Midtown Lunch

Today’s the big day – the ‘new concept’ Bon Chon Chicken is opening on 5th btw. 32+33rd Street and we’ve got a few more details on exactly how different it’s all going to be. According to Simon Lee, the owner and manager of the new location (as well as an employee of Bon Chon the corporation), the idea was to move beyond the fast food model that most of the Korean fried chicken shops have followed. Instead, it’s going to juggle fast food and bar duties in a way that might lead to a few tipsy lunches.

Details on the new Bon Chon and photos of the space after the jump.

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Back in May we were offered a free “blogger” tasting dinner at Shilla, to try out their new dinner menu. Instead of keeping for ourselves (which would be wrong), we gave it away to you guys in a contest. The lucky winner was Lunch’er “Olivia”, and today she sent us a report. It’s dinner, not lunch, and obviously the food was free (free always tastes better, right?) But we figured we’d post it anyway. First, because she took the time to do it. And second, to show that it really does pay to read Midtown Lunch!

Thanks to Midtownlunch’s May 18th contest, I am able to bring to you my first ever food review. Shilla Korean Barbecue House is located in the middle of K-Town, otherwise known as 32nd Street. The restaurant has three floors, and we were invited to eat on the third floor. We started off with the complimentary side dishes typically served in a Korean BBQ Restaurant – Kim Chee, Potato Salad, Egg food omelette, etc.

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Do you wonder what the ML contributors do when they’re not eating lunch in Midtown? (They’re actually pretty easy to stalk!)

Yes, that’s maple bacon and eggs, sandwiched between mac and cheese pancakes

Brownie discovers the “King of all Breakfast Sandwiches” at Shopsin’s, Ultraclay was in Philly eating a delicious Mexican brunch, Amy made panna cotta with the Dessert Truck, and Danny gets stomach issues after eating at 5 blogger recommended spots (not in Midtown, for the record!)  Want some more stuff to drool over? Jamie had this amazing looking sandwich with brisket, fried egg, provolone, and horseradish in Philly, Andrea tries the Downtown Bon Chon that was just stripped of its name, and I got sisig from a Filipino food truck in L.A. (don’t be mad.)

Two bits of Midtown food news from the website Koshertopia today. First the bad(?) news. Aroma, the Kosher pizza spot on 36th btw. 5+6th, has closed. I guess people weren’t down with the pepperoni fake out? And now the good (also ?) Kolette’s Kitchen will be opening soon on Lex btw. 55+56th serving up “Middle Eastern Mezze, Deli Sandwiches & Vietnamese Sandwiches”. No word on when that will open, but we’re super curious to try Kosher Vietnamese pate.

Have any tips, recommendations or news to share? Send it to editor@midtownlunch.com

I love seeing scrappy underdog restaurants pop up out of nowhere. Word-of-mouth publicity from readers of Midtown Lunch carries a lot more weight with me than slick advertising campaigns. So, yesterday, when we heard through the grapevine about a new (but slightly-out-of-bounds) restaurant that serves Southeast Asian street food, our interest was piqued. On paper and in concept, I was instantly sold – Thai inspired papaya salads, Malaysian satay skewers and roti’s and what’s that… a BANH MI? To borrow a quote from Anthony Bourdain, I would cheerfully “crawl naked across broken glass” for a good banh mi. It’s my absolute favorite food, ever.

I was so excited for the prospect of good Malay and Viet food, that I skipped a work happy hour (sorry co-workers that may be reading this) and voyaged over to 9th ave to get my banh mi fix. So do we finally have a bonafide banh mi in Midtown West?
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