Midtown Lunch

Photo courtesy of Burger Conquest

• Black Shack is now serving something called a “Mayhem Burger” [Burger Conquest]
• Lunch’er Josh is a fan of the pernil sandwich at Margon… [NYC Foodie]
• … and the macarella from the Street Sweets Truck [NYC Foodie]
• You can get a $15 lobster roll at the pop bar/cafe next to the Rock Center Greenmarket [FeastNY]
• The sorbet at La Maison du Chocolat is gooood [SENY]
• Will letter grades effect ethnic restaurants the most? [Grub Street]

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.

Asian Station was first called out on Midtown Lunch for having too many cuisines on one menu: Japanese, Thai, Malaysian and the inevitable Chinese food. However, it turned out that it was better than we expected. I stopped by recently to see what was new and I am sad to report that the 3 sushi roll lunch for $10 has increased by a buck and you now only get a choice of soup or salad, not both. On the other hand, I was drawn in by their inexpensive Happy Hour.

From 4 to 8pm you can satisfy your thirst with 50% off beer, sake, sake-cocktails, and wine. The décor is what you’d expect: hip and modern. There’s neon blue back lighting to the bar, sushi chefs milling around looking like they can sashimi any fish in the sea, and cute young hostesses that are eager to seat you and offer you a sake-tini. However there was one problem…

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Sure, sure, there might be something whack in the meat at Burger King. But it’s the King! And they let me have it my way… Even with all the food options that Midtown Lunch uncovers, there’s still times when I just need the guilty taste of fast food. Earlier this month we told you that the Whopper Bar on 40th and 7th Ave. was almost ready to open. I walked by today and there was a guy in the front saying they’ll open tomorrow (7/31) after 3 PM. He was also handing out some free toppings coupons too. My doctor recently cleared me to eat all the artery clogging food that I want, so maybe there’ll be some Whopper Bar in my future. It’s against everything that ML stands for but… I just can’t help it!

The long awaited Korean Fried Chicken War of 5th Ave. is about to commence. We’ve gotten word that the  Koreatown branch of Bon Chon Chicken (on 5th Ave bet. 32nd & 33rd St.), just a few doors down from Kyochon’s US flagship location, is set to open some time next week and it’s not just another Kfc joint. According to the owner and manager Simon Lee, the new Bon Chon will be a completely different concept from the other more fast-foodish locations of the chain. “The classic east meets west. American sports bar meets classic Bon Chon.”  That could be interesting.

More details (plus my plywood peek from a couple weeks ago) after the jump.

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Now that Downtown has its very own section of the site, what are we going to post on Fridays at 10am? Answer… how about a new column devoted to those lunches just south of the ML boundaries. Every week we’ll post about a lunch in Murray Hill south, Gramercy, Flatiron, and everything in between… or to make it easy: Flatiron Lunch.

My lunch hour travels rarely take me to the western edges of Flatiron Lunch boundaries, but earlier this month Robert Sietsema’s tweet about Soul Fixin’s reminded me that I’ve been meaning to try this place out for years. When it was on 34th Street and 9th Avenue, I was never willing to brave the tourist and shopping crowds or –shudder– the M34 to get there. The not-so-new location on 28th Street near F.I.T. may not be closer, but it’s a much easier walk without all the foot traffic in the way.

There aren’t a whole lot of options for soul food in the Flatiron Lunch boundaries, so I decided to check out some American-style Fried Chicken for a change of pace. See what I got after the jump.

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Relegated to a “specials” menu

The QBA Cuban Kitchen Truck is going to roll out some changes to its menu next week, and there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that their bistec meal and their chicken meal (the one that the Downtown section of ML raved about yesterday) will no longer be available on a daily basis- leaving the pork meal, maduros meal and Cuban sandwich as their core daily menu items. The good news, on the other hand, is that the bistec and chicken will join a daily specials rotation that will also include new items, such as picadillo (ground beef in savory tomato sauce) and ropa vieja (shredded beef, peppers & onions in savory tomato sauce). I was pretty happy with the pork back when QBA started making stops in Midtown so I’m interested to see what these new dishes are like. QBA can usually be found on 44th btw. 5th+6th on Thursdays, but you should keep up with their location (and menu) on Twitter. Or the Midtown Lunch Twitter Tracker, of course.

Related:
QBA Truck Brings “Quick but Authentic” Cuban Food to the Streets

• El Caminocito Truck is missing, again [Midtown Eating]
• Need a lunch spot near Grand Central for 60 people [Midtown Eating]
• Tsushima is a great east side sushi option for under $20 [Midtown Eating]
• Has anybody tried the burrito at La Baguette Cafe? [Midtown Eating]
• Plans for the August ML Happy Hour meetup have already begun [Connections]