Midtown Lunch

Back in January, Ciro restaurant (49th & 8th Ave) quietly shuttered, though the Midtown lunch populace didn’t seem too concerned. I walked by over the weekend and noticed that the (seemingly) generic West End Bar and Grill had opened in its place. The drinks on tap are your standard variety, though the restaurant staff promised a daily rotation of happy hours (Mamacita, here’s your cue).

I took a quick peek at the menu, and noted that its your standard line-up of pub grub, wraps, obligatory chicken wings and the like – most of which are over the $10 mark. However, I did notice that their burger, an 8oz Pat LaFrieda patty that comes with fries and all the fixin’s only costs $10. I confirmed with the restaurant staff that the kitchen would be open 7 days a week, including weekday lunch service. Also, according to TONY, the Chef of the restaurant is a former Jean Georges line cook.

Although this type of restaurant is tough to get excited about, the $10 LaFrieda burger and fry deal definitely piqued my interest. If any early adopters try the food here, please chime in with your thoughts in the comments.

West End Bar and Grill, 813 8th Ave (btw. 48+49th)

Photo courtesy of Lunch’er “Harry”

Sad news in the forums for fans of Montreal bagels and greek dips.  Marketa, the upscale (for lack of a better term) “market” on 56th btw. 6+7th from the owners of Milos, has closed for renovations.  It will be interesting to see if they are actually making improvements to the place that will make it more Midtown Lunch’ish (i.e. lower the prices) or just calling it “renovations” until it reopens as something completely different.  Only time will tell…

It seems like only yesterday we were complaining about freak snow storms and seriously crummy weather, but signs of spring are emerging, whether it be the start of baseball season, OMG RAMPS!, or the Kelvin Slush Truck making its glorious return. I noticed their tweet that they’d be re-launching this weekend, and tracked them down to inquire if they’d be coming to Midtown anytime soon.

First, the good news – barring any serious weather set-backs, they mentioned that they are back for good for the year. However, they were non-committal on any Midtown visits, so we’ll have to keep our eyes on twitter and hope they grace us with their presence. Oh, and my ginger slush with white peach and strawberry? Freakin’ fantastic.

Kimbap is an ideal lunch item for me. It’s cheap, travels well, packs an even and flavorful dose of carbs, proteins, veggies, and it doesn’t suffer if I get pulled into a meeting and it sits on my desk for hours until I finally get to it.

Whenever I get the hankering for kimbap and I’m close to Koreatown, E-Mo (‘Aunt’ in Korean) has always been my go to. I get sentimental when it comes to this place as well – it’s a tiny hole-in-the-wall that’s been around forever, and the old Korean lady that assembles the kimbap to-order is as sweet as can be (at least when she’s not scolding me for my embarrassing lack of conversational Korean). It may not be the best kimbap I’ve ever had, but compared to the other options in K-town, it always held its own. That is until Food Gallery 32 opened up across the street, and started selling its own version of made-to-order kimbap at the Boon Sik Zip stall.

A comparison between the two was inevitable, so we set off to do a head-to-head assessment in our highly unscientific analysis.

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In the sad news department; I followed up with the staff at Cycle Cafe (fka Cyber Cafe, on 49th btw. B’way+8th) on the heels of our earlier report that Madeleine, the sweet old lady who made some pretty awesome crêpes, would only be temporarily displaced while the new management re-jiggers their food offerings. However, on my visit over the weekend, the staff brusquely mentioned that she wouldn’t be coming back. Indeed, the entire food counter has been taken over by a smoothie operation, generic deli sandwiches, and various Italian entrees slowly dying under a heat lamp, leaving no room for a crêpe making station. If this is truly the end for Madeleine, then we thank her for her services to the lunchers of Midtown, and bid her a fond adieu.

It appears that Baked by Melissa will be bringing their (contentious) cupcakes to the lunchers and tourists in the Times Square area (7th Ave. between 38th & 39th St). I happened to walk by their plywood, which promises that these tiny (some would say overpriced) cupcakes will be available in Spring 2011. Try not to get too excited.

Gyoza from Sapporo (on 49th btw. 6+7th). Photo by The Flooz.

• Sapporo’s gyoza are one of the top 3 dumplings in all of NYC [FitR]
• Half Off Schnitzel & Things Grand Opening Party [Gilt City]
• Schnipper’s Mac & Joe is still good [Tasty Eating]
• The kimbap from Food Gallery 32 comes with fishcake soup [Feisty Foodie]
• Happy Hour fave Port 41 was raided by the cops yesterday [Eater]

Once again Mamacita is off this week, so our man Ultraclay steps in to tell us about a friendly Times Square option with some fiery wings.

I try to avoid the Times Square area as much as possible. The tourists, the crowds, the crappy food all make it exactly where I don’t want to be. But, an off-site meeting earlier this week took me to 45th Street, right in the heart of it all and after wading through the crowd just to get out of the building, I needed a drink.

Enter The Perfect Pint. A friend who used to work in the area recommended it highly a while back, so this was my chance to check it out.

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