Midtown Lunch

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

Yes, that’s maple bacon and eggs, sandwiched between mac and cheese pancakes

Brownie discovers the “King of all Breakfast Sandwiches” at Shopsin’s, Ultraclay was in Philly eating a delicious Mexican brunch, Amy made panna cotta with the Dessert Truck, and Danny gets stomach issues after eating at 5 blogger recommended spots (not in Midtown, for the record!)  Want some more stuff to drool over? Jamie had this amazing looking sandwich with brisket, fried egg, provolone, and horseradish in Philly, Andrea tries the Downtown Bon Chon that was just stripped of its name, and I got sisig from a Filipino food truck in L.A. (don’t be mad.)

Two bits of Midtown food news from the website Koshertopia today. First the bad(?) news. Aroma, the Kosher pizza spot on 36th btw. 5+6th, has closed. I guess people weren’t down with the pepperoni fake out? And now the good (also ?) Kolette’s Kitchen will be opening soon on Lex btw. 55+56th serving up “Middle Eastern Mezze, Deli Sandwiches & Vietnamese Sandwiches”. No word on when that will open, but we’re super curious to try Kosher Vietnamese pate.

Have any tips, recommendations or news to share? Send it to editor@midtownlunch.com

I love seeing scrappy underdog restaurants pop up out of nowhere. Word-of-mouth publicity from readers of Midtown Lunch carries a lot more weight with me than slick advertising campaigns. So, yesterday, when we heard through the grapevine about a new (but slightly-out-of-bounds) restaurant that serves Southeast Asian street food, our interest was piqued. On paper and in concept, I was instantly sold – Thai inspired papaya salads, Malaysian satay skewers and roti’s and what’s that… a BANH MI? To borrow a quote from Anthony Bourdain, I would cheerfully “crawl naked across broken glass” for a good banh mi. It’s my absolute favorite food, ever.

I was so excited for the prospect of good Malay and Viet food, that I skipped a work happy hour (sorry co-workers that may be reading this) and voyaged over to 9th ave to get my banh mi fix. So do we finally have a bonafide banh mi in Midtown West?
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Word came over the Twitter this week that the Steak Truck (on 47th + Park) was hitting the streets with a new look and a new menu. Ever since its performance in Street Meat Palooza 2 the Steak Truck has been on my radar, but despite being a block away from my office I haven’t really hit it up that often.  Then I saw that tweet promising porterhouse steak and waffle fries, and…well… that’s a horse of a different color. (And apparently that color is neon green.)

Check out the menu, and my two sandwiches, after the jump.

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• The Kosher Oasis Truck is still M.I.A. [Midtown Eating]
• … as is El Camioncito.  What gives!? [Midtown Eating]
• Maoz is hoping to reopen tomorrow [Midtown Eating]
• Anybody remember the Caribbean joint that used to be on 57th? [Midtown Eating]

A few weeks ago Lunch’er “Emily” (not today’s profiled lunch’er, but a different Emily) told us about Bai Cha, a self proclaimed South East Asian street food & market (on 9th Ave. btw. 49+50th) and today Life With Food and Drink confirms that it’s open and has posted a copy of the menu. Satay, salads, banh mi, roti and dumplings… It’s slightly out of bounds, but with a Vietnamese street food line-up like that I think we can walk the extra avenue to check it out. Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.