Midtown Lunch

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, Corey doesn’t want to “seem like a pig.” Really? Isn’t that what Midtown Lunch is all about?  Pig or not, he makes me really want to go to Istanbul…

Name: Corey

Occupation: Video Editor/Producer

Where you work: FiDi- Wall Street

Age: 34

Favorite Kind of Food: Burgers ( I am slowly eating my way through nymag’s 82 most notable burgers), Japanese, rustic Italian, Indian, classic French, Caribbean, BBQ, pork by-products and of course street meat. The list could go on for a very long time but I don’t want to seem like a pig.

Least Favorite Food: There really isn’t much that I won’t eat. But the only thing I can think of that I try to stay away from are any kind of savory meat cooked with fruit. I just don’t see the purpose… the whole hawaiian pizza thing makes no sense to me. You can also add couscous, polenta and brussel sprouts but who really like those nasty little green balls anyway? Everything else is fair game.

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Chris and I were surprised to see the relatively new Swich (on Maiden Lane btw. Gold and William) all papered up today. Not usually a good sign.

But a closer look at the sign on the door suggests that all’s well and that they’re just doing some minor work. Full story after the jump.

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I don’t get out to Flushing nearly as much as I want to these days. Or pretty much ever. It’s just so far. The only time I really get out there is if a friend has an extra Mets ticket and is looking for someone to go with ’em, which, quite frankly, also doesn’t happen often enough. But getting on topic, with all that great Chinese food I hear about out there, when one of those Flushing legends finally landed in Manhattan, I had to go. There was no if’s, and’s, or but’s. I had to go.

Xi’an Famous Foods, located on Forsyth (careful, the address is tricky), is that place. I had heard so much hype about it, particularly the noodles, I had to get up there and see what it was all about. And as you can probably predict, I wasn’t disappointed in the least.
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Caffe Falai’s Swiss Leaves cookies, courtesy of Lunch with Front Studio

• If they keep it up with awesome sweets like these Swiss Leaves cookies,  Lunch with Front Studio is going to give me diabetes. [Lunch with Front Studio]
• Does Downtown really need a 10-pound, $75 burger, complete with associated eating contest? [Eater]
• Hell yes it does! [ML Forums]
• How did we miss this awesome hand-pulled noodle wrap-up? [Salon]
• Kathy at Serious Eats reports that Farinella in Tribeca is good for more than just pizza. [Serious Eats]
• Yvo is wowed by Wafels & Dinges.  Make sure you don’t miss their next downtown visit by following our downtown Twitter Tracker. [Feisty Foodie]

No, no, you’re at the right place! This isn’t Midtown Lunch: Philadelphia, I promise, though after Jamie’s video about how to eat soup dumplings, it doesn’t look like such a bad place to be.  Which is why I’ve chased down a little corner of Philly and taken a closer look. Carl’s Steaks has been on the collective ML radar for awhile now, Zach having reviewed it back in the day up in Midtown, but for some reason the Downtown outpost has eluded us. But not anymore. Last week I went in, shook hands with Carl himself, and took a big, greasy bite out of Philly.

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First the bad news: My return trip to Express BBQ was not as awesomely tasty as the first. Finding decent pulled pork is a huge thrill for me, however, so that would have been a tough visit to top.

The good news: Express BBQ serves up decent brisket and tasty mac and cheese. Kreuz Market it ain’t, but the brisket is smoky and flavorful like the pork, and a little bit of bbq sauce makes up for the fact that’s a touch on the dry side.

The mac and cheese is solid as well, and the price for either is reasonable, solidifying Express BBQ’s position as a Downtown Lunch destination.

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