Midtown Lunch

I will admit, I’m not a big fan of turkey sandwiches- or turkey in general for that matter.  In a lot of ways, Midtown Lunch is completely anti-turkey sandwich.  Every day I post lunch recommendations so you don’t have to go to a place like Cafe Metro for a turkey sandwich.  But there will be no turkey hate this week… and while nobody will want to eat turkey for lunch next week, there are probably a lot of people who can’t wait for Thursday to get their turkey on.  So, here are three turkey sandwiches I can wholeheartedly recommend- if you can’t wait for Thanksgiving Day.

The turkey sandwich at City 75 (on 51st btw. 5+6th). $6.45. Every day this otherwise generic Midtown deli roasts a whole turkey (sometimes 2) and carves it up fresh for turkey sandwiches.  There isn’t any stuffing or gravy or cranberry sauce, but it’s still a big notch above Boar’s Head.

The cranberry sauce and stuffing option is after the jump…

Read more »

Photo by 52 Projects

It’s been awhile since I’ve eaten at Yips, and I have to say I’m a little concerned about the fast food Chinese mainstay on 52nd btw. 5+6th. The last time I walked by I noticed they had condensed their operation from 2 steam tables and 3 lines, to 1 steam table and 1 line. It can’t help that better options, like Hing Won on 48th btw. 5+6th) are so close by. But Jeff from 52 Projects stopped by last week and vouches for his favorite fast food Chinese place. “Their excellent BBQ Chicken on top of Lo Mein [is] cheap, fast, plentiful-times-two, and absolutely delicious.” Well, there you have it. No need to worry…

Taste of India. Photo by Food in Mouth

• Danny from Food in Mouth tears into David Kamp for things said about bloggers… in between photos of his lunch from Taste of India [Food in Mouth]
• Woo Chon has alot of lunch options for under $10, and their soups and stews are perfect for the cold weather [Blondie and Brownie]
• You only have a few more days left to get the pomagranate macarons from the Dessert Truck [Sweet Freak]
• Thumbs up for the mole at El Rey del Sabor; not so much for the tamales and empanadas [Lifestyle of a Yuppie]
• “Japanese Trinity”… where have I heard that term before? [Bionicgrrrrl]
• Who wouldn’t love cheap food recommendations from geniuses?  Especially when we’re in the middle of an economic crisis! [USA Today] 

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe the site should have a happy hour column. Every Friday we post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap. For this week’s recommendation we’re back to Profiled Midtown Lunch’er Kate.

This week I thought I’d cover a real beer lover’s bar, as that is what I drink 98% of the time. The House of Brews boasts 80 beers, domestic and imports, in a list that takes up two pages of the menu. I came here a few weeks ago for a quick beer with my coworkers and decided I needed to come back a second time to really peruse the menu. It’s a fair assortment; however, the trouble with bars that have a good selection of anything is you tend to pay for the variety. Yet at the House of Brews, prices are not too steep and their happy hour deal covers everything- so you don’t need to curtail your beer choice. But just as a warning, it does run a little more expensive than the dives we normally post about.

Read more »

Midtown Lunch has always been a community effort, and I have no problem turning the site over to contributors.  Especially when it comes to desserts.  I love the sweets just as much as the next fat guy (or skinny girl), but if given the choice between dessert, or an extra entree- I’m going for the savory.  So when Danny from the blog Food in Mouth offered up a post about his “all dessert, under $10 lunch” I was like… uh… yeah! -Zach

Awhile back one of the Profiled Midtown Lunch’ers posed a question about Midtown desserts that got me thinking. “What if I just ate desserts for my $10 dollars? What can I get with that?” I know how this must look- guy forgoes street food, pizzas, or a hearty sandwich in place of… banana pudding. Might as well trade in my fantasy basketball team for the current issue of Vogue or spend my Saturday nights watching Sex and the City instead of catching up on Heroes and Chuck. I don’t really have a response, so I’ll get started on the actual eating…

First up was Magnolia’s Bakery on 49th and 6th Ave. You could probably spend ten dollars here without going anywhere else. Some of you might take exception to their cupcakes, which sometimes lack moistness. Instead, try the banana pudding which is on-par with most other cupcakeries in the city. It’s rich, lucious, and velvety. It’ll remind you of Ivanka Trump, and it’ll disappear just as fast as she did during that free food giveaway.

Read more »

“I went to the new Walgreen’s in Times Square today and I noticed they have food there!!!  I dare you to try a sandwich, or worse, a salad.”

After eating the terrible banana sushi at Bagelfeller on 48th (R.I.P.) I stupidly said I would eat anything in Midtown if dared by a reader.  It’s what lead me to finally summon the courage to enter Tad’s Steaks… and it has clearly led to the email above from “Bionicgrrrl”.

Seriously?  Walgreens?  C’mon now. Really?  I mean, it’s not even that I’m scared of eating a disgusting sandwich;  it’s more a matter of being morally disgusted. Is there any getting out of this one?

If only it had been like this every day…

Got a response yesterday from Sophie’s Cuban HQ explaining why the 40th Street location closed this week:

“It never really generated enough business to cover expenses. We had hoped that the scaffolding [that is up in front of the building] would come down by summer but instead their project is indefinitely delayed. Scaffolding creates a gloomy environment and has an adverse impact on sales. The New York Times building didn’t provide as many customers as we expected either and so we have moved on. We are searching for a replacement location in the area (East of 7th) and will let you know when we get ready to open.”

I think we all could have eaten more fried pork and plantain sandwiches… we won’t let you down next time Sophie’s!