I’ll have to stick to Hawaiian Island Grill to get my plate lunch fix, even if it’s not that great.

My love for noodle soups, such as those found at Totto Ramen or Pure Thai Shophouse, has been well documented on Midtown Lunch. The uniquely Hawaiian version is called saimin, and is a veritable United Nations of noodle soup, incorporating ingredients from multiple cultures from around the Pacific Rim. In the version that I sampled at Kuhio Grille in Hilo, HI ($6.29), Japanese kamaboko (fish cake), Chinese egg noodles and cabbage, and American spam are plunked into a bowl of hot dashi broth. It’s a cheap, filling, complete meal of proteins, carbs, veggies – the ideal Midtown lunch.

A sugar rush is the perfect thing to cure afternoon office doldrums, and a plump, fluffy, sweet, greasy malasada would hit the spot. Malasadas are fried yeast donuts of Portuguese origin, and can be filled with a variety of sweet fillings (jam, custard, coconut cream, etc) and dusted with sugar and/or cinnamon. While Leonards in Honolulu, HI is the probably the most blogged about malasada joint, I found true malasada love (3 for $1.50) from a tiny little shack in front of a K-Mart in Lihue, HI.

While looking for a plate lunch around Kawaihae, HI, I stumbled upon Da Fish House Lunch Wagon. The vintage rainbow striped camper wagon is staffed by an unfailingly cheerful woman named Deidre, who cooked us one of the best plate lunches I sampled during my entire trip.

We sat at a beat up picnic table in Mother Nature’s dining room while reggae music pattered out of a clapped out boombox. My plate lunch ($9) was highlighted by a fresh mahi mahi filet, which was simply pan fried with plenty of cajun seasoning. A side of delicate homemade macaroni salad cooled the cajun spices, and a pile of shatteringly crisp french fries provided additional body to the meal. Not only was it the best lunch I had during my trip to Hawaii, it was probably the best food truck experience I’ve ever had.

We Midtown lunchers love our eclectic and adventurous food trucks, whether it be waffle trucks, Korean taco trucks, or souvlaki trucks. However, a plate lunch truck such as Da Fish House in Midtown would be a fantastic addition to the scene. Is anyone up to the challenge? Mahalo!

Related:
5 Lunch Items Midtown Needs from England
2 Lunches Midtown Needs from Austin, TX
5 Things Midtown Needs From San Francisco

After visits to the Bay Area last year, Zach came back first with five and then another three lunches that Midtown really needs to have. I was out there for most of last week and found even more delicious lunch goodness that I would love to see Midtown borrow from the left coast.

First thing we need is an amazing food court like they have at the Westfield Mall, San Francisco Centre. With more than 20 eateries in ML range, there’s Chinese, pasta, Korean Barbecue, Tri-tips, fish shacks and more to wade through. It’s enough to explore for weeks. See what I had and some of the other points on my wishlist after the jump.

At San Francisco Centre, I had Jody Maroni’s, a sausage shop that hasn’t been in Midtown since that one branch in the old 42nd Street food court closed years ago. I skipped over the kielbasa and Italian sausages that looked good, but I felt like I could get elsewhere. Instead had a smoked chicken special. I usually expect pork to make the best sausage, but this was surprisingly good.  Westfield Mall, San Francisco Centre, Dining Concourse. 845 Market Street.

The second thing we need are the hand held pot pies sold at The Cravery just across the street from the Westfield in SOMA. They sell flaky pockets filled with different flavors of beef or chicken, including traditional, cracked pepper spiced and barbecue. I never managed to get the Tuck Shop meatpies that used to be in the Cyber Cafe on 49th Street, but these are a little saucier than most Australian-style pies. The Cravery, 829 Mission Street. 415.882.7300

Lastly, what we absolutely need is more Filipino food. There’s not nearly enough of it in New York and with Bayan Cafe gone, none in Midtown. Kusina ni Tess was right across the street from my hotel, just on the border of Union Square and the Tenderloin. I didn’t have lunch there, but I had a great breakfast of garlic fried rice, a fried egg and two small, sweet longaniza sausages. The rice wasn’t particularly fried, but deeply garlicky. I could have used another egg, just to have more runny yolk to soak into it all. Kusina ni Tess, 237 Ellis Street. 415.351.1169

