Midtown Lunch

Three generations enjoying lunch at Hop Won yesterday

• Don’t bother with Busan (on 53rd btw. 2+3rd).  Just go to Koreatown. [Mindy’s Recipe for Disaster]
• The Bon Appetit Supper Club is opening early this year [Life Vicarious]
• Angelo Sosa, from Xie Xie, tells Sietsema that his sandwiches aren’t trendy (?) [Fork in the Road]
• Maui Tacos gives you amazing salsa to put on that terrible burrito [BLD Project]
• The Soho based Lunch Studio come to Midtown for some Fresco by Scotto action [Lunch Studio]
• Whole Foods Columbus Circle is a great place to take the parents after work [Amateur Gourmet]

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.

Apparently today is National Tequila Day (who knew!?!), but that’s not what brought me to Ta Cocina (on 9th Ave. btw. 48+49th) this week. I went there because my ideal happy hour in the summertime is sipping on a tangy margarita and rounding that out with a big bowl of salty tortilla chips and salsa. So when commenter Wayne mentioned that T.C. looked like they had a good happy hour I thought it was about time for my first frozen margarita of the summer.

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Yesterday, Grub Street pointed out a really interesting essay about a Hot Dog Vendor in Midtown. It’s part of a new anthology of New York Stories from the website Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, and a hot dog vendor parked on 34th street who spends the day charging different prices to different people.  It’s like I’ve always said, the price of things at carts (especially drinks) is always negotiable. (I’ve had vendors try to charge me $2+ for water, and $3+ for Snapple.) This is especially the case in Midtown, if a vendor suspects you are tourist.  Of course when you hear the vendor talk about how hard the streets have made him, with daily harassment from the cops that result in $250-$300 tickets, it kind of makes me want to pay the $3. (Although I still probably won’t.)  [Uncle Ayman’s Hot Dog Stand via Grub Street]

Photo courtesy of AntyDiluvian

Last week, to promote their new, now refrigerated, conveyor belt, Yushi (on 47th btw. Lex+Park) gave free lunch away to 10 Midtown Lunch’ers. A few of the winners were kind enough to send us their thoughts, with photos. Kee in mind the food was free (and free food always tastes better!) But you still get the general idea…

First up is Lunch’er Matt:

Hi Zach, just got back from Yushi! Food was good. The conveyor belt is a *little* gimmicky but it does exactly as advertised. Each plate has a color on it and that color corresponds to a different price. I think there were 5 colors in all. Now, on to the food!

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Photo posted to the ML Flickr Pool by Chris6Sigma

Lunch’er Chris6Sigma descended on the two day old Xie Xie yesterday (on 9th Ave. and 45th), uploaded some photos to the ML Flickr Photo Pool, and had this to say in the comments:

Just got back – chicken and cilantro sandwich was tasty, nice fresh, balanced flavors. The baguette was a little tough to chew, and was stiff enough to have that annoying trait where all the innards of the sandwich squish out when you take a bite.

At $8.50, it is on the pricey side, esp for the size of the sandwich, though it is more filling than it looks. Maybe knock off a dollar off of each sandwich and it’s worth a visit.

I should also note that this particular sandwich was VERY messy. I wouldn’t order it if you don’t want to walk around the office with sandwich shrapnel on your Brooks Brothers shirt.

Check it out, after the jump…

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The issues that new street vendors face here in Midtown are pretty well documented on Midtown Lunch, so much so that it seems like many of the latest street vendors to hit the scene are avoiding us.  The Schnitzel Truck, for one, vowed to park in Midtown for lunch- but decided to hold off until they “worked out the kinks”. The new Bistro Truck also hopes to end up in Midtown at some point, but plans on starting off in Union Square.  It’s a smart strategy.  After all, Midtown during lunch is the prime real estate for food carts. More customers means you have to be on your a-game.  It’s why there’s so much competition for spots, and also why there’s so much trouble for new vendors when they show up.

But is that “trouble” spreading to other neighborhoods?

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This just in from Lunch’er Tigerbot:

“Just went to go to city burger (on 39th & Broadway) and found that it was out. Apparently the Schnitzel Glatt Kosher Express is moving in instead… Sad day!”

Called City Burger to confirm and their answering machine says “Closed For Renovations”, but when I called the Abitino’s (City Burger’s owner, on Broadway btw. 40+41st) the lady who answered the phone said that City Burger was sold. And with that, Midtown Lunch’s closest connection to Pat LaFreida is gone.

More on the situation as it comes in.

Related:
New City Burger Will Get Meat From the Same Place As The Shake Shack
City Burger Reinvents Itself With Black Label
Original City Burger Better Than Black Label? Combo Comes Down By $1

Photo courtesy of MychaelS

via Twitter: “What does this sign MEAN? Seen at Pergola above Salad Station on 40th near 5th”  Huh.  Uh… anybody care to hazard a guess?

Update via the Comments: Nevermind

My dad’s in town today from Miami, working out of a building on Lex btw. 46+47th. I gave him a choice of lunch spots I could meet him at within a few blocks from the building and naturally he chose Hop Won (on 45th btw. Lex+3rd). I recommended my two favorites, roast pig over rice and sauteed udon noodles with pork- to which he exclaimed “those are my favorites too!” Isn’t DNA a wonderful thing?

The sauteed udon was great, as always, but sadly the roast pig over rice wasn’t as life changing as when I had it at sister restaurant Hing Won (on 48th btw. 5+6th), and the portion wasn’t as big either. I suppose it’s to be expected that once the dish became popular, they’d cut back on the portion (or maybe it’s just inconsistent.) The cracklin’ was still out of control good though, and it was most definitely worth the $6. What did my dad think? He loved both dishes (and is probably recommending them to anyone who will listen, as we speak.)

Related:
Roast Pig Over Rice is Available at Kar Won and Hop Won
Hing Won Has a Twin Sister, Serving Best Cheap Chinese Food to Midtown East