Midtown Lunch

I should probably admit off the bat that I never ate at Chiyoda Sushi (on 41st btw. Mad+5th). Of all the times I walked right by it on my way to Cafe Zaiya, I think I stopped in once and I still ended up going to Zaiya. Despite Zach’s strong recommendation to check it out, I just couldn’t get excited for what was described as a more refined (more expensive) version of the Zaiya experience. Admittedly I’m not sure why that was because I’ve definitely spent $10 at Zaiya before, so it’s not like that is usually a dirt cheap lunch for me. Now that Chiyoda has been reborn as Mai Sushi, I decided it was time to give them a try.

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Photo courtesy of Food in Mouth

About a month ago Chris H. declared his love for the spicy paitan ramen at Ramen Totto (on 52nd btw. 8+9th). But if spicy is what you’re looking for, you might want to go for the Totto Extreme Spicy Ramen instead. It’s the same price as the spicy paintan ($10.25) but has 9 chilies next to its name on the menu (compared to 2 on the other soup!) How hot is it? We think the photo says it all. [via Food in Mouth]

When walking by Kashmir Grill on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40, I noticed that they are now serving a $1 burger (how could I not notice? Look at all those signs!). Let’s face it, you can get a slice of pizza for $1 anywhere in Midtown these days. But a $1 burger?  That’s uncharted territory. Apparently Kashmir thought they had to do something drastic after my  less-than-enthusiastic write up a couple of weeks ago. It’s a little too soon for me to set foot back in that place, but if anyone is brave enough (and cheap enough) to try this Dollar Burger, please let us know how it goes.

Feast NY has an update on the long awaited branch of Bill’s Bar & Burger in Rock Center.  According to them the location is not only opening on Tuesday, but it will also have some new sandwich and salad selections not on the menu at the MePa location- including “a riff on In-n-Out’s West Coast classic called the Sunset and Vine” and “a grilled chicken BLT on a poppy seed roll; Asian chicken salad; Rockefeller salad topped with fried oysters, gruyere and bacon with Champagne tartar sauce; falafel; and even meatballs.”

A couple of days ago I went and tried the slightly out of bounds location of Minar (on 31st btw. 5+6th). It’s never been featured on ML before, but the food is pretty much identical to the more famous Midtown location on 46th btw. 6+7th.  The original Minar was actually one of Zach’s earliest Midtown Lunches and amazingly enough, the post still resonates today, FOUR years later. Back in ’06 Zach wrote, “I went with the Chicken Tikka Masala (for sake of comparison with other places), the Lamb curry, and the Saag Paneer… but the curry was too watery.” I had the exact same order and the same qualities could be found in Minar today. I guess you’ve gotta hand it to them for consistency!

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New Yorkers, our long nightmare is over – it seems like we’re getting our own version of the Kogi BBQ truck. At this point, there’s little that Mr. Zach Brooks can hold sacred to LA, now that we’re about to encroach on the Korean taco truck phenomenon. A phenomenon that already seems to have pervaded our local Midtown lunch venues, like Bann Next Door, Café Duke and Pro Hot Korean, though we have yet to see a legit Korean taco truck operating in Manhattan for weekday lunches.

After first hearing about the Korilla truck a few months ago on Eater and doing some preliminary investigation on their website and Facebook page, I excitedly reached out to the owner to get a little more information on the Korilla truck.

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