Midtown Lunch

The hype leading up to today’s Kentucky Fried Chicken Double Down release has been enormous. Always Hungry was in Herald Square at 10am, and Eater scored photos of New York Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton eating his double down and taking notes on Boadway (he just filed his report here.) If you’ve somehow been living under a rock this past week, let me summarize. In place of bread this ‘sandwich’ uses two fried boneless chicken fillets and then glues them together with melted Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese, two crispy bacon strips and the Colonel’s Special Sauce (which sadly does not have Lipitor in it.) Apparently you can also order a ‘healthier’ version using grilled chicken, but why bother? That’s like getting a diet Coke with your double bacon cheeseburger. You’re not fooling anyone buddy. The final countdown ended this morning, so I headed over to get my fix.

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It takes a special kind of iron stomach to be able to appreciate the gut busting powers of a Chinese steam table take-out lunch. Many people are into Ying Du (on 38th btw. 7+8th), but I think they’ve not been the same since they changed their name from 38th St restaurant and bakery and then had to stop cutting roast meats to order (and apparently portions are getting smaller as well.) Even though they do pile on the food, and the price is ridiculous, I still try to find the next hidden treasure of steam table goodness. So when my former roommate told me about Fuji Restaurant and Bakery, I got intrigued about the possibility of another good option for cheap and filling Chinese food.

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Remember when the Treats Truck parked next to the Papa Perrone truck (on 55th btw. Park+Mad) a few months back?  They had such a good time they’re making it a permanent Monday thing starting today.  It’s a match made in heaven as far as we’re concerned. (UPDATE: Papa Perrone won’t be out today, but the Treats Truck will still be there! UPDATE #2: According to the ML Twitter Tracker, the Schnitzel & Things Truck is taking Papa Perrone’s spot for the day. Schnitzel + Treats = Happy Lunchers.)

If you’re looking for something completely different for lunch today, you’ve got two big options hitting the ML scene today…  Tri Tip Grill opens in the concourse under 30 Rock, and KFC begins serving their new “Double Down” sandwich.  If you choose the latter, keep an eye out for NYT restaurant critic Sam Sifton… he seems pretty psyched for today’s launch.  (And who can blame him?!) Live reports from early adopters at both fronts are encouraged.

Photo courtesy of Food in Mouth

• Danny likes the braised lamb with pb&j sandwich at No. 7 Subs [Food in Mouth]
• These guys… not so much [SENY]
• Looking for vegan cheesecake? Here is your spot [Ramen & Friends]
• The chacarero completo at Barros Luco has gained another fan [SENY]
• The stir fried eggplant app at Menchanko Tei is a winner [NYC Foodie]
• Robert Sietsema is a big fan of Kyochon (despite the small wing size) [FitR]

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 Friday afternoon 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.

I thought finding bargain happy hours around Rockefeller would be impossible. Most of the best deals I’ve reviewed are usually on the boundaries of midtown, away from the tourists, corporate offices, and ritzy steakhouses, not smack dab in the heart of the Radio City Spectacular and near the bright lights of Broadway! ML favorites tend to be dive bars with free hotdogs or cheap wings. However, I’ve found $1 oysters at an expensive lobster restaurant and an incredible burger plus cocktail special at a chic bar and grill. Now McCormick & Schmick has reared its delicious head to, again, prove that dives are not our only solace here on ML.

The name McCormick & Schmick sounds like a legal firm not like a seafood restaurant, and you’d also guess by the name that maybe this is a corporate hangout with more suits then a Jacoby and Myers. That may be true, but not only do they have one of the biggest and best bar menus, their specials aren’t for a limited time or anything new. They’ve had this happy hour going on for YEARS! How did they pass under the radar for so long? How could I have not noticed? Excuse me as I hang my head in shame.

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Good news, bacon, breakfast, and burrito lovers! As first reported by Lunch’er “Masto”, Eggs Travaganza (on NE corner of 52nd+Park) is now open for lunch til 2PM every weekday. The bacon-wrapped Cholula Dog screamed at us from the computer monitor saying “Pick me, pick me!” so, as a girl who follows her bacon-wrapped heart, I made a beeline for Eggs Travaganza to check it out. More than just bacon after the jump…

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