Midtown Lunch

The other week, we were tipped off by Lunch’er jchoi2106, that Bann Next Door would start selling Korean style tacos in August. Speaking as a Korean and a Korean food enthusiast, this simply required immediate investigation. I’d always viewed Bann and its sister restaurant in SoHo, Woo Lae Oak, with mild suspicion. Their relatively high prices and hoity-toity frilly plating was the exact opposite of the humble, filling, and inexpensive Korean food that I grew up with. But after reading Amy’s glowing review of Bann Next Door’s lunch specials, as well as admittedly buying into the Korean taco hype, I hurried over past 8th avenue for a first hand look.

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Since my initial write-up of Totto Ramen, I’ve become somewhat of a regular customer. Customer may be too light of a word – ‘devotee’ is more like it. At the ever so slightly out-of-ML price range, this ever so slightly out-of-bounds restaurant has enraptured me, besting my former #2 ranked ramen shop, Minca in the East Village (Ippudo remains steadfast at #1… for now).

While I was previously constrained to the plain bowl of chicken paitan ramen ($9.25), in keeping with ML cost guidelines, I found true love in the spicy chicken ramen ($10.25), made even more tasty with the added crunch of kikurage mushrooms (+$1), and the opulence of a seasoned hardboiled egg (+$1). Impossibly decadent and deliriously spicy, this nearly perfect bowl of chicken noodle soup is worth the >$10 splurge. They say that perfection has a price, but for $12 and change, I’ll buck the trend of being a lunchtime cheapass and indulge.

Related:
Totto Ramen Is the Closest Thing We’ve Got to the East Village

Lord, we want to stop talking about the new Pop Tarts Cafe that opened yesterday in Times Square but we just can’t bring ourselves to do it! It’s just too damn intriguing. The latest? As an encore to their review of Taco Bell’s Catina Tacos, Serious Eats tried every…single…item… on the Pop Tarts Cafe menu. Their verdict? It’s all pretty terrible… a conclusion they probably could have come to without spending the $40+. They should have had PR people send over free samples, like Gothamist did. Thanks to both websites for saving us from eating this garbage… (you know it’s bad when Gawker’s faux Pop Tarts ideas sound more appetizing than the real thing.)

Photo courtesy of Lunch’er “johnnybgood115”

• Cafe Duke is now serving bulgogi/kimchi tacos?! [Midtown Eating]
• Looking for a good sit down burger near Rock Center [Midtown Eating]
• Mid 80s midtown memories [Midtown Eating]
• Have jury duty.  Need lunch.  [Downtown Eating]
• Need bourbon chicken replacement for DC Fusion Cafe [Midtown Eating]
• Is their something wrong with Rickshaw’s vegetarian dumplings? [Midtown Eating]

Every Tuesday we 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 Shannon, a professional philanthropist who likes stuffing her face with hot dogs.

Name: Shannon

Age: 25+

Occupation: PR and Events Manager

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Philanthropic Foundation on Park Avenue

Favorite Kind of Food: Gnocchi, hot dogs, french fries and good sourdough bread. But not together.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Frisee lettuce. It should be a garnish, not a base for a salad.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Arepas with fried egg, cheese and avocado at Tick Tock Diner (35th and 8th); Gruyere and caramelized onion sandwich at ‘wichcraft (47th between Park and Lexington); the sushi lunch special from Asian Station (on 52nd btw. Lex+3rd), and of course, a cod schnitzel sandwich with sriracha sauce from the Schnitzel Truck

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The finalists for the 2010 Vendy Awards were just announced on TONY’s Feed Blog, and 3 of the 5 vendors have ties to Midtown! Last year’s “Rookie of the Year” Vendy Award winner Schnitzel & Things has been graduated to the big dance, along with 2 year old Midtown Mexican fave El Rey del Sabor, Flatiron Lunch standout The Bistro Truck, Freddie “The Falafel King” of Astoria, and the Patacon Pisao truck (El Dugout) that Dave Cook wrote about in the New York Times last year. Tickets are $85 (which goes to benefit the Street Vendor Project) and get you free drinks and all you can eat from all 5 finalists, plus “Rookie of the Year” and “Best Dessert” finalists- who will be announced at a later date.   This year the event will be held on Governor’s Island on September 25th, and it always sells out, so you might want to get your tickets now if you haven’t already.

Check out this year’s amazing videos (created by Food Curated) after the jump…

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If you were sitting at breakfast this morning, eating your Pop Tart, thinking “Man, if only they made this in sushi form” today is your lucky day! Pop Tarts World officially opens today (on 42nd btw. B’way+6th), and if you thought this was just going to be another M&M’s World- guess again. The ingenuity of today’s modern “food” conglomerates knows no boundary. Feast your eyes on Eater’s preview of the space, the menu in the cafe, and (of course) Pop Tarts Sushi. UPDATE: And that’s not all… they’re giving out free pop tarts until Noon.