Midtown Lunch

Every Tuesday I 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 Eric, a financial analyst who loves Mexican food and is looking for a decent Philly cheesesteak.

Name: Eric

Age: 33

Occupation: Financial Analyst

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 52nd & Lex, where I do my best to make spreadsheets look pretty.

Favorite Kind of Food: Raw tuna, the super amazing cheese used on the tortas at El Rey del Sabor, and Mexican/Latin food in general. That being said, I’ll eat pretty much anything.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Blue cheese, cinnamon, dessert. Why would I waste room on dessert when I can have more meat?

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: El Rey del Sabor for their amazing tortas (spicy pork is my fave). Hallo Berlin (on 54th and 5th) – the cart is great but ever so slow, so I usually bite the bullet and get delivery. Try the Brat Burger! Barros Luco (on 52nd & 2nd) for the baked empanada. The BL Ace is definitely a top choice as well. Sophie’s Cuban, for roast pork/steak/grilled chicken platters, and La Bellezza for the grilled chicken parm, are both staples. You just can’t argue with getting nearly 2 lbs. of food for under $10. Halal – I LOVE the lamb over rice at Kwik Meal (on 45th and 6th). Other regular spots include Uncle Gussy on 51st and Park (good white sauce) and XPL on Park and 48th (best quality generic gyro meat). And I’ve been digging the lobster rolls over at Urban Lobster shack (in the basement food court on 3rd btw. 49+50th), although I have to take my time with those or they are gone in 2 bites.

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Lunch’er “Masto” is on a roll! Yesterday he sent in the first look at Cer Te’s new Mr. Potato Skin sandwich, and today he sends along this great news.  Remember the Eggs Travaganza Cart (the breakfast only cart on 52nd and Park that Serious Eats wrote about back in July?)  Apparently they are now open for lunch…

I stopped by the Eggs Travaganza cart on 52nd and Park for my favorite Mexican breakfast wrap when I discovered they had put out a sign with some lunch offerings. I asked Maribel and Arturo about it and they confirmed that they are indeed open for lunch. They gave me a sneak peek at the lunch menu just for Midtown Lunch, photo attached.

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Food Court Alert! With all the restaurants on 32nd Street, it’s practically already an outdoor food court, but now there’s going to be a real one, with at least 10 different vendors inside. This could be the biggest food court news since they closed the one in the Manhattan Mall (or A&S Plaza as some of us still think of it). With all the lights and signs on 32nd Street it’s pretty easy to miss the new sign that popped up in the former home of the Wilshire State Bank, right across from Woorijip. (I would have missed it too, if the words “Food Court” hadn’t drawn me in!) I made a quick call yesterday to the realtor to get some details. (What can I say, we love food courts.)

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Just because Hideki Matsui doesn’t play for the Yankees anymore doesn’t mean Go Go Curry (on 38th btw. 7+8th) plans on ending their hero worship of #55.  In other words, they will still give out free topping coupons on the days following a Matsui homerun- even though he plays for the Angels.  During the off season there was a question as to whether they’d keep the deal in place, but the owner Mr. Miyamori settled things yesterday with this official (and very diplomatic) statement:

“Matsui is like our symbol and he was our inspiration so no matter which baseball team he goes, we keep supporting him. However, I know it is difficult but of course GO GO CURRY’s hometown is New York, so we strongly hope and we would love him to come back to New York Yankees to play!”

And just in time too. The Angels opened their season last night against the Twins, and Matsui homered in the 8th inning. Free topping coupons for everybody!

Related:
Go Go Curry Owner Pledges 100% Support to Matsui

Photo courtesy of Masto

Who needs the double down when you’ve got Cer Te!  Earlier today we reported that Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5+6th) has started serving their new fried chicken monstrosity with potato skins instead of bread… and Lunch’er “Masto” has sent over the first photographic evidence of this curiosity.  He calls it “inspired” and early reports have been mostly positive.  Of course we’ll try it ourselves and give you the complete lowdown (uh… you know… for “work”) in the next few days.  In the meantime you can view the sandwich from every angle on Masto’s flickr stream.

Related:
Potato Skin Sandwich Hits the Cer Te Menu Today
Cer Te Picks Sandwich Challenge Winners!

It is looking like Kentucky Fried Chicken will put another nail in our coffin this April 12th. Their newest artery clogging monstrosity, which is even being discussed in the forums, might be too good for us to resist. It’s called the KFC Double Down and it does what a fat man can only dream about. In place of bread the sandwich features two fried chicken filets (you can get grilled, but quite frankly why would you!?), sandwiched around two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese and the Colonel’s Sauce (which we can only hope has Lipitor already in it.) Let my Atkins Diet begin!

It’s been well covered that if you want an all you can eat Indian buffet in Midtown, your best bet is with Spice Fusion (on 8th Ave. btw. 47+48th). In addition to their buffet, they’ve actually been offering kati rolls for the past few years, although to little fan fare. I felt like it was time to see how they stack up against the competition.

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