Midtown Lunch

It looks like Variety Cafe (the giant generic Midtown Deli on 48th btw. 5+6th) has been closed by the department of health for the second time in 3 years. According to somebody on the scene they hung a sign in the window claiming the infractions were minor (like “leaving the cap off the orange juice”.) The sign had already been taken down by the time I got there.

In a stroke of brilliant marketing though, Channel Four (the pub next door that is famous for selling the “bacon explosion”) put one of their young lasses in front to hand out Channel Four flyers to all the confused Variety Cafe fans. You know it’s all fun and games until the DOH comes after you…

Related:
Tale of Two Signs: Variety Cafe Closes for “Repairs”
Original Variety Cafe Post (6/27/2006)

There’s a reason that most Midtown pubs are not considered Midtown Lunches.  First off, few serve lunch for under $10.  Tack on tax and tip, and you’re usually spending a ton of money for food that is fine by Midtown standards… but kind of boring.  And not better than what you can get for less at a real “Midtown Lunch” spot.  Sure, there is the added bonus of beer and TV during your lunch… but is that really worth paying $4 for a soda?  Yeah, that’s right… Channel Four (on 48th btw. 5+6th) charges $4 for a soda.  I know it’s expensive to run a restaurant in Midtown, and I won’t pretend to understand the financial difficulties of being in this high rent part of town. But $4 for a soda?  That says one thing to me… tourist trap. (Or, rich lawyer happy hour spot.) Either way it’s unforgivable.

But I’ll give credit where credit is due.  Channel Four stepped to the plate with this bacon explosion thing.  If you haven’t heard of the bacon explosion, it was one of those gross food sensations that hit the internets earlier in the year. Essentially a bacon wrapped, ground pork roll covered in BBQ sauce, Channel Four decided to recreate it for consumption in Midtown. (Amazing, right?)  Even more than that, they were willing to turn it into a sandwich (called the “Bacon Implosion”) and charge under $10 for it as part of our Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge.  So I swallowed my cheap bastard, Midtown Lunch’ing standards and stepped into Channel Four yesterday for a taste.

Be prepared to be rocked by the “Implosion” after the jump…

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It’s official! This just in from Chef David Conn, from Channel Four (on 48th btw. 5+6th): “Starting this Friday (5/22), Bacon Implosion Sandwich: Two slices of our smoked, pork filled Implosion grilled and topped with green tomato chow chow relish and served with house fried spicy potato chips. $9.95″ Whoever said it was time to retire the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge was clearly a crazy person!

Apparently the Chef at Channel Four took exception to Grub Street’s post about the bacon explosion now being offered at the restaurant. He emailed them to complain that they had used words like “hilarious” “puke” and “vomit” to describe something they had never even tried.  (If you are a little behind, the Irish pub Channel Four, on 48th btw. 5+6th, is serving a version of the “Bacon Explosion” a monstrosity that made the food blog rounds at the beginning of the year.)  Hilarious, puke and vomit all come to mind… as does “deliciousness” and “omg must have”.

GS also admits to being sarcastic about ordering it a day in advance… apparently it’s “tastefully served” as two thin slices inside a slider bun. Slider? You mean… a sandwich!  If this thing is under $10,  it would be perfect for the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge!

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Our Happy Hour Correspondent Mamacita vowed never to return to Channel Four (on 48th btw. 5+6th) after their promise of a free happy hour buffet turned out to be a load of BS. Well, I think she might change her mind after reading this. Grub Street is reporting that you can actually order the bacon explosion from Channel Four. I know a ton of you have heard about the bacon explosion (you sent me enough emails about it!) but for those who haven’t, it’s basically two pounds of ground pork, rolled into two pounds of criss crossed bacon, covered in BBQ sauce, and cooked. According to GS, it’s not on the actual menu- but it can “be specially requested by a large party if you call a day or two in advance.”

I wonder if they’ll do it for lunch… because this needs to be tried, like- now.