Every Tuesday I turn the site over to a Midtown Lunch’er for their recommendations of places to eat Lunch in Midtown. Today it’s Eli, a stooge who loves Italian, but hates Italian American…
Name: Eli
Age: 27
Occupation: Bond Company Stooge
Where in Midtown do you Work?: 51st & 6th
Favorite Kind of Food: Sandwiches, raw fish, raw beef, dumplings, french fries, hot sauce, cheese, anything Italian.
Least Favorite Kind of Food: Italian-American, Indian, and anything that was prepared by someone who is over-ambitious and under-conscientious.
Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Dan Dan Noodle at Hing Won on 48th btwn 5+6th; Hakata Ramen at Menchanko-Tei on 55th St; Chicken and spicy rice from King Tut cart on 6th and 50th; Burger and a bag of fries at the Burger Joint.
The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Used to be Citarella To Go. What a reliable place that was. Now I guess it’s Chipotle (guilty pleasure). Here’s the thing about Chipotle: if you choose to spend your $9.83 for lunch there, are you sending a message to the McDonalds Corporation that there’s a strong consumer base that demands naturally raised, antibiotic-free foods? Or are you just perpetuating the McDonald’s status quo of destroying rain forests, farming and slaughtering animals inhumanely, and making poor people fat?
Place you discovered thanks to MidtownLunch: The roast pork at Cafe Cello. I think I have an actual piece of crispy pork skin lodged in my aorta, but it was worth it.
Dream job location for lunch purposes only, and why?: Parma, Italy. The fish market in Tokyo. Anywhere lunch is called “siesta”, includes a nap, and everyone goes home for three hours.
Anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers?: Does anyone know of a Mongolian grill around here? There used to be a place that was similar to Cafe Duke, in that it had everything, hot and cold salad bars, etc…I think it was even on the same block that Duke is now on…. they had a serve-yourself bar, with thinly sliced raw pork, beef, chicken, lamb, or shrimp, lots of vegetables, different kinds of noodles & rice. Then you went over and chose all these different sauces, chopped garlic, ginger, different kinds of pepper sauces, fermented black beans, etc etc. You gave them to the dude at the grill and he had these two gigantic chopstick-like things that he used to stir-fry your food. That place closed down a few years ago, and I haven’t found anything similar since. Any ideas?
Where to start. I’m pretty sure the only message you send when eating at Chipotle is that you are willing to settle for crappy burritos! I do however agree with you about the Burger Joint. In fact, I ate there yesterday. Burger Joint porn, my Chipotle Challenge, and your chance to recommend a Mongolian BBQ place to Eli, after the jump… Read more »
Posted by Zach Brooks at 8:25 am, April 3rd, 2007 under PROFILE: Midtown Lunch'er.
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