Midtown Lunch

From the looks of things 55th and Madison has become one of the most interesting street cart corners in Midtown.  On the NW corner you’ve got the liver sandwich from Charcoal Grill.  On the NE corner, there is a cart that serves grilled hot dogs, chili, and chicken sausages.  And on the SW corner there is the “Fried Chicken Cart”, which Lunch’er Bossman reported on back in October.  I finally made it over there to check out their fried chicken… and it was good.  Although I’m not sure styrofoam containers are the best vehicle for fresh-out-of-the-fryer fried chicken.

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Last week I got an email from Lunch’er Kyle asking me if I had tried the new chocolate corn bread muffins from Piece of Chicken, the just out of bounds soul food take out place on 45th btw. 8+9th Ave. where almost everything on the menu is $1 to $3.  Why no.  I haven’t tried the new choclate corn bread muffins, was my reply.  Clearly I needed to revisit Piece of Chicken, and see what was going on.

To be completely honest though, I had ulterior motives.  Chocolate corn bread muffins sounded pretty good, but what I really wanted to try was the fried chicken and waffle and fried chicken livers, two items on the Piece of Chicken menu which always seemed to be sold out every single time I stopped by for like two weeks straight last year.  Well, it’s been awhile- but I returned to Piece of Chicken a few days ago, and both items were available.

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I have to give Danny from Food in Mouth full and complete credit for this one. On Friday he posted about the newest truck to hit the mobile food scene here in New York City: NYC Cravings. Terrible name… but the food sounded intriguing.  At the end of his post he begged them to come to Midtown for lunch, and yesterday they obliged- parking on 45th btw. 6+7th. Huge crowds turned out for their Taiwanese style fried chicken, served over rice with “a secret pork sauce” and by 1:15 they were out of food.

I was lucky enough to be there on the early side, and got to try what could be my new favorite truck in New York City.

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Thanks to Lunch’er Jamie (aka Fressagirl) for pointing this one out… the two New York branches of BonChon chicken (the Flushing one, and the Midtown location on 5th btw. 31+32nd) have changed their name to “Mad For Chicken”.  They claim the food remains exactly the same, and according to an employee the name change is because the boss thought the old name was “too difficult to pronounce for Americans.” 

The owners have already changed the name on their Yelp page, and they have a new website up at www.madforchicken.com. There’s no mention of “BonChon” on the menu, and the two locations have disappeared from the official BonChon website… so I’m guessing they’re just not affiliated with the chain anymore.

You can question the decision, but you’ve got to love the excuse logic.  If BonChon was too tough pronounce, what chance does Kyochon have?

Related:
Bon Chon is So Not a Midtown Lunch… But Damn That is Some Good Chicken

*******THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CALLED MAD FOR CHICKEN*********

All Photos by Daniel Krieger

When Bon Chon opened up a few years ago in Koreatown (on 5th Ave. just south of 32nd Street), it probably never intended on being a lunchtime destination. It was meant to be an Izakaya style restaurant, made for after work and late night drinking and snacking- in this case, on their much lauded Korean fried chicken. It looks more like a night club, or fancy restaurant, than a branch of KFC- and the service is not exactly conducive to a one hour lunch break. But, after many years of hearing complaints about the lack of Korean fried chicken in the area during lunchtime hours, Bon Chon clearly decided that it was time to capitalize on their popularity. And a few months ago, they opened for lunch.

It took awhile for this unbelievably exciting news to make its way to Midtown Lunch HQ, but once it did, I rounded up a crew and headed to Koreatown for some kfc action!

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This has been an awesome week for Midtown lovers of Korean fried chicken… this was just posted to the comments, and confirmed by a phone call: “BonChon (the Korean fried chicken place on 5th Ave. just south of 32nd Street) actually IS open for lunch now. I just got some takeout there around 12:45 about 2 weeks ago.” For as long as they have been open, the Koreatown location of Bon Chon didn’t open until 4pm- but apparently a few months ago they started opening at noon. Between this, and the Kyochon news, my Korean fried chicken loving head is about to explode. I know where I’m eating lunch tomorrow…

Bon Chon, 314 5th Ave 2nd Floor (btw. 31+32nd), New York, NY 10001, 212-221-2222

I have always lamented the fact that all the Korean fried chicken places in Midtown are only open for dinner… which makes this news that much more exciting!  Kyochon, the Korean fried chicken chain with U.S. branches in Flushing and L.A., is replacing the Brooklyn Bagel Cafe on 32nd and 5th in Koreatown.  Called the “granddaddy of the Korean fried-chicken scene” Kyochon features fried chicken flavored with soy sauce, garlic, and ton of spices… oh, and there are spicy version available. And of course, the most important thing… it’s open for lunch!  No word on when it will open, but it can’t be soon enough.

Thanks to Liz Matsumoto of norecipes.com for sending in the photo!

Kyochon, 319 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016

When they cover up the sign, I think it’s safe to say the mini Food Court on 8th Avenue btw. 44+45th is gone for good. So, say goodbye to Midtown’s only Church’s Fried Chicken. Thankfully we still have Popeye’s and a few other good options in the area… plus if you noticed in yesterday’s profile, there is a rumor going around that Bojangles is looking to expand to New York City (with a reported 41 new stores in 2009.) I contacted the corporate office, and their response is after the jump.

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Got another great tip from the commenter who goes by the name of “Bossman”:

You want to talk about crazy ass shit? There’s always been this Halal cart on 55th and Mad (Southwest corner) that had a fryer setup. Convenient when the urge strikes for fries along with your street meat. Aside from that there’s nothing that stands out about the place. I used to frequest it because they’ll throw your gyro on a hero and I always found that held up better than pita. The guys are real nice and if I found myself getting lunch at 2:45 (like today) I’ll hit it up.

So today I see a sign saying Fried Chicken w/ fries (4 Pieces) $6.00. It’s all your fault Zach- prior to reading ML I would’ve ran for the hills, nowadays it just raises a bunch of questions:

Fried chicken truck, yes. But cart? Has Zach done that? How could they? Pre-cooked and just warmed through?

…and finally “how could I not?”

Anyway, what I got was 2 tenders, a wing, a drumette, and a thigh and fries all freshly fried (obviously they’re better at dishing the food than counting it). Of course, it’s not your Grandma’s chicken but it was pretty damn good for what it was (especially as a conduit for hot sauce). What will they think of next?

The photo he sent in, after the jump…  Read more »

I have never met a piece of fried chicken I didn’t like. Sure, there have been some transcendent fried chicken moments. My first visit to Roscoe’s Fried Chicken and Waffles in L.A. comes to mind (although you may say the waffle had a little something to do with that.) And of course there was Dunbar’s in New Orleans, which is still the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten. Hopefully the rumors of its return are not exaggerated. But I don’t mind slumming it either, and it doesn’t take much to please me. Hot Oil + Chicken (+ Salt & Pepper) = Good.

There is some damn good fried chicken in Midtown. I’ve mentioned Cafe Cello as one of my favorites (on 46th btw. 5+6th) and even KFC has gotten the obligatory mention on the site. But if you want to be at ground zero for NYC fried chicken there is only one place to go. Eighth Avenue. The stretch of that road between the Mid 30’s and Mid 40’s is jammed packed with fried chicken goodness. Here is your guide to navigating the corridor. (A Fried-Chicken-Palooza if you will)

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