As a bonus, I have to add another taco topping that is nearly impossible to find in Midtown. Last year, Zach wanted more lengua. Even now, El Rey del Sabor is about the only place I know in Midtown that serves that. But, I don’t know any place that’s got cabeza tacos like I had at Taqueria Cancun. Meat from the beef head is a mixture of textures… some of it is soft and tender, like lengua, while other parts are thicker and meatier.  Yes please. Taqueria Cancun, 1003 Market Street. 415.864.6773

Related:
3 More Lunches Midtown Needs from SF: A Roli Roti Porchetta Truck, Meat Cones, & Tongue Tacos
5 Things Midtown Needs From San Francisco

We’ll start with the thing I was most excited to discover: a freakin porchetta/rotisserie chicken truck!  Holy mackerel.  Parked at a Street Food Fair thrown by Foodbuzz (as part of their First Annual Blogger Festival),  the Roli Roti Truck has been around in San Francisco for almost ten years, serving up rotisserie chickens and porchetta sandwiches made from sustainably farmed meats that are roasted on spits right on the side of the truck.  This thing was a pure feat of engineering genius, and we need one in Midtown… like… yesterday.  It can fit a couple of hundred rotisserie chickens, but the real star (for me) was their porchetta, which gets sliced hot and sold in sandwiches (crispy skin and all!).

Check one of these bad boys out, after the jump…

The meat is rolled up with a mixture of spices and wrapped with a layer of pork fat before getting roasted crispy on the spits. Lemon juice gets squeezed over the porchetta during the whole process,  which gives it this great tang- and after the meat gets sliced it’s topped with greens and carmelized onions that have been cooked on the flat top just below the roasting meats (you might say the secret ingredient is dripping pork fat.)  You get roasted potatoes on the side, which are also cooked below the meats and seasoned by the drippings.  Needless to say, it was freakin’ unbelievable- and even though you can go down to the EV and get something similar at Porchetta, there’s is something about seeing the meat roasting on the side of the truck that takes this sandwich to the next level.

You can find the Roli Roti truck on Saturday mornings at the Ferry Building Farmers Market in Downtown San Francisco, where they serve up the chicken and pork sandwiches until 2pm (but they usually run out of the pork by 12:30pm, which is why by 10:30am there was already a long line.)  The owner Thomas, who is originally from Switzerland where his father is a master butcher, custom built the truck for over $100,000 and has always been reluctant to franchise fearing that it would hurt the quality of the food.  As much as I would love to see one of these in NYC, I can totally respect that.

While by far the most exciting thing I ate over the weekend was that sandwich, there were two other things worth mentioning real quick.  While at the Ferry Building I had a chance to swing by Boccalone, the fairly new pig-centric meat market by Chris Cosentino (chef of the amazing restaurant Incanto).  I immediately snatched up a package of head cheese and a brown sugar & fennel salami, but the impulse purchase (for me and everybody else who walks into this place) was their “meat cone”.  Yeah, you heard me right.  Meat, served in cone form.

Sure it’s gimmicky, but if you’re like me this is far more appealing than ice cream!  And their house made charcuterie is pretty delicious.  Murray’s Salami might want to take a page out of the Boccalone playbook…

Finally, I was hoping to hit up La Tonayense Taco Truck in the Mission- but rain forced us indoors to La Corneta, where I tried one of their tongue tacos (which came highly recommended by my friend Carolina, who makes jam around the corner from the taqueria.)

Giant chunks of tender, perfectly stewed tongue, in a red tomato based sauce topped with black beans and spicy pico de gallo.  Amazing.  (I heard El Rey del Sabor is serving tongue tacos, but I can’t imagine they’re as good as these.  Might have to put that to the test this week… )

Roli Roti, Check website for location
Boccalone, Ferry Building Marketplace Shop 21, San Francisco, 415-433-6500
La Corneta, 2731 Mission Street, San Francisco, 415-643-7001

Special thanks go out to the Foodbuzz festival for the Roli Roti introduction…

I spent this past weekend in Chicago, and came away with a) a much greater appreciation of New York pizza (sorry Chicago, your deep dish is just aiight) and b) a complete and 100% fatman-crush on Hot Doug’s. A sausage temple like none I’ve ever seen, Hot Doug’s was (surprisingly) worth the 45 minute wait. It also got me thinking that I’ve never really done any hot dog posts on Midtown Lunch. Carts litter the streets, and I’m sure there are a few exceptional ones, but I’ve never really bothered to try them out.

