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. This week we’re throwing a bone to the people who work in the Southern reaches of Midtown (or as some might call it… the Flatiron.) Meet Jason, a Renaissance Man/blogger (naturally) behind the site Me So Hungry which focuses on that area just below Midtown. Technically most of these recommendations are outside the official ML boundaries, but should be welcomed by anybody working in the low 30s.

Name: Jason

Age: 32

Occupation: Associate Producer at a cartoon company (I get paid to watch cartoons), musician, record label exec (I suppose?), food blogger!

Where in Midtown do you Work?: In the Flatiron District

Favorite Kind of Food: Sloppy (shepherd’s pie, stew, casseroles, chili, curry punjabi) …you would think the KFC bowl would be a godsend

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Beef that tastes like lobster. When I first moved to NY down in South Park Slope, all the beef tasted like that. Also if Uni (sea urchin roe) didn’t taste like my VCR from my hometown Winter Park, FL circa 1982, it would be disgusting. But it just reminds of this kung fu movie I watched everyday for 2 years straight: Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow. It’s like Karate Kid with Jackie Chan as Ralph Macchio.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The Cuban sandwich at Margon!!! (On 46th btw. 5+6th)… and I love the Hallo Berlin cart! (on 54th and 5th) Rock the Barack Democracy sausage & meatball special!

But what about around your work?

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Photo courtesy of Kathy YL Chan from A Passion for Food

It looks like Cafe Zaiya’s new dessert and drink bar has opened (where the Beard Papas used to be) and Kathy YL Chan is already on the scene.  She laments the loss of the delicious cream puffs, but the black sesame frappe she posted about on Serious Eats New York looks pretty amazing.

A look at the complete menu of drinks (and shaved ice!?) is after the jump…

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Day one, post 55th Street parking fiasco, the Street Sweets Truck will try their luck on the NE corner of 47th & Park today.  We wish them a big good luck in their new spot, which is just one Avenue away from Le Gamin Truck– which is returning today to 47th & Lex, with “plenty of merguez”. [via Twitter;Twitter]

So wait, everything I read on Chowhound is not necessarily true?  Shocker!  Not surprisingly, it looks like the bit about the new Szechuan Gourmet being some sort of joint venture with Grand Sichuan and Wu Liang Ye is completely untrue.  A little sleuthing by an Eater intern uncovered the truth, and they were kind enough to forward it along:

The girls answering the phone at the new Szechuan Gourmet said the manager wasn’t available, but that the location “was only Szechuan Gourmet.” Because her English wasn’t good and she seemed to not understand the question, I’d rely more on what the managers of all the other restaurants said…

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Got this pretty funny photo and email from Lunch’er Harry on Friday.  Spotted on the West side of 55th and 6th: “There was was one Mr. Softee truck on EACH corner and another one pulled up into the intersection.  I think he was looking for a spot too.”

Now here’s a sandwich from a drug store I’ll try!  According to Eater, the Duane Reade in Grand Central Penn Station is now serving pre packaged sandwiches from Zabar’s in a fancy little kiosk. No word on what kind of sandwiches are available, or how much they are, but I’m sure they are 1000 times better than the poor excuse for sandwiches being served at the Times Square Walgreens. Normally if I’m in GC I’ll probably end up making my own sandwich at Murray’s Salami, but I suppose I could try the Duane Reade/Zabar’s sandwich… if I was dared.

Photo courtesy of Eater

Check out this very interesting and detailed post on Chowhound about the brand new location of Szechuan Gourmet (on 56th btw. B’way+8th.  Not only does it detail the differences between it and the original, but also claims that it’s “a joint venture between the owners of Szechuan Gourmet, Grand Sichuan, and Wu Liang Ye” (on 48th btw. 5+6th) and the chef  “used to cook at Grand Sichuan.”   Another bit of noteworthy info: the Chef is in China right now and won’t be back for another week, so you may want to hold off on visiting the new location.  Considering how good my double cooked pork belly with chili leeks was without the real chef, I’m excited to see how good it is when he returns! [Thanks to Kathryn Yu for the tip.]

The NYPost today reports the completely-not-shocking news that street vendor licenses registered to people who are now deceased are being renewed and sometimes sold to other vendors. Considering how long the waiting list for a vendors license is, I’m not surprised that a family would continue to use (or even sell) their dead uncle’s license.  The shocking bit is how much these license renewals “lease” for on the black market.  Maybe if the city increased the number of licenses that were available, there wouldn’t be an illegal black market “leasing” these things for thousands of dollars. (Thanks to Lunch’er Dave for the tip)

Just when you thought the whole banh mi craze couldn’t get any crazier, Hing Won (on 48th btw. 5+6th) has added banh mi to their menu.  Yes, my favorite fast food Chinese place, known for their Chinatown style meats, soups, and noodle dishes is now serving Vietnamese sandwiches.  W…T…F?  My gut instinct is to laugh this one off and- in what should be a surprise to no one- it’s not a completely “authentic” banh mi, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good.

Check out what they’re serving, after the jump…

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Terrible news from Lunch’er “MychaelS” on Friday: Crains is reporting that Franchise Kings of Midtown (which owns the Popeye’s on 40th btw. 7+8th) is filing for Bankruptcy protection.  The owner “aims to pay off her debts and sell the franchise and lease for the store.” The location  is still open for now, but it’s not entirely clear if it will remain open in the future. (Hopefully somebody will come in and save it!) Also unclear is whether the bankruptcy is directly related to the location itself, which was always packed during lunch, or just a failure of the parent company.  Of course this isn’t the first time Midtown has lost a Popeyes. There used to be one on 34th Street, and one on 46th Street.  Both are now closed. The block itself, which is located right next to the New York Times Building appears to be jinxed.  The Sophie’s Cuban located directly next door, closed last year despite always being full during lunch.

Related:
8th Avenue is the Fried Chicken Corridor of NYC
The New Popeye’s
Sophie’s Cuban Takes Another Step Backwards