Midtown Lunch

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

Photo courtesy of Ultraclay

Ultraclay splurged on a $13 (shocking!) Korean lunch at Don’s Bogam,  Jason Lam finds durian ice cream in Sunset Park, Danny eats breakfast for lunch at El Quinto Pino, and Blondie and Brownie give you the lowdown on the new Shake Shack custard flavors (spoiler alert: Saturdays is pancake and bacon day!)  Plus if you like videos, Amy Cao has posted the latest episode of “Stupidly Simple Snacks, and it features pastry chef (and Vendy Award Judge) Pichet Ong.

And there she is… the new Milk Bar at the front of Momofuku’s Ma Peche (on 55th btw. 5+6th). Not a “preview” photo. Not a “friends and family” photo. But the real deal… open to the public… serving up food photo! (The main dining room wasn’t open when this photo was taken, but is expected to be open by 12:30. Update: It’s open!) As reported last week, there is salty pistachio soft serve in the Milk Bar (along with the requisite pies and cookies). And they will offer one savory bread a day for $6.

Check out the bread “schedule” after the jump…

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A few weeks ago, we reported that Vic’s Bagel Bar (on 3rd Ave. btw. 36+37th) had opened and was offering Midtown bagel lovers the option to customize their cream cheese (Cold Stone Creamery style.) Curiosity always gets the best of me, so of course I had to return to try one of their bagel monstrosities… the Backyard BBQ. Read more »

It’s no secret that Midtown Lunch has traditionally had a bit of an Asian soup bias… aka Zach just didn’t eat non-Asian soups. And while I can respect his assessment that the majority of soups in midtown are overpriced and not terribly filling (I’m looking at you, Hale & Hearty!), I’m a soup fan, and try as I might, I can’t live on ramen alone. Though the dine-in menu at Dervish Turkish (on 47th btw. 6+7th) is pretty much out of the Midtown Lunch price range, they make a mean Red Lentil Soup that’s available for take out and it’s well under $10.
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In case you hadn’t heard, Monday was Friends & Family day at Ma Peche (aka Momofuku Midtown on 55th btw. 5+6th) and the few who made it into the belly of the beast have had nothing but good things to say.  Kate Krader’s early lunch review just makes us wish we could afford to eat in the actual restaurant, and the new “Franken Pie” looks amazing. On the cheaper side of things, UrbanDaddy sort-of suggested there will be $6 sandwiches– which would be a nice lunch’ish addition to the $10 specials and pistachio soft serve we confirmed on Friday. They said the place could open as early as today, but you never know with these things. If it actually does happen, you know we’ll be there to give you the lowdown!

Related:
Ma Peche Update: “I’ll See Your $10 Menu, and Raise You Salty Pistachio Soft Serve”

• “Minarity” is looking to make Minar’s version of Chana at home [Midtown Eating]
• Help finding Citron tea in Flatiron/K-town? [Miscellaneous]
• Any midtowner’s want to be the next Snookie on “Asian Jersey Shore?’ [Miscellaneous]
• Did anyone make it to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution TV Shoot? [Miscellaneous]
• What can I say? If there’s one thing we New Yorkers can boast about it’s our pizza, sorry Philly! [Philadelphia Eating]

Yushi (on 47th btw. Park+Lex) seems to add a new thing every month (like boozy ramen) but when Lunch’er “Jason” told me they had added banh mi, I took a second lunch break and ran there. Since you don’t know I’ll tell you now – one of my life goals is to eat every Vietnamese baguette in New York City (my favorite so far is Nicky’s in the EV, but I admit I’m only just getting started.) Sadly it was a Thursday, and I was informed banh mi day is on Wednesdays! So began the six-day countdown to the following Wednesday. Luckily the wait was worth it.

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