PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Nithya”

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 Nithya, a lawyer who hates bananas and wishes Midtown had a tiffin system.

Name: Nithya

Age: 30

Occupation: I’m a lawyer and work with start-up technology companies. I also love to cook and share stories about cooking Indian food in my Brooklyn kitchen at Hungry Desi.

Where in Midtown do you Work?: I work in the New York Times Building at 41st/8th Ave

Favorite Kind of Food: Mattar Paneer and almost anything Indian, Thai red curry, falafel and fresh pasta.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Everything about bananas grosses me out. But my 17 month old loves them, so now I can bring myself to be in a 2 foot vicinity of a peeled banana.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Minar lunch box (on 46th btw. 6+7th), Kati Roll (on 39th btw. 5+6th), a falafel bowl from Crisp and a slice from Siena Pizza on 40th btw. 7+8th (best “undiscovered” slice in midtown) and the Salted Caramel milkshake from Schnippers (on 41st and 8th).

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? The New York Times cafeteria and (don’t judge me) Dean and Deluca.

Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? The Biriyani Cart on 46th and 6th (the real one – not the many imposters. Thank you!) and Pick a Pita on 8th btw. 39+40th (I thought I was the only one who likes to put french fries IN my pita).

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? India of course! Mainly for the tiffin system. Delicious food delivered to my office with no fuss. Or San Francisco for the endless vegetarian possibilities.

Anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? You’re going out for a nice lunch or dinner in midtown. The restaurant needs to accommodate a group of mostly non-vegetarians plus one vegetarian (who happens to be me!). Where would you go?

Got an answer for Nithya? Put it in the comments. And, as always, if you want to be next week’s Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate) email editor@midtownlunch.com.

13 Comments

  • Tenpenny is a solid pick – they pay respect to local, seasonal vegetables, and their animal protein dishes are quite good as well.

    Travel a bit north, and you’ve got Rouge Tomate with a Michelin star, and a bit south, Hangawi does excellent veg Korean food that’s well received by omnivores.

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    I work in your building and I definitely agree with your recommendation of Siena Pizza. Excellent slice.

  • Are you perhaps dating a certain Leonard Leonard Hoffsteader?

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    This is a useless suggestion, but whenever I eat out with a vegetarian, I always suggest Indian. If your friends don’t like Indian food, then you need new friends. If I myself am going to eat vegetarian, I’d probably get Ethiopian or pizza.

    Unless what you mean by “nice” is “fancy.” In that case, I’d go for seafood. (Unless you don’t eat that either.)

  • FREAK OF THE WEEK

    The “vegetarians eat seafood?” edition

  • There are a hand-full of good italian places in midtown. You like pasta, right? I can name a few but if you’ve been working in Times square for a few years, I’m sure you already have your favorites. Although it’s touristy, Carmine’s is great for groups, food is good and isn’t terribly priced. (considering 1 plate easily fills two people).
    If you want something a little better & fancier, try Ecetera Ecetera or Serafina. For lunch (b/c dinner will be pricey), sushi joints are usually good for groups too.

  • Thai or Indonesian on 9th avenue can more than satisfy communist, I mean, vegetarian leanings.

  • SeamlessWeb is the NYC version of the tiffin system, with more variety. (I used to work at your firm; going down to the lobby isn’t a huge hassle!) And there’s tiffinnewyork.com as another option. Might need to get a couple of people to join with you to meet their minimums tho.

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    Almost forgot. For a nice (but not over-the-top) lunch near the NY Times building, I recommend HK restaurant on the corner of 9th and 39. I’ve taken mixed groups of vegetarians and meat eaters there and everyone enjoyed the food.

  • For me, the best bet to get both meat and veggie people together has been Mexican cuisine.
    My veggie indian friends approved of Cilantro and La Palapa. Not in Midtown though.

    Unless you have adventurous meat eaters willing to do falafel places? Crisp ain’t bad.

  • Any decent place in K-town! Bulgolgi or any korean BBQ for the meat eaters and for the vegetarians, chapchae noodles or bibimbap (rice, spicy sauce and veggies)! Some places will also do kimbap (Korean version of californian rolls) without the imitation crab legs but there might be eggs.

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    Mi Nidito or Thalia would be solid options. They’re both on 8th avenue.

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