Midtown Lunch

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 Jason, a sports love auditor who loves things extra spicy.

Name: Jason

Age: 23

Occupation: Auditor / Very Part-Time Sports-Business Blogger @ TheSportsTomato

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Most recently in the 50’s between 6th and Park

Favorite Kind of Food: I crave fresh authentic Mexican at least 4 times a day (always extra cilantro). I’m also on a huge udon kick (always extra cilantro). Finger-lickin’ barbeque is a permanent staple in my diet, errrr, my consumption practice. I enjoy all things spicy, and not Frank’s Red Hot spicy, I mean real, habanero/ghost chile spicy. My favorite thing to order is the most unique thing on the menu that I can’t get anywhere else.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I don’t understand how anyone can like those Indian pickles that come on the side. Any red meat that is cooked past medium rare is a travesty. Chipotle.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: El Rey Del Sabor (multiple locations) – the tortas are so worth the mess & beef tongue tacos ftw. Taim Mobile – the sabich tastes like it’s imported from Israel. Hing Won (48th btwn 5th and 6th) – their crispy pork over rice is pure gold and gets the approval from my Beijing counterpart. Last but far from least is the Big Buck Tri-Tip Sandwich from Tri Tip Grill in Rock Center- it’s the best thing on a sliced roll since I had tri-tip in central California.

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Come tax season it’s a tradition of mine to visit Cafe Zaiya (41st btw. Mad+5th) every time I go see my accountant (his office is just around the corner, lucky guy). But now with the addition of Sunrise Mart, deciding where to eat on 41st St just got a bit tougher- although on my most recent visit the fact that I hadn’t been to the new Sunrise Mart yet made the decision a bit easier. I walked straight to the back and ordered their oyakodon, the Japanese rice bowl with chicken and egg. I wanted to compare the version at Sunrise Mart to the version I had at Sapporo few weeks ago.

And then I realized I should probably go to Yagura too (the ugly duckling of the Japanese stores on that street).  After all, they serve oyakodon as well. So how do all 3 oyakodons compare to one another? Will I ever get tired of eating oyakodons? Let’s fine out.

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Midtown East’s recent flurry of opening activity (Dee Daa, Schnitzel & Things, Bierhaus) isn’t over yet. Three more spots opened their doors for business yesterday, and one involves sushi with junk food! Yes, My Maki (43rd btw Lex+3rd), the make your own sushi spot with crazy ingredients like Doritos, potato sticks and mango, is now open for your sushi making enjoyment or blasphemy. You can see the whole menu on their website, but they won’t be doing online orders, phone orders, or delivery until next week (at the earliest).

But wait- there’s more…

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Thanks to Lunch’er Copyboy for sending over this important news re: Hing Won, our favorite Chinese food place in Midtown (on 48th btw. 5+6th).  “Hing Won Gets a C.  It’s the only inspection grade of “C” I’ve seen, and as part of the restaurant’s knuckling under to the Health Dept., they stopped hanging their roast meats. But take heart Hong Kong food freaks: you can still order roast pig, and despite the low grade my favorites (sauteed udon w/roast pork, spicy beef stew, Indonesian curry chicken) continue to not sicken me. Nor has the grade had any apparent impact on the lunch crowd.” Whew. That was a close one. This isn’t the first time Hing Won has been in trouble with the DOH… let’s hope it doesn’t effect quality the way it did with Ying Du. (Ahem, sorry. Ming Du.)

We get a lot of press releases in the ML inbox–most of which we ignore, especially if they have to do with “Sandra Lee, world-famous food personality”.  But I am a sucker for a bake sale, and tomorrow Pyrex is sponsoring the World’s Largest Bake Sale to benefit The Food Bank of New York. It will feature “sweet and savory baked goods from 30 of New York’s most well-respected chefs and restaurants, including: Ciao Bella Gelato, Junior’s Restaurant, Magnolia, Manhattan Chili Company, Murray’s, Zaro’s as well as Del Posto and Fresco by Scotto. The bake sale will be in Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Terminal from 11:30 to 7pm.

My, my, my how Midtown has fallen for the greatness being served by Taïm Mobile. It took our crew three tries just to get a sabich, but another one of their specials proved even more elusive, the harissa falafel. Last time I tried, they sold out with the person before me! When I spotted that special and their Midtown East location awhile back, I made sure to leave my desk no later than 12:15. 10 minutes later, I saw the line. Yes, I waited a good 40 minutes in line to finally get my hands on their harissa falafel.

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