Midtown Lunch

During Zach’s neverending search for the best chicken parm sandwich in Midtown, he came across Nino’s (46th btw. 5+6), a good, cheap Italian place that served up one of the better chicken parms he tried. I never had much reason to check the place out, until I walked by one day recently and they were advertising a special chicken sandwich with fresh mozzarella and hot peppers. That seemed worth checking out…
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I don’t know what made me stop in at newly opened restaurant The Shop (5th Avenue at 41st Street) in the swanky boutique hotel, Andaz. It was sure to not be a Midtown Lunch: there aren’t any bargains and obviously its regular clientele are tourists. But, I did check out the lunch menu out of idle curiosity and was shocked to see something I’ve wanted in Midtown for years: Pastrami by Katz’s.

Yes, really. According to someone on staff, the theme of the restaurant is locally produced food and drink. They want to give their guests a bit of a culinary tour of New York, so they stock local pickles and NY State beer and the menu is full of organic this and farm raised that. And when it came to our famed Jewish Delis, they decided to just go get the best in town. I can’t argue with that.

I’m always skeptical when new hands get into old favorites, but being able to get my hands on that luscious pastrami mere blocks from my office would be amazing.

See what I found after the jump.
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Paris Baguette, a huge worldwide Korean bakery chain, will be opening their first Manhattan branch on 32nd btw. B’way+5th. They do serve sandwiches, but the big deal appears to be about the breads and pastries. The first branches to open in the states were in California (of course), where it got raves from yelpers, chowhounders and bloggers alike.

I had never heard of it until seeing the sign, but it turns out that there is one branch in Queens and two in New Jersey. Anyone been to any of the local branches? What are we in for?

Yesterday we introduced you to our newest contributor, Jeremiah. Today, he introduces us to a decent hot beef sandwich from a generic midtown deli.

In many ways, Green Emporium (on 8th Ave. and 48th St.) is just another dime a dozen, sandwich slinging bodega (except for all the flowers out front). They use the same unimpressive ingredients as their counterparts, but I find the sandwiches to be constructed a little better. What really sets them apart though, is the big board of their sandwich creations. There are over 50 of them, hot and cold, with names that range from the obvious and boring (Tuna Melt) to the confounding and intriguing (Matrix – which is unfortunately just turkey and Swiss on whole wheat). The sandwiches are mostly pretty standard (Reuben, Italian Hero, Cheesesteak), but the sheer number of options makes it a pretty reliable place. In addition, a few of the choices stray enough from the ordinary to command my attention… and one of those is the Chicago.

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This week’s New York Magazine has a list of the 101 Best Sandwiches in New York City, and while usually these features are just a list of rehashed, “been there, done that” entries, this one has got some great looking Midtown sandwiches we have yet to try. Sure, some ML faves are in there- like the Chacarero Completo from Barros Luco (#97), the Roast pork special at Shorty’s (#85), the Katsu sandwich at Tebaya (#69), the PMB from Sullivan St. Bakery (#53), Banh Mi at Ma Peche (#48), and the Sloppy Bao from Baoguette (#20). But there was also the off our radar Bombay Pav Vada from Sukhadia’s Gokul (#93), the Telera Sandwich from Mangia (#94), Cemita Al Pastor from Tulcingo del Valle (#67), and the Tuna sandwich at Bouchon Bakery (#19). And to finish things off there was highest placing Midtown(ish) sandwich: Duke’s Chicken Churasco from Island Burgers & Shakes at #15.

Agree or disagree, the list should provide at least two weeks worth of lunch ideas for you. See the complete thing here>>

Last week Lunch’er Christene floated the idea of a banh mi tasting in the connections section of the forums. Yesterday 7 Midtown Lunchers gathered in Grand Central to turn her dream into a reality. Here is Christene’s report…

With open minds and empty stomach, 7 Midtown lunchers gathered to rate 7 different banh mi-style sandwiches in a head-to-head competition. To ensure nuance and balance in the competition, representative banh mi’s were to include Chinatown (Paris Sandwich, Banh Mi Saigon), East Village (Nicky’s), Gramercy (Baoguette) and, of course, Midtown (Ma Peche, Yushi, and Boi To Go). We rated the sandwiches with 5 points assigned to each of 6 categories: bread, pork, vegetables, overall taste, authenticity and value. To ensure purveyors and/or price-point did not prejudice the taste ratings, we labeled sandwiches A-G and provided price on the flip side of post-its, so that tasters could self-reveal price after eating the sample and thus rate value independently.

The results are after the jump…

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Yes, we treat Korean fried chicken like it’s crack here at Midtown Lunch and track burger developments with CIA-like precision but, really, we’re just people who love lunch hour and trying our best to leave bad Boar’s Head days behind. So when I heard about the “drippingly juicy” roast beef and gravy sandwich from Eating in Translation at Best Bagel & Coffee (W 35th St. btw. 7th+8th), I obviously had to get my hands on it. Growing up in Brooklyn where corner delis abound, I became something of an expert in sliced meat, especially when served hot. So with my highly-trained Good vs. Bad French Dip taste buds, I ventured west to the Garment District to put The Sandwich to the test.

Click for more cause you gotta see it to believe it…

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Fork in the Road released their 10 Best Sandwiches in New York list, and unsurprisingly none of them are in Midtown.  But we did score two in the “runners up” list: ‘wichcraft’s white anchovy, soft-cooked egg, salsa verde, and frisee (whatever, it’s a chain), and Virgil’s Owensboro lamb sandwich (on 44th btw. B’way+6th). At $14 the lamb sandwich is way out of the ML price range, but call us intrigued. Anybody had this thing yet? And would you chose it over the Sophie’s Cuban fried pork and plantains sandwich? And what about all of Certe’s Sandwiches (on 55th btw. 5+6th)? Or Ma Peche’s pork banh mi? What Midtown sandwich do you think should have been on the list? Or were they right in snubbing us…

Related:
The Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge

When Culture Espresso Bar opened on 38th and 6th back in July it was notable for coffee drinkers because they served Intelligentsia.  But it turns out it’s notable for us eaters as well.  Not only do they serve coffee and a small selection of pastries, but they also have sandwiches.  And while I’m normally not super into pre-made, fancy coffee shop sandwiches, these have a trump card that will always get me: they’re all made on bread from Sullivan St. Bakery.  Oh, and they happen to be pretty tasty too.

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I was planning on eating at the newly opened Lan Sheng yesterday (on 39th btw. B’way+6th), but found myself drawn instead into Madeline’s- the very good catering company/lunch spot on the same block that I wrote about last April.  I won’t lie, a specials sign touting a steak sandwich probably wouldn’t have registered a reaction;  but a “Korean BBQ Steak Sandwich” and I’m in. (What can I say, it’s not just Asian soups I’m addicted to.  It’s Asian everything.)

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