Midtown Lunch

After visiting Chicago last October, I practically begged the owner of Hot Doug’s to open a second branch of his amazing hot dog stand in NYC. I knew the effort was futile, but when faced with sausages this good (plus duck fat french fries) a man’s stomach can force him to do things his brain would never dare try.  Well, it turns out somebody heard my prayer… and that somebody was Ed Levine, grand-poobah of Serious Eats, who has arranged for Hot Doug’s to come to NYC for one night only.

It’s not in Midtown (booo!) but Astor Center is much closer than Chicago- so I’m not complaining.  Tickets are being sold in pairs for $65, and you get “two Chicago dogs, two foie gras dogs, an order of duck fat fries, and a six pack of beer, as well as a tasty surprise to start.” Plus the pleasure of Doug “Hot Doug” Sohn’s company. $65 may seem kind of expensive to those who have never had the pleasure of visiting Hot Doug’s, but it’s far cheaper than flying to Chicago! The event is on October 7th, and there are two seatings with only 30 spots each. Buy your tickets here>> UPDATE: And that’s it.  Both classes are sold out.  I told you… the hot dogs are that good.

Related:
Midtown Wishlist: Hot Doug’s (aka the Best Hot Dog I’ve Ever Had)

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 it’s Jason, a pizza loving Marketing Manager by day, super blogger by night.

Name: Jason

Age: 25

Occupation: Marketing Manager, but my passion is in the blogosphere: I Dream Of Pizza, NYC DAILY DEALS, and RateThisPlateNY

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Park Avenue in the 60s — meaning I must make daily pilgrimages to the Midtown area for some grub. Luckily, I get a full hour to make the round-trip.

Favorite Kind of Food: Pizza. (If beer was eatable it’d be up there too!)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Fish. For reasons unbeknownst to me, I have an extreme phobia of fish — live fish, dead fish, goldfish, gefilte fish. You name it.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I would always look forward to hitting up Baja Fresh when I’d visit my family in suburban Maryland, but now that there’s one in the heart of Midtown (Lex bet. 45th & 46th), I can satisfy my cravings on a weekly basis. Their grilled veggie burrito has been doing it for me lately. Don’t worry, I still give Chipotle some love on occasion (44th bet. 3rd & Lex). I really like the lunch specials at Szechuan Gourmet (39th bet. 5th & Madison), especially the stir fried chicken with roasted chili peanuts. Burger Joint (57th bet. 6th & 7th) is fun to show out of town guests.

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Photo Courtesy of The Eaten Path

Onya Japanese Noodle opened yesterday (on 47th btw. Lex+3rd), and early reports from the forums indicate that they are not doing takeout– only eat in.  It’s assembly line style, but you have to take your food to the back to eat it.  Onya confirms via email that they are not doing takeout right now:

“We are considering it. But in general we do not provide take out for the udon noodles primarily because they are prepared fresh and is meant to be eaten immediately. It’s a quality control policy that is consistent with our Onya restaurants in Japan. That said, I am working on a bento and donburi (rice bowl) menu for take out.

Thanks to James Boo for forwarding along the photo.  He sampled the bukkake udon and curry udon yesterday and will be posting early thoughts later today on his site, The Eaten Path.

Related:
Onya is Bringing Real Osaka Udon to the USA on September 14th

via Twitter: From 11am to Noon Goodburger will be giving out free Organic Veggie Burgers at all their locations.  It’s a “while supplies last” situation, and eat in only (no takeout or delivery) so it looks like it’s going to be an early lunch for all you vegetarian freeloaders. Goodburger has 3 Midtown locations (Lex & 54th, 45th btw. 5+6th, and 43rd & 2nd Ave.)

The Bon Appetit Pop Up Supper Club & Cafe kicks off in less than a week, and the full menu has been revealed on their official website. After a quick glance, I think I’m most excited about Daniel Boulud’s signature terrine trio, and anything Gina DePalma makes is going to be good. I’m also really curious about Cat Cora’s brisket wrap, Nate Appleman’s dishes, and José Andrés’ Albondigas Con Melocotones (meatballs with peaches)… but none of the sandwiches or specials look as mouth watering as my all time BA Supper Club fave- Michael Psilakis’ lamb burger from last year! The Pop Up Cafe opens for lunch on Monday, 9/21 at 11am on 57th & 6th Ave.  [via Grub Street]

Related:
This Year’s Bon Appetit Supper Club Will Include Outdoor Seating

Not only do you get a small coffee and a bag of doughnut holes from Tim Horton’s (my bag had 5!) at the NYPL on 40th and 5th, but you also get a coupon for a free hot, iced, iced Capp, or latte from TH. Bonus! (I’m kind of addicted to the iced capps.)

Oh, there’s also a giant coffee cup with arms and legs and some sort of library lion handing out fliers. As free stuff promos go, it kind of can’t be beat. They’ll be there until 11pm or until they run out.

Got this email last week from Lunch’er Andrew: “Had a great lunch at Zaiya today [on 41st btw. Mad+5th], though I had to go online for a tutorial on how to open those damn plastic wraps!”  Wait a second… there are online tutorials for how to open those shrink wrapped triangular rice balls? “But of course there are!!”

The onigiri mystery unlocked on video for confused westerners, after the jump.

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