Midtown Lunch

Baja Fresh doesn’t do it when your kid has already had a SF burrito in his hands
(or stared down the tacos at Las Poblanitas)

• Don’t tell me what’s in halal cart white sauce!  I don’t want to know.  [Diner’s Journal]
• Apparently Top Chefs were giving away ice cream in Midtown this week? [Grub Street]
• Guys: That dream you had of Lunch’er Jamie at Hooters, might not have been a dream [Fressagirl]
• Biryani Cart had a long line yesterday.  Biryani Cart’s Sandwich Land, not so much [BLD Project]
• A celeb chef is opening a pop up restaurant in Midtown this summer? [Grub Street]
• I learned this week that Myspace is the devil [Miami New Times]

Thursday, waiting on line at the Wafels & Dinges Truck (on 45th btw. 6+7th)

• Pinkberry will be testing a new parfait at their Koreatown location [Eater]
• The best time to enjoy Schnipper’s Quality Kitchen is during Happy Hour [BLD Project]
• Not everybody found Kashmir Buffet to be as a sketchy as I did [Me So Hungry]
• There’s a good Cafe Metro in Brooklyn! (Oh wait, sorry.  It’s Metro Cafe.) [VV]
• The budae jjigae from Pocha 32 is enough to feed three or four people [Serious Eats New York]
• Sapporo gets upgraded to a “buy” [Blondie and Brownie]
• The only thing worse than getting your purse stolen, is when your purse is stolen with your Woorijip frequent eater card is inside [Fressagirl]
• Ever wondered what the inside of my fridge looks like?  [Umamimart]

My kid looks on as I take down a DIY pork chop sandwich from Ying Du

• This weekend the city will start closing Broadway off to cars in Times Square [City Room]
• A new burger place is opening in New World Plaza, across from Blockheads [Life With Food and Drink]
• A possum draws a crowd (and police) outside a Midtown restaurant  [EV Grieve via Eater]
• Pork is back on the menu at Gyu Kaku… [Eater]
• … but the pig in front of Rudy’s is still scared of getting swine flu [Life With Food and Drink]
• NYMag is all about that Russian Vodka Bar Mamacita wrote about a few months ago [NYM]

What can I say? I’m a cheap bastard.

• Midtown Lunch… bringing old friends together over chicken and potato stick sandwiches at Tina’s [Blondie and Brownie]
• Long lines followed the NYC Cravings truck to the Flatiron District on Tuesday [Me So Hungry]
• Mr. Cutlets tears apart the meatball sandwich at AQ Kafe [The Feedbag]
• You can get a breakfast torta from the cart on 33rd and 9th Ave. [Fressagirl]
• Empty Midtown storefronts are being turned into billboards [NYT]
• The Japanese culinary center on 45th & 3rd will soon begin selling “hard to find Japanese ingredients… in home-cook quantities” [Tasting Table via Grub Street]
• For an extra $1 you can get a full size order of rice and beans with any sandwich at Sophie’s Cuban [Lunch Studio]
• Melt Cafe and Gelato bar has opened on 2nd Ave. [Eating in Translation]
• The new branch of Fika Swedish Espresso Bar has opened on Park btw. 28+29th [Tasting Table]

Cinco de Mayo Lunch at Las Poblanitas

• A jewelry store on 57th Street was robbed yesterday while the security guards were out to lunch. I wonder where they were eating… [Gothamist]
• Blog dedicated to finding good Japanese curry in the US gives Go Go Curry a perfect score [Americurry via Serious Eats]
• Burger Joint is the only Midtown hamburger to make the Burger of the Month Club’s top 10 [NYT via AHT]
• More praise for the soups at Dean & Deluca [BLD Project]
• Sandwiches and salads at TGI Fridays are $5 for a limited time… [Official Website]
• … just watch out for those snake heads [Consumerist]
• The chef of Daisy May’s is on Oprah today (along with the CEO of KFC) [TONY Feed Blog]
• Uh- yeah, hello.  Can we get this new truck to come to Midtown please??? [Food in Mouth]

And for those who just can’t get enough of the little guy… there’s a special edition, bonus “free food” photo after the jump.

