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. I grew up on cheesy 80s hair metal, so I’m pretty excited for this week’s Profiled Lunch’er.  Meet Maisey, part of the cast of Broadway’s “Rock of Ages”.  She likes Asian food, savory crepes, and she’s got 3 pairs of tickets to Rock of Ages to give away at the end of the profile…

Name: Maisey

Age: Old enough…

Occupation: Performer-Actress/Singer —currently playing “Justice” in ROCK OF AGES

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Brooks Atkinson Theatre (on 47th btw. B’way+8th)

Favorite Kind of Food: Asian- Chinese/Japanese/Thai

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I’m really allergic to Shrimps

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: For sushi I like Aoki (on 48th btw. B’way+8th). I always sit in front of the waterfall wall and have the spicy trio-tuna, yellowtail & salmon tartar with caviar and a quail egg. Fabulous!! Room Service a glam/chic but very affordable Thai Restaurant on 9th and 48th is awesome too- I always order the pad see-eu with Duck and their insane pumpkin flan dessert… warm and yummy with a kiss of coconut!!

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A lot of news pouring in over the past few days about the third El Rey Del Sabor cart. Just to recap, their original cart is parked on 60th and 3rd, and their second cart is parked on 49th and 3rd. A month ago, they parked a third cart on 28th and 6th, but last week we heard rumors that it had disappeared. Cut to yesterday, when the cart was spotted on 43rd & 6th. This could be great news for Midtown West, if the cart ends up staying…

Apparently the owners of the El Rey del Sabor Cart got into a fight with another vendor on that corner yesterday while they were setting up. And Lunch’er “Jer” caught it all on video.

Check it out, after the jump…

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If you wanted to try one of Cer Te’s five special sandwiches (the ones they’ve been selling every Monday and Tuesday for the past month) but haven’t made it over to 55th btw. 5+6th yet- today is your last chance. After today, the sandwich that gets the most votes on their blog will be the special sandwich for the entire month of September. As of the time of this posting, the Gulfano (southwestern cuban) is beating the Colonel’s Heart Attack by a few votes. I was kind of partial to the croque, but the gulfano was damn good too. No matter what happens, we’ll end up with a tasty sandwich for all of September.

Related:
Check Out All 5 of Cer Te’s Crazy August Sandwiches

This photo isn’t actually from Midtown, it was taken just outside Madison Square Park in front of the Flatiron Building- but I had to post it.  Taj Ma Hot Dog!?!  How could I not? Yesterday was Indian pizza, and now this?  The guy who took the photo didn’t have any extra info, but my hunch is it’s got to be for a movie.  Or maybe Tabla is opening a hot dog stand? Who knows. Got any info?  Put it in the comments, or email it to zach@midtownlunch.com

UPDATE: East Village Idiot has the scoop… it’s a set for the TV show Ugly Betty.

Photo courtesy of JoseSPiano

Related:
Saag Paneer Pizza? Bombay Eats Has Got You Covered
Kirsten Dunst & Ryan Gosling Close Down Go Go Curry & Ying Du

Did you know that La Maison du Chocolat (on 49th btw. 5+6th in 30 Rock) serves up ice cream and sorbet in the summertime? Serious Eats New York highly recommends the chesnut ice cream, but warns everybody to get there at least 45 minutes before the shop closes.  (That’s when they stop serving the cold treats.)  You have three more weeks to check it out, and then the ice creams  and sorbets are gone.

I’ve walked by Bombay Eats, the just out of bounds Indian restaurant on 52nd btw. 8+9th, a million times… but had only noticed this sign for the first time last week.  Indian pizza!?!  And not some strange Indian creation with some similarities to real pizza. This is real New York City pizza, with Indian toppings.  Tandoori chicken, minced lamb, chicken tikka, saag paneer (!?!)

I mean, how could I not right?

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It’s been awhile since we talked about the two Korean carts on 6th Ave… the Bulgogi & Kimchi Cart on 49th btw. 6+7th, and the newer Korean BBQ cart on 50th btw. 6+7th. Well, Lunch’er Chris6Sigma checked in in the comments last week with this report.

As a Korean, I love the fact that Korean food is becoming ‘mainstream’ enough to serve streetcart style in Midtown Manhattan. Will they ever become as popular as the ubiquitous chicken & lamb halal carts? Probably not, but all of a sudden, 6th Ave has drawn two unlikely and scrappy competitors to the street meat scene.

Enter the bulgogi and kimchi cart (I’ll call it B&K for short) located at 49th & 6th and the Korean BBQ cart (I’ll call it KBBQ for short) just a block away 50th & 6th, in the vacated Happy Well Being Cart space (not sure if they’re related? ed note: they’re not). The proximity of the two carts to each other of course warrants a comparative review, so here we go!

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