Midtown Lunch

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Meet Jamie, a future law student who works on the outskirts of Midtown, and thinks bacon, pigs in a blanket, and tequila qualifies as “healthy” food. She actually sent in two photos, and insisted I posted both because they “capture her essence.”  The before photo is below (I cropped out all her friends, but they’re about to start drinking). The after the drinks photo is after the jump.

Name: Jamie

Age: 23

Occupation: Non Profit Paralegal (with a food blog)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 33rd & 10th (and you think you have it bad!)

Favorite Kind of Food: A pretty impossible question, I tried to break it down into categories. Jew: sour pickles, pastrami/corned beef sandwiches, matzah ball soup made by my mother. Healthy: wings, crispy duck skin, bacon, tequila shots, pizza, pigs n a blanket. Japanese: takoyaki, miso soup, katsu, hakata ramen. Korean: fried chicken, bulgogi, kalbi, kimchee. Chinese: dim sum, dumplings, congee. Malaysian: roti canai, beef randang. Vietnamese: pho, summer rolls. Spanish: arroz con pollo, sancocho, lechon asado, ceviche, arepas. Eastern European: borscht, pierogies, stuffed cabbage, lagman. Also, can’t forget French, Italian, Burmese, Thai, Greek, seafood, spinach, soup… this is harder than the LSAT, I’m spent. (I also enjoy a nice piece of cheese and a well plated dessert.)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Half sour or dill pickles, super bitter things like grapefruit and arugula, and I do not love offal- I recently tried gizzard and wish I hadn’t.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The special noodle with brown sauce (ja jang mein) at Hyo Dong Gak on 35th btw. 5+6th is probably the best midtown lunch dish around. It’s a huge portion of noodles with a thick brown sauce made with pork, onion, and zucchini for $8 that easily lasts me two lunches. I recently enjoyed curried goat roti at the Best of the West Deli on 34th and 9th. I always get the sweet and sour pork at Woorijip (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th), the eggplant at Pick a Pita (on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th) is delicious, and I like the chorizo torta at Las Poblanitas (on 38th btw. 8+9th.)

The rest of Jamie’s answers, plus the “after the drinks” photo, are after the jump.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? We used to go around the corner to the Skylight Dinner; clearly boring, except they do make fabulous fries. Now I have convinced everyone that the 30th Street location of Mooncake Foods is a much better venue with sandwiches, salads, and platters with an Asian flair for under $10. I also coordinate the office happy hours and have a few suggestions for Mamacita’s column, if I may: Café Andalucia for sangria, tapas, and $4 well drinks, Chef Yu for $4 old school cocktails, Blue Ruin is a dive that just opened with 2 for 1 on already dirt cheap drinks and a bartender that breathes fire, and Bourbon Street Bar & Grill (on 46th btw. 8+9th) which Zach has mentioned for awesome $5 hurricanes and juleps and a tasty alligator in a blanket appetizer.

Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Go Go Curry (on 38th btw. 7+8th), Woorjip, Kati Roll (on 39th btw. 5+6th), 6 Ave Newsstand (6th Ave. btw. 37+38th), and there is nothing better than the free or totally cheap ass lunches from the Volstead, Sophie’s Cuban, and Toloache– my coworkers and I thank you for letting us know about those!

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Flushing, Queens! Golden Mall for liang pi, White Bear for hot oil wontons, Corner 28 for $1 Peking duck, Joe’s Shanghai for soup dumplings, Flushing mall for hand drawn noodle soup and fried calamari, Gala Manor for dim sum, Little Pepper to clear up my sinuses, Sweet n Tart Café, and the grocery stores with fresh, cheap produce and seafood. I am obsessed with Flushing for as long as I have memories.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? Well, I am moving to Philly in August for law school (don’t worry, I plan on being the good kind of lawyer). Any recommendations for midtownlunchish food, food carts, and adventures I can go on to make me miss the food of NYC less?

And as promised… the “After” Photo

I don’t know nothing about Philly, except you should eat a pork and rabe sandwich at least 3 times a week (but trying to pick the best place for that is like arguing about the best slice of pizza in New York.) Anybody have a suggestion? Put it in the comments… and as always if you want to be next week’s Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate), email me at zach@midtownlunch.com.