Midtown Lunch

It’s been a bad few weeks for Midtown burgers. First Five Guys gets closed down for a month by a fire, and now this. The Goodburger on 45th btw. 5+6th has been closed by the Department of Health due to a “clerical error on their permit”. (This is probably true, because it is a white DOH sticker, not a yellow DOH sticker.) They hope to reopen today, but you might want to call before heading over. 23 W 45th Street (btw. 5+6th), 212-354-0900

Hey! I know those two girls…

Vendr TV launched yesterday, a new website and video podcast that goes inside the world of street vendors. They plan on covering street food from all over the world… but naturally are beginning in New York City. For their first video, they spent the day in Midtown with Kim and the Treats Truck- and not surprisingly Blondie and Brownie were caught on video buying treats in the background. (In case you thought their “Taking on the Treats Truck One Treat at a Time” feature on their blog was a farce… this is the evidence that they are in fact always there.)

Did you make the video? Check it out after the jump…

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Nicely played Cafe Metro… because everybody knows that nothing impresses Fashion Week attendees more than a guy in a logo’d red suit and top hat handing out fliers. (Or maybe it does work and they’re geniuses!!! I don’t know shit about fashion…)

If you have to work today, I’m sorry.  That really sucks… what sucks even more is a lot of your favorite lunch places may be closed, so call ahead before heading out.  On the positive side, the places that are open should be pretty empty- and maybe your boss is out… so it’s a good day to catch up on one of the sandwiches from the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge.  FreeFoods NYC is closed, as is the Jamaican Dutchy, and Sophie’s Cuban isn’t answering their phones at either location.  But Certe (on 55th btw. 5+6th) is open (thanksgiving dip!), and so is Lazzara’s (on 38th btw. 7+8th).  Plus we’re hearing rumors that sandwiches have been added at Naples 45 and Cucina & Co (both on 45th btw. Park + Madison), and both are open today.  Good luck!  (And if you do go out to lunch today, report back on any other openings or closings in the comments for those who are stuck working.)

Photo by Ultraclay

• A delicious looking lunch at the now open for lunch BonChon in Koreatown [Ultraclay]
• I don’t know what a dark chocolate marzipan budino is, but it’s Kathy YL Chan’s new obsession at FreeFoods NYC [SENY]
• Dong Hai isn’t as good as Szechuan Gourmet, but they make some good noodle soups [Bionic Bites]
• The Front Studio girls found Cafe Zaiya to be “rundown”, but still liked the food [Lunch Studio]
• If you’re looking for some Valentines Day cupcakes, Crumbs has got your covered [Cupcakes Take the Cake]
• Lucky Cheng’s may move to Times Square. Do they serve lunch? [The Feedbag]
• If you’re working this weekend you may want to eat at Crisp. They’re registering people all weekend long to win a diamond ring. [Crisp]
• City Burger embraces the Black Label hype [Grub Street]
• If you follow the comments on Midtown Lunch, you’ll probably be interested in reading this article [The Feedbag]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will 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. Unfortunately, sometimes when you and your coworkers are super thirsty, and hungry, and trying to find a place that is convenient for everybody, you end up stumbling into a dud. Which is exactly what happened this week…

Now I will preface this review by saying, dear gentle readers, that I am not a woman of high means. Yet, I have indulged in a bottle of Midleton Very Rare or even a Jameson ‘pure pot still’ 15 year whiskey. However, when I am faced with a pricy “signature cocktail” I am not afraid to speak out for a change! A change in the great Big Apple swindle, or what I call, the girly drink grift!

Here was the group of us late at night at Legends on W. 33rd Street. In our defense, it was the only place nearby to our respective train stops… and this is what we found: Legendary Cocktails for $11. This included the Big Apple Martini (a sweet and sour concoction), the Sex in the City Cosmo (that unfortunately speaks for itself), and the Empire State Bellini (that I’m sure is actually poured pretty small). The Happy hour was from 4pm to 7pm with $4 domestic drafts and $5 well drinks. Well, at least that wasn’t too bad… if you ignored the decor.

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The International starring Clive Owen opens today, and according to Lunch’er Leslie our favorite salad (and now sandwich) cart, 100% Healthy & Halal (on 55th & Park), makes an appearance at the end of the movie: “Just wanted to let you know that we here at Nation’s Restaurant News patronize the cart on a regular basis. The salads are great just as described. In fact, the cart can now be seen in the new movie ‘The International’ with Clive Owen. There is a small scene towards the end. I saw it last night and recognized Gamal. I asked him about it today. He was so nonchalent.”  It’s good to see they used what they shot with him in the finished film… the Daisy May’s cart never made the final cut of Don’t Mess With the Zohan.

Note: Surprisingly none of the official promotional stills for the movie contained our beloved halal cart (shocking right?) so I had to doctor up the one above. The fake photo in no way reflects on the accuracy of the story.  You probably think that this doesn’t need to be said, but the last time I used a fake photo to add a visual element to what was a true story, people loved pointing out that the photo was clearly fake (as if I was trying to pass it off as real.)

Lunch’er Joe made this pretty sweet discovery last week, and was nice enough to send along a few photos. Apparently Kanaat, the all you can eat Turkish buffet formerly known as Al Baraka on 55th btw. Lex+3rd, sells $1 samosas on the sidewalk in front of their restaurant on Fridays during lunch. I don’t know about you, but there is something about samosas being sold on the street that makes them that much more Midtown Lunch’ish, don’t you think?

In addition to the samosas, they also sell “boxed lunches”- which is not just sold in a box, but also out of a box. Check that out after the jump.

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We’re hearing that Muhammad Rahman, the owner of the Kwik Meal carts, is very distraught over some of the complaints that were posted in the comments of this site regarding the chewiness of the lamb at his new Quick Delight cart on 45th and 3rd Ave. (It also seems to be why there was some Quick Delight shilling going on last week.) Despite the fact that it was just one or two non-believers, and everybody else seems to love Kiwk Meal’s lamb (the only lamb in Midtown that is actual lamb, and not gyro meat), he seems convinced this is the reason that business at the new cart has been slow. In fact he is so distraught over it, we hear he has fired his lamb supplier for what he claims was a bad batch of lamb.

Muhammed himself actually went so far as to post this in the comments:

“I am Muhammed Rahman, I own three carts. Quick Delight on 3rd avenue 45th street Kwik Gourmet on 47 and Park avenue and Kwik meal on 6th avenue and 45th street. If anyone was not satisfied with our service, please call me at    (646) 729 8702   .”

It’s not all fun and games though. He told a customer that he may move the cart if business doesn’t pick up.

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Grub Street is reporting that Bombay Bistro, the new Indian buffet I wrote about earlier today, is in fact owned by the same people who own Jackson Diner in Queens:  “When we called Diwan’s old number we were connected to the new bistro. A rep told us that Diwan’s original owners, who also operate Jackson Diner, are behind Bombay Bistro.”

The strange thing is I had a whole conversation about this yesterday with two different people at the Bombay Bistro- without letting them know why I was asking.  Here’s how it went:

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