Midtown Lunch

As Anna wrote earlier this week, the Columbus Circle Holiday Market is going on now, and there are several great options for lunch. She sampled the empanadas from both Sizzle and La Sonrisa, as well as cider things at Breezy Hill Orchard. Plus, there’s Wafels & Dinges, German Delights Bratwurst and the Turkish pastries from MMM … Enfes that Brownie was a big fan of from the Bryant Park holiday fair. Shamefully omitted from the previous writeup was Red Basil Thai Kitchen, which hails from Astoria and has a stand between the Brats and the Turks.

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For those of you eagerly awaiting the arrival of The Cinnamon Snail Truck, here’s some just in news from Chef Adam: “After two full years, finally The Cinnamon Snail food truck is fully permitted for NYC. We will be serving many neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn starting this Thursday 12/8/11 with an appearance for brunch and lunch in Midtown West. The exact location will be announced via social media when we are parked.” For locations and specials, follow them on twitter @VeganLunchTruck. If you want to see Cinnamon Snail near you, check out their Facebook page. They are taking a vote about locations. Come on fellow Midtown Lunchers, can I count on you to help rock the vote for midtown?

• Are Valducci’s slices oversized or undersized? [Midtown Eating]
• The golubtsy at Five Star Grill is amazing [Midtown Eating]
• What happened to the Wall Street Burger Truck? [Midtown Eating]
• The quality at Pita Grill has gone downhill [Midtown Eating]
• Where can I find one of those Hot Soup carts? [Midtown Eating]

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 Caryn, a 30 Rock coordinator in charge of ordering catering for her office. Can you help her out with some suggestion?

Name: Caryn

Age: 23

Occupation: Program Coordinator

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 30 Rockefeller Plaza

Favorite Kind of Food: Really good hot, melty gourmet sandwiches with high quality cheese.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Sushi. It’s embarrassing for a foodie, but I just can’t get into it.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Since my lunch break is limited, I typically don’t stray far from the concourse of 30 Rock. But the billion options keep things interesting. For example: ‘Wichcraft‘s Pressed Zucchini, Roasted Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Parmesan Panini deliciously tricks me into believing it’s a healthy option with all the veggies. When I’ve sat at my desk too long and it’s suddenly 3pm and I need to eat something monstrous, Potbelly‘s Meatball Sub is my drug of choice. My co-worker is also addicted to their fresh baked chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. If I’m feeling Mexican, Tri Tip Grill‘s burrito is really fresh and the chicken is juicy. For a lighter day, Hale and Hearty’s Sengalese Chicken with Peanuts soup with a half of Balsamic Chicken is satisfying. The limited-time Holiday Toastie from Pret a Manger (Roasted Turkey, Brie, Cranberry Sauce, Veggie Stuffing) is a festive addition to the lunch rotation. When I’m pretending to diet, I order Just Salad from their online system and pick it up 15 minutes later, which allows me to skip the massive line and avoid making excessive compulsive topping decisions.

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The forums have been abuzz for the past few weeks about Korilla’s shrinking portions. Midtown Lunch’er Goats started the conversation like this:

I don’t know what happened to them–maybe it’s all the publicity from the show–but the size of their burrito–rib eye of the tiger in particular–is f’ing MINISCULE now! I was so pissed! It was ALL tortilla and hardly any filling! I was biting folds of tortilla with nothing for nearly half the burrito it seemed! I used to love this truck–their burritos were huge! They weighed well over a lb and a half and were stuffed to the gills. But now, NO. Not even close. Less product. High price. Not sure I will return. I leave the hypechasers to support them….

Them’s fighting words, and unfortunately, many of the replies since seem to agree. Interestingly, though, all the complaints refer to the tacos and burritos, but no one has mentioned the chosun bowls (yet). So, when one of the trucks hit up midtown the other day, off I went to see if the issues extended across the board.

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Last month, On Tap at Whole Foods Market opened at their Columbus Circle location. Beer at a supermarket? Sounds kind of weird, but considering Whole Foods is the best generic Midtown deli, the food at On Tap may be worth a look-see.

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Since the Nuchas kiosk joined Snack Box and Salume in Times Square in November, we are 75% of the way there with the four Times Square Alliance kiosks. Last on the list? Rickshaw Dumplings. We know what we’re in for with Rickshaw food, making it a little less exciting than others- but Rickshaw fans are probably excited to have a stationary dumpling location, immune to the whims of the food truck hating cops. There isn’t an exact date set for the opening, but they let us know via twitter that it is happening this month. I guess that means we can look forward to celebrating the holidays with some dumplings!

So the first time I went to Sophie’s and got the chicken with rice and beans, I thought it wasn’t that great. The chicken was tender but it lacked flavor and so did the rice and beans. I like to give a place a second chance before deciding if I it should go under my “never to go again” list, so the other day I found myself once more at Sophie’s. Earlier in the day I had this huge craving for beef stew and couldn’t think of any place for beef stew except Sophie’s.

Hopefully this would be just what I needed to forget about that chicken…

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