Midtown Lunch

Yesterday 4Food “officially” opened to the public, and we didn’t hear much from the scene (post Labor Day blues perhaps?) Today, however, was a different story. Despite weeks of previews, soft opening hours, and training it sounds like 4Food wasn’t exactly ready for the Midtown lunch rush. Reports have been pouring in all day complaining of long waits, restless crowds, and empty bellys. From Lunch’er Roberto: “Just came back from 4Food and waited close to an hour for my food. People were literally walking out on their orders. Here is a pic of the counter right before I got my food.” And it’s not just people who walked in off the street, even those who ordered online were waiting forever. And there are more complaints in the Forums. 4Food is telling people via Twitter to email them (dejunk@4food.com) if you had any issues and they’ll “make it right”.

Either way, consider this your friendly ML PSA… if you don’t get that much time for lunch, it might be worth waiting a little longer for these guys to get everything sorted out before heading over to try 4Food.

Related:
Midtown Lunch’ers Liveblog: Your First Look at 4Food

The Kashmir Grill (8th Ave. btw. 39+40th) has had a tumultuous last few years. It used to be a by the pound buffet. Then it was shut down by the DOH. Meanwhile, their downstairs all you can eat buffet became The Times Buffet and may or may not still be associated with their upstairs neighbor. All that is history though. Late last year, Kashmir Grill ditched the pay what it weighs buffet and reopened as a take out place with Indian food that looked largely the same as the original.  Now that it seems to have settled into this role, I thought it was high time Midtown Lunch weighed in.
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After getting tipped off to Little Morocco‘s return to the NE corner of 39th and 7th in the forums, I immediately headed out yesterday to verify. Sure enough, the street meat cart that ranks among many people’s favorites (myself included) is back! My combo over rice was pretty good, but it was missing the little extras that makes Little Morocco so great (the beans, the corn, the cilantro, the free french fries.) And the hot sauce didn’t seem as hot. I’m not sure if I was just too late in the day for some of that stuff, or if Little Morocco is undergoing some changes after nearly a month of being M.I.A. I’m hoping it was the former…

Related:
Little Morocco is Midtown’s Best New Street Meat

Thanks again to Luncher ‘hightemp’, who tipped us off yesterday to the news that Pro Hot Korean (on 56th btw. 5+6th) is trying out a Korean taco special this week. After mostly positive Korean taco results from Bann Next Door (on 50th btw. 8+9th) and Cafe Duke (on 51st btw. 6+7th), you can be sure that I’ll continue my well documented obsession with Korean tacos at Pro Hot Korean at some point this week. In the meantime, early adopters let us know how they are in the comments.

Midtown Lunch is no stranger to the mash up. There was the Famous Halal Guys/100% Vegetarian cart mash up, the chicken tikka sandwich, and the Treats Truck/Miss Softee ice cream sandwich. But this takes things to a completely new level. On Thursday Eddie’s Pizza Truck and Rafiqi’s will team up on 52nd and Park to create… a Street Meat Pizza! We’ll let that sink it for a moment before we let Eddie’s describe exactly what that means.

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Back when Five Guys first opened on 55th, we said it was the closest thing NYC had to In N Out Burger.  Not so, said fans of Blue 9 Burger, a straight up homage to the west coast chain located in the East Village. EV is too far for lunch, but according to Life With Food and Drink a Blue 9 Burger just opened on 9th Ave. btw. 52+53rd (taking over the space that used to be occupied by Philly Slim’s).  It’s just out of bounds, but I’m sure fans of the original location will be willing to go the extra Avenue…

Looking for a late lunch on the East side?  The location of Hello Pasta that we spotted on 3rd Ave. btw. 44+45 back in May finally opened today.  They’re giving away a free drink with every purchase all day long.

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 Tiffany, a Tax Accountant who loves bread but hates mediocre food.

Name: Tiffany

Age: 25

Occupation: Tax accountant

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Madison & 42nd

Favorite Kind of Food: At the risk of getting tarred and feathered here on ML, I confess that my tastes veer towards the vegetarian side with some seafood. But, in any case, it’s dangerous when I’m near… 1. food I grew up with (Taiwanese and Mexican) – shaved ice & fried tofu! guac! 2. really good, fresh bread of any kind 3. unusual (but delicious sounding) flavor combos – like an incredible miso almond cookie I had recently

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Mediocre food makes me sad.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Soup from Devon & Blakely, pizza from Previti (on 41st btw. Lex+Park), falafel from Naya Express (on 3rd btw. 43+44th), halloumi sandwich from Macchiato Espresso Bar (on 44th btw. Lex+3rd)

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