Midtown Lunch

Lunch’er Hengde wrote in a few days ago to let us know about a brand new empanada cart on the NW corner of 38th & Broadway:

The owner said he’s there every day from 7AM – 4 PM.  I tried a chicken empanada, the dough was really tasty (it was deep fried, of course it was tasty), and the inside was actually a pretty moist mix of light and dark meat. Nothing fancy though, just the chicken. It wasn’t overly stuffed but still pretty filling. 3 of these would definitely make a filling lunch for most people for $6, albeit not the healthiest. Oh yea and the hot sauce had a real kick to it.

Check out a shot of the empanada after the jump.

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We haven’t been so great about covering the East side of Midtown lately, so we put out a call for new contributors a few weeks ago.  Luckily a ton of lunchers in Midtown East stepped up to the challenge, and you should notice us upping our eastside game in the come weeks.  To give you a little taste of what’s in store, here’s a report from Lunch’er Dan about a great Italian egg sandwich on 2nd Ave. 

Most pizza places feature dishes beyond the pies, and they almost always have a standard cast of hot heroes: the chicken parm, meatball, eggplant parm, and the rest. Sometimes you might even find peppers and eggs. They’ve got it at Pizza Rustica (2nd Ave. between 44th and 43th), but they also have a whole section of frittate (which the menu describes as omelettes on a roll), including potato and onion, smoked mozzarella, and spinach, tomato, and goat cheese. Being a fan of all things involving egg, cheese, and bread, I had to try one. And I was willing to walk one avenue outside of the ML boundaries to do it…

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TS Ma, which hasn’t gotten much notice from us in the past, has shuttered and is changing things up a bit. An anonymous tipster (who may be my boss’ boss’ boss, so if this article doesn’t get published I’m out of a job – no pressure) got word to me that the new sign was put up just about yesterday. Now renamed Fusion 9th, it looks like they’ve moved from Chinese and sushi probably not worth eating to pan-Asian. I’m sure we can safely replace “Fusion” with “Multiple cuisine hodgepodge” in our minds, though, given the window.
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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 Enoch, a Finanacial technology analyst who- and I’m not sure about this, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and say- I think likes bacon.

Name: Enoch

Age: 27

Occupation: Financial Technology Analyst (and Blogger)

Where in Midtown do you work? Midtown East (45th and Lex)

Favorite Kind of Food: Bacon. Bacon. Bacon. Oh, and steak.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything green

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: A slice of Chicken Chipotle and a Grandma’s at Little Italy Pizza (on 43rd btw. Mad+5th). Lamb burger with Belgian fries at The Bistro Truck. Spicy Hakata Ramen with an egg at Hide-Chan (on 52nd btw. 2+3rd)

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If your food-based retail establishment has windows clouded with steam and ten or fifteen people in line, it’s probably a safe bet that you’re doing soup en masse and tres proper. I’ve waxed romantic about Soup Spot and its souperiority (I swear, this is the only time in the column I’ll use that word) and how great it is during a heat wave. To me, though, the real measure of soup is how well it works in the cold. How well does the Spot stack up against its big-name chain competition and the generic deli onslaught? Dip the ladle below the jump to find out more.
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We here at Midtown Lunch are fans of buffets and gaming the by-the-lb buffet system. But every now and then, a by-the-lb comes along with something special, and there are those of us who have been waiting for the inevitable: a super fancy steam table buffet. And that has happened with Treehaus (3rd Ave+51st St). Opening two weeks ago, Treehaus features everything you get from the other places: two steam tables, noodle bar, salad bar, drinks section, snack section, along with an odd cleaning supply area stocked with Mrs. Meyers (in case you need to do laundry in the office?) But look closer and you’ll notice these aren’t your regular steam table options.

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Since the launch of NYPL’s Lunch Hour exhibit back in June, some of the city’s best gourmet food trucks have alternated parking at the library’s public plaza along Fifth Avenue during the lunch hour (11-3). The rotation will continue into the winter with some new trucks on the roster, including Souvlaki GR, Nuchas, Chinese Mirch, Mexicue, and Milk Truck. One of the truck owners told us they will be here until at least April. One more excuse to head to the library’s free must-see exhibit before it ends on February 17. Check out the food truck schedule here>>

• Get 50% off Bonchon in Midtown [Scoutmob]
• The Mac Truck has potential [Tasty Eating]
• Shake Shack has introduced a new hot dog and a new drink [Eater]
• There are a lot of failed food trucks for sale on Ebay [HuffPo]

A new kiosk has opened in the Gray Bar passageway of Grand Central Station – just outside Beer Table Pantry and Joe’s Coffee. If you ever crave a taste of the artisanal food being produced in King’s County and don’t feel like transferring to the L train, this is the spot for you.

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