Midtown Lunch

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 Rob, a writer who wishes he worked at Epcot center!?

Name: Rob

Age: 23

Occupation: Writer

Where in Midtown do you Work?: The house that James Cameron built, by Roc Center.

Favorite Kind of Food: Total sucker for nachos. The faker the cheese the better. Recently been seeing waffle fry nachos all over the place where they trade the tortilla chips for waffle fries (and 10 years of your life). Nacho should be a verb, and I should have the inalienable right to nacho any dish.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Vegetables masquerading as meat.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I go hot-and-cold on the Biryani cart grizzle (on 46th & 6th). Margon (on 46th btw. 6+7th) Mon/Tues special never fails to impress. When it gets cold, the Kwik pasta cart (on 45th btw. 6+7th) is perfect. Park Italian deli (on 45th btw. 5+6th) is subway without the guilt. Popped my El Rey de Sabor cherry on Cinco de Mayo and life hasn’t been the same since.

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We love Sichuan (or “Szechuan”) food, and obviously the original Szechuan Gourmet (on 39th btw. 5+6th) is an old Midtown Lunch fave.  But I think it’s time people focused more on what’s going on at their second location (on 56th btw Bway+8th) And Robert Sietsema agrees! The reason you should pay more attention to them is because they serve basically the same menu and there’s less of a wait. Who wants to spend their lunch break waiting instead of eating? Not I! So, when I sauntered up to the restaurant last week I was pretty excited to see something new on the lunch special menu: crispy boneless duck with garlic sauce ($9.75 after taxes). I wasn’t sure exactly how new it was, but it was certainly new to me. And I figured since rocket ships can’t be built without science, neither can figuring out if lunch specials are worth it. It was for the sake of science that I ventured forth…

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The wait is finally over… Bill’s Bar & Burger is supposed to open in Rockefeller Center today (on 51st btw. 5+6th), so I swung by after work to see how things were shaping up. There was plenty of activity inside as employees were running around and the space looked ready to go. A sign in the window announced they’d be open 11am-9pm, and that hours would expand to 11am-11pm starting Oct. 4th. Chris got a preview of Bill’s back in July, during Rock Center’s Taste of Summer event, but the burgers weren’t even close to made to order. They had a friends and family event yesterday, but we’re still waiting for our first official taste. Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.

The Schnitzel & Things Truck might not have won the Vendy Awards this past weekend, but I wouldn’t feel too bad for them! Andrew Zimmern is going to be paying them a visit tomorrow while they’re parked in Midtown on 46th btw. 6+7th! (starting around 11-11:30am.) When I heard the news last week I thought for sure that the Schnitzel Burger was finally about to get its moment in the spotlight! (That’s bizarre enough for Bizarre Foods, right?)   Not so, says S&T Owner Oleg.  AZ will actually be manning the fryer (!) and getting a lesson in how to make Schnitzel for Appetite for Life on MSN.

And speaking of Andrew Zimmern…

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As promised Lunch’er Devina (who was nice enough to send us a report about the Desi Truck a few weeks ago) returned to the Dosa Cart that danny reviewed on 39th & 6th last week and filed this report…

Some of you may know that a dosa is a vegetarian delicacy from South India – a pancake made out of rice and lentils, served usually with a sambhar (spicy lentil soup) and coconut chutney. The new Dosa Cart is run by a lovely Punjabi man from North India and my new BFF named Shahid (don’t ask me why a North Indian is serving up South Indian food – he may as well be serving tacos or something equally foreign to his palate). However, the quality of the dosa he made had even an Indian desi like myself fooled as to his possible home town in the Mother land.

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Last week, we reported on Cer Te’s cheeky response to its ‘B’ cleanliness rating assessed by the Department of Health. It appears that the DOH doesn’t share the same sense of humor, as their modified sign has been replaced with an unadulterated ‘B’ sign.

However, I wouldn’t expect Cer Te to go gently into that good night, instead, they’ve posted a follow-up alongside the DOH sign arguing their first amendment rights. I’m not sure if first amendment rights are applicable in this case, but at least they’re taking this whole DOH business in stride. Keep fighting the power Cer Te!

Let us know if you spot any other funny or unexpected DOH letter ratings.