Midtown Lunch

The other week, we noted the exciting opening of Don Antonio Neapolitan pizza in Hells Kitchen. Why is it exciting? Because there’s some serious culinary chops behind the restaurant, including Kesté’s Roberto Caporuscio and his mentor Antonio Starita. According to Serious Eats, Mr. Starita is also the vice president of the Naples-based Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani, the organization that trains and certifies pizza makers (Mr. Starita is also a partner at Don Antonio). Impressively pedigree’d pizza in Midtown? And several menu items under $10? Don’t walk, run, to get your lunch at Don Antonio.

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When’s the last time THE New York Times restaurant review also qualified as a Midtown Lunch? Apparently, Pete Wells has discovered Shake Shack and awarded it one star in today’s dining section. I can’t decide of it’s badass or just bizarre to review it … now. While Mr. Wells was “never let down by the hot dogs,” he was brutal when it came to their fries, calling them “pretty awful,” among other things. But for the main event, the burgers, he found the doneness unpredictable. “Shake Shack wasn’t even consistently inconsistent,” he wrote when two patties in the same sandwich were cooked differently. We are certainly fans of Shake Shack on this blog, but it’s hard to defend the place when Mr. Wells isn’t exactly wrong. Sure, I’ve had inconsistently cooked food from Shake Shack, but when you get a really good Shack burger … it’s just SO GOOD.

But even stranger might have been the companion blog piece comparing seven other NYC burgers to the Shack, including several from Midtown. He bestowed favorable words to both the signature burger from Steak N’ Shake and Schnipper’s Quality Kitchen‘s burger while mentioning that Bill’s Bar & Burger was greasy. True. But the fact that Mr. Wells didn’t even address Five Guys or Burger Joint at all is pretty inexcusable.  What do you guys think?

Last summer we told you about Food To Eat, the new website that allows you to order pick up or delivery from some of Midtown’s busiest lunch spots, including food trucks and street carts.  Well apparently it’s been in beta all this time (who knew?) because today is their official launch date.  And to celebrate the launch, 24 participating food trucks, carts, and restaurants will be offering a little bit extra to customers that order lunch through the service.

Want to see the list of freebies?  We’ve got it for you, after the jump…

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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 Lunch’er Shaun, a software development manager who says he liked to eat healthy- but his favorite lunches are anything but.

Name: Shaun

Age: 33

Occupation: Software Development Manager and Improviser (I perform every Wednesday at the Magnet Theater with house team Grappler, or you can see my on Friday March 2nd, 9th and 23rd at 7pm with my team Honey.)

Where in Midtown do you work? Micros-Retail at 37th and 5th. Kind of a dead zone here!

Favorite Kind of Food: At this point in my life, healthy edible food. I was on a kale kick for a little bit. I love corned beef sandwiches on rye bread! Love Indian food too!

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Not a huge fan of Thai food!

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I have a bunch of them! Pizza Suprema at 31st and 8th avenue. Best plain slice of cheese in the city period. Worth the $3. Chicken House at 36th and 8th for their fried chicken and rice. Rafiqi Cart at 39th and 5th for lamb and rice. Carl’s Cheesesteaks at 34th and 3rd for the cheesesteak, whiz no onions. Tina’s Cuban at 34th and Madison for their cuban sandwich.

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On a not too cold day, I decided to walk to Cafe Zaiya for some deep fried curry bread goodness. While looking around the store, hoping to buy more than just curry bread, I noticed in the refrigerated shelves there were few ready-made bowls of oyakodon ($5.49). Some of you may know that I’m on a mission to find some delicious oyakodons in Midtown. So far my favorite is the version from Udon West on 46th Street btw. Lex+3rd (with it’s perfectly cooked scrambled eggs and big chunks of dark meat) while Sapporo on 49th St., btw. 6th & 7th coming in a close second. For research sake, I decided to get one.

Then a few days later, a few of us in the office decided to get lunch. Not sure where to eat, a coworker suggested Sakagura (43rd St btw 2nd + 3rd). I had heard about this basement sake bar many years ago but in my head sake bars equal small plates of foods, so I never bothered to look at the menu. Most of the items on the lunch menu were way over the ML price range except for the appetizers and the plain (hot and cold) soba noodles ($9). Then I saw it, in the rice bowl section, an oyakodon for $11.50.  It seems like a head to head battle seemed in order.

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Back in December, I visited Bon Chon’s Turtle Bay location to check out their lunch specials. While I loved the chicken, I also tried the LaFrieda Korean Bulgogi Burger ($9), and wasn’t the biggest fan. But in light of recent comments in the ML Forums claiming that the burger was vastly improved, I had to go for a second look.

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Photo courtesy of the New York Daily News

• Shake Shack is now serving a Jeremy Lin-Mint shake [Eater;Fork in the Road;NYDN]
• Korilla is way better than the Yogi Cart [Chubby Chinese Girl]
• Robert Sietsema tries the Batali Pang [Fork in the Road]
• Check out this video of how the pies at Don Antonio are made [Slice]
• Another look at Eden Wok’s pastrami egg roll [Fork in the Road]