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My kid at the OTB. What… is that wrong? A lady working there did give
me a big frown and a “No you didn’t” looking head shake

• The SVP is trying to convince the city that expanding the number of street vending licenses would be a good way to help end joblessness [City Room]
• You can try Red Mango’s new flavor for free on Saturday Noon to 4pm [Grub Street]
• A look at the mint whoopie pie from Joe and the Art of Coffee in Grand Central [Blondie and Brownie]
• Kathy YL Chan finds her favorite Korean pastry at Cafe Ele on 32nd Street [Serious Eats: New York]
• The just out of bounds Tulcingo del Valle turns out an amazing version of chiles rellenos [Fork in the Road]
• Cutlets takes up the Benjamin Steakhouse Burger Challenge (I’m sure this will be be a fair competition.) [The Feedbag]
• There a new chef at Ariyoshi, an Izakaya in the East 50s [Word of Mouth]
• The proscuitto pie at Lazzara’s looks pretty damn good [BLD Project]
• If you were interested in stalking Lunch’er Jamie, you should have gone to Tehuitzingo earlier in the week [Fressa Girl]
• Sarah DiGregorio attempts to do Inakaya (in the NYT building) on the cheap [Village Voice]
• The Rafiqi’s on 32nd & Park has corn, cilantro, and olives as toppings [Ultraclay]

My kid sleeping through Lunch’er Tom’s attempt to break Don Lerman’s Go Go Curry Time

• You can get pretty delicious looking breakfast sandwiches at wichcraft all day long [Blondie and Brownie]
• 2 Bros 99 Cent Pizza is hoping to open their new 9th Ave. location store on Tuesday [Grub Street]
• If you want fried food, but only have $3 in your wallet- chicken house is the only option! [BLD Project]
• An out of bounds generic deli on 34th & 9th is now serving curry and roti on Wednesdays and Fridays [Fressa Girl]
• KFC’s new grilled chicken beats all competition (including Ranch 1) in a taste test [Epi-Log]
• Apparently the cuban sandwiches at Margon taste delicious with Pellegrino [Me So Hungry]
• Josh Ozersky weighs in on the burgers at HB Burger [Feedbag]
• The pies from Little Pie Company look pretty damn good [Food in Mouth]
• Vegetarians beware: the dough at Golosi is made from rendered pork fat [TONY via Elaine Perlov]

My kid with Kim from the Treats Truck

• Ed Koch eats at Global Kitchen! (The generic deli on 51st btw. 5+6th?) I wonder if he’s ever been to Yips. [Wonkette]
• A video of Mickey Rourke eating at Nello’s (?) in Midtown UES (close enough I guess) [Associated Content]
• You can stop holding your breath… here’s that review of Just Salad in Rock Center you were waiting for! [Blondie & Brownie]
• 99 Cent Pizza Showdown: 2 Bros Pizza might be opening behind the Port Authority [Grub Street]
• Need a fancy Japanese knife and a bottle of sake? The Japanese Culinary Center has opened on 3rd Ave. and 45th Street [TONY]
• Capital Grille and Streak Frites both have new locations opening in Midtown [Wined and Dined]
• Ming Tsai thinks that Wu Liang Ye has the best Szechuan food in the city [Restaurant Girl]
• Lunch’er Josh joins the incredibly short list of bloggers who really like Danku [NYC Foodie]
• No reason to be jealous of those who get to eat at the New York Times cafeteria [Eat Me Daily]
• Sophie’s green sauce does NOT have mayo in it [Serious Eats: New York]

My kid with The Carrot from Pump Energy Food (on Madison btw. 39+40th)

• According to Lunch’er Andrew, the “Woody Allen” at Carnegie Deli could easily be split into 8 sandwiches [Wined and Dined]
• There is a free Red Mango coupon in the latest issue of Time Out New York [The Feed Blog]
• The Rickshaw Dumpling Truck is hiring [Eat Me Daily]
• This ranking of NYC cupcakes inexplicably leaves off Crumbs (less surprising: Magnolia ended up mid-pack) [Grub Street]
• You can get a great mushroom and barley soup in the Dean and Deluca in the New York Times Building [BLD Project]
• A Mini guide to lunches in Midtown South [Eat to Blog]
• 9th Ave. is the best place to run into a cast member of Hair [Grub Street]
• Yvo hits up the Downtown branch of the Jiannetto’s Pizza Truck [Feisty Foodie]

So, everybody has been telling me how much they love the photos of my kid with different Midtown Lunches. So I decided to start taking more… like this one of Harry holding my falafel sandwich from Moshe’s new truck. (I swear on my life the unfortunate falafel/pickle placement was completely unintentional.)

• Darbar Grill on 55th has free appetizers every night from 5 to 8pm [Eater]
• Check out the new April flavors of Itzy Bitzy macarons, which are sold at Tafu on 51st & Lex [SENY]
• During Passover, Toloache will be serving a special Mexican matzo ball soup and tacos de brisket made with matzo tortillas [Zagat Buzz]
• Tips for attacking the by the lb. buffet at Alpine Gourmet.  Tip #1 Should be “Don’t eat at Alpine Gourmet” [BLD Project]