Midtown Lunch

Midtown BBQ is the “Worst”: The Midtown Lunch'er behind the blog Tasty Eating rounds up her favorite eats of 2009 in one giant post.  Margon, Cafe Zaiya, and Poseidon Bakery all make the cut, but Brother Jimmy's and Famous Dave's weren't so lucky.  They (unsurprisingly) made the list of her "Worst Restaurant Meals of 2009".

Free Mini Cupcake Alert: The Cupcake Stop Truck will be giving away 150 free minis starting at Noon today on 5th and 23rd to celebrate their "Best Sweets" victory in the 2009 Midtown Lunch Readers' Poll. 5th Ave. & 23rd isn't even in Midtown!?! wtf

Sifton Loves Pick a Pita: Don't know how I missed this last week, but NY Times Chief Restaurant Critic Sam Sifton, casually mentioned in his "Best Dishes of 2009" article how much he loves the spicy chicken shawarma at Pick-a-Pita. Nice.

Sarge’s “Deli Wellington” Looks Amazing: Need another reason to visit Sarge's Deli on 3rd Ave. btw. 36+37th? What about this amazing looking creation of puff pastry stuffed with a corned beef and pastrami hash that Dave Cook discovered. Best part is, unlike their sandwiches (which are outside the ML price range) this thing clocks in at a measly $5. Yes please.

Schnitzel Truck is Here; Jamaican Dutchy Still MIA: The NYC Cravings Truck and Street Sweets Truck are taking the day off (lazy bums!) but Schnitzel Truck is on 52nd.  Sadly the Jamaican Dutchy Truck is still not back, but they hope to return to the streets by the end of the month.  Follow all the twittering Midtown Lunch spots on the ML Twitter Tracker>>

Naya Express, Holey Cream & Baoguette Are All Open: Every year it seems as if a bunch of places open right around X-Mas, and this year is turning out to be no exception.  We're hearing that Naya Express (on 3rd btw. 44+45th) and Holey Cream (on 9th and 53rd) are both open.  And for Downtown Lunch'ers it looks like Baoguette has finally opened their FiDi location.

If You Liked Wu Liang Ye, You Should Love Lan Sheng: Sarah DiGregorio reviews Lan Sheng (on 39th btw. 5+6th) for the Village Voice and discovers that most of the cooks came from the now shuttered Wu Liang Ye on Lexington and 39th.  Yes, *that* Wu Liang Ye.

In Case You Missed It: on Monday, please buy a Menu For Hope 6 raffle ticket.  It's only $10 per ticket, and you can win a street meat eating tour of Midtown w/ me (look for item #UE42). You'll get a chance to win some sweet prizes while supporting a good cause.  Do it.  Do it.

Brad & Angelina Read Midtown Lunch?: Clearly not, or else they wouldn't have popped up in a Midtown Cafe Metro yesterday with their whole family. Really guys? Really?

Free Sushi Sandwich Alert?: Remember Bamboo 52, the happy hour spot where Blondie and Brownie had their blogoversary party? Well, according to Lifestyler they are giving "Free Sushi Sandwiches" today and tomorrow. Sadly though I called to confirm and found out it's only from 3-6pm, and only "samples". I think you have to be heavy duty freeloader, or seriously intrigued by "sushi sandwiches" to want to check this one out...