Sure, we had Mandler’s for a second or two, and the Hallo Berlin Cart (on 54th and 5th) is a great place to satisfy your German sausage craving. But what about a straight up hot dog? I know we’re not going to get anything as amazing as Hot Doug’s, but there has got to be at least a couple worthwhile dogs in Midtown. Got any suggestions, post them in the comments.

In the meantime, more Hot Doug’s porn- after the jump (if you don’t want to be jealous of Chicago lunchers, don’t click through.)

The Chicago Style Dog (seen above) is a steal at $1.75 and comes with Mustard, Caramelized Onions, Relish, Tomatoes, Pickle, and Celery Salt. Amazing… but if you’re willing to splurge, the specials are like nothing I have ever had before. Here are the ones we got…

Jamaican Jerk Pork Sausage with Passion Fruit Mustard and Sautéed Plantains ($7.50)

Saucisson Alsacienne: Bacon Sausage with Crème Fraîche, Caramelized Onions and St. Nectaire Cheese ($7.50)

Burgundy-Citrus Pork Sausage with Cherry-Garlic Chutney and Wild Garlic Havarti Cheese

Oh, and of course… the duck fat french fries (only available on Fridays and Saturdays), which probably accounted for the long line.

Mr. Doug… Please open one of these places in Midtown. Pretty please, with flourescent green relish on top.

This Florida fast food institution is not as great as it once was, but if given the choice between a whopper combo and a quarter chicken combo with rice, beans, and plantains, I think it’s pretty obvious what I’m going to choose.  It can’t hold a candle to most of the latin food here in Midtown, so we don’t really *need* a Pollo Tropical, but it still holds a special place in my heart… (I’ve seen the sign for one off of the freeway in Jersey when you come out of the Lincoln Tunnel.  Anybody ever been?)

And yesterday, we had the lesser known, sweet bastard son of the Cuban Sandwich.  Check it out after the jump…

A Media Noche.  We could definitely use one of these in Midtown.  Pretty much the same ingredients as a regular Cuban sandwich (ham, pork, cheese, pickles, mayo & mustard), but with a sweet egg bread instead of the typical french style cuban bread.  For some reason, this place didn’t press the sandwich- but it was still good.  (Los Dos Palmas, 12992 SW 89th Ave.)  A fried of my mom’s said this place was the best in South Miami, and super authentic.  Next time I’m going to Calle Ocho.

Click here to see the rest of the photos from my trip (including a fry-tastic dinner at the newly nominated ”James Beard American Classic” Jumbo’s in Liberty City).

It should come as no surprise that I feel we are in desperate need of a Korean Fried Chicken place here in Midtown (if your unfamiliar with the phonomenon, check out Jason Perlow’s round-up).  Unfortunately, Baden Baden & Bon Chon, the two locations in Koreatown, are not open for lunch, so we are left Koreanfriedchicken’less.

And now, just to increase our jealousy, Serious Eats’ Adam Kuban has written about the Col-Pop,  a device available at BBQ Chicken (a fast food KoreanFC chain with a location in Chelsea), that allows you to hold popcorn chicken in a built in container atop your soda cup.  Are you kidding me?!?!  With a location on 7th Ave. and 24th St. it’s only 1 stop farther on the subway than the Manhattan Mall Food Court… a small price to pay for being the first kid at work with a col-pop in your cube.

Need more?  Check out the amazing video posted on Serious Eats.

A few weeks ago I was in the Bay Area and had the greatest torta of all time at this little place called La Casita Chilanga in Redwood City.  What I wouldn’t give to have this lunch available in Midtown.  I’ve had the torta at Pampano Taqueria, but it doesn’t compare to this.   

I had “La Cubana” torta, and wrote about it on Serious Eats.  You can read about it here: http://www.seriouseats.com/eating_out/2007/11/serious-sandwiches-la-cubana-torta-from-la-ca.html

And if you have any NYC torta suggestions, please post them below.  (Seriously, please.)

You would think that New York City would be at the forefront of all hot dog stand innovations.  And yet somehow Vancouver totally beat us to the punch on this one.  A hot dog topped with Japanese condiments.  Simple and amazing.  How popular would one of these stands be in Midtown? 

I had the Oroshi, and wrote about it for Serious Eats.  Read about it here:   http://www.seriouseats.com/eating_out/2007/09/serious-sandwiches-the-japadog.html