Archive for '49th btw. B’way+8th'

Madeleine the Crepe Lady Wants You to Know She’s Still Here

Madeleine "The Crepe Lady"

Madeleine, the sweet French lady who makes Brittany crepes in the Cyber Cafe (on 49th btw. B’way+8th), posted this comment on Midtown Lunch yesterday:

“Hi this is “Madeleine the crepe lady” I am still at Cyber Cafe. Turns out the cyber cafe will not be turning into a hotel. So come and enjoy my crepes.”

Who said old ladies don’t know how to use the internet! I guess she has learned a thing or two working in the Cyber Cafe. It does seem like a good day for a crepe.

Not in the mood for a crepe, Cyber Cafe has added a new item to the menu.

Read more »

Celebrate Bastille Day By Eating a Crepe With Madeleine

For Bastille Day!

I don’t know what Bastille Day is, but I know it’s French- so why not use it as an excuse to eat the most French Midtown Lunch there is.  It’s been almost 2 years since I wrote about the Cyber Cafe (on 49th btw. 7+8th), an internet cafe that was home to two of the strangest lunches in Midtown: a satellite version of Tuck Shop (the Lower East Side Aussie Meat Pie place) and Madeleine “The Crepe Lady”, a French woman who made authentic Breton style crepes on Wednesday through Sunday.  Tuck Shop closed up awhile ago (although the Cafe may still sell their pies, I’m not sure) but Madeleine is still there 5 days a week (Wed-Sun) serving up the best crepes in Midtown.  Unfortunately she’s not there on Mondays- but it’s still worth posting about considering the holiday.  She makes savory crepes and sweet crepes and if you haven’t checked it out, you’re missing out on one of the hidden gems of Midtown Lunch’ing.

Crepe porn, after the jump…  Read more »

Comment Patrol: Tuck Shop in the Cyber Cafe

This may be a surprise to some, but occasionally comments posted to Midtown Lunch are actually about the food- and some are worthy of more then just a reply in the comment section.  I noticed this one posted by “Messy” about the Aussie Pies at the Tuck Shop in the Cyber Cafe (49th btw. B’way+8th) which hasn’t been mentioned very much lately…

Popped in there the other day and as an Aussie I have to say it was disappointing. They only wholesale to this store now and so the selection is as big. Frankly the pies weren’t up to scratch, though i have to say i have pretty high pie standards ;) The sausage roll was all right though.

Well, this is not surprising considering that (as you mentioned) the Tuck Shop is no longer affiliated with the Cyber Cafe. 

 

They decided to stop running the Cyber Cafe location in order to focus on their new wholesale business which they hope will put Tuck Shop pies in pubs all over the city… and considering there are one or two of those in Midtown, I’m guessing this is not the last we’ve seen of the Tuck Shop. 

Truthfully, I always felt the Cyber Cafe didn’t give the pies the TLC they deserved.  Luckily they don’t have anything to do with Madeleine the Crepe Lady, who is still set up at the old C.C. Wed-Sun serving up freshly made, real deal French crepes from Brittany!

“The Floater”…. Tuck Shop Revisited

I was walking to work the other day and got handed a menu for the Tuck Shop, an Australian Meat Pie shop hidden away in an Internet Cafe that I wrote about a little over a month ago.  In the menu I saw an item that I hadn’t noticed before… “The Floater”.  Any Aussie pie of your choice, covered in pea soup made by Madeleine the Crepe Lady (a little old French lady who makes crepes in the same Internet Cafe).  It sounded like a marriage made in heaven… and with the weather starting to get gross- the perfect winter lunch.

Now, I will admit that “The Floater” is an unfortunate name.  While it may be an Australian term for a pie covered in soup- it has come to mean something far grosser in our frat boyish American culture.  (As a matter of fact, when I told one of my co-workers what I had eaten for lunch… he joked that it was also what I “would be making in a few hours”)  But you can’t blame these guys… they’re Australian!  And it’s still a catchy name, even though the heavy pie doesn’t really float in Madeleine’s hearty pea soup.

The picture of “The Floater”, after the jump…

Read more »

Madeleine The Crepe Lady (or the Hidden Gems of the CyberCafe- Part 2 of 2)

A little while after discovering Tuck Shop hidden inside the CyberCafe, I noticed another sign go up in the window.  “Madeleine ‘The Crepe Lady’.  Making Crepes Wednesday -Sunday 10am to 4pm”.  I’m intrigued.  Tell me more, oh window of the CyberCafe…  An article posted next to the sign went in depth about this “Crepe Lady” who served up delicious crepes in a kiosk in Central Park.  Well apparently she’s at the CyberCafe now… and Central Park’s loss, is Midtown’s gain!

Tuck Shop in the CyberCafe was weird enough.  But now this place has got a “Crepe Lady”.  Total craziness…  what kind of internet cafe is this???  But who am I to argue with this kind of deliciousness.  Thankfully I didn’t let the surroundings fool me into not trying a crepe, because Madeleine is the real deal.  And by real deal I mean this sweet, charming, amazing “Crepe Lady” is actually from Brittany…  the birthplace of crepes.  And she’s been making these French treats since she was 13 years old!  I think it’s safe to say she knows what she’s doing.

Food porn, the complete list of what she serves, and the +/- (with not so much of the minus), after the jump…

Read more »

Tuck Shop (or the Hidden Jems of the CyberCafe- Part 1 of 2)

Nothing is more fulfilling then finding a hidden food jem in Midtown.  It can come in all forms too.  There’s the place that is well known, but literally hidden- like the Burger Joint, hidden behind a curtain at the Parker Meridien Hotel.  Then there’s the place that looks like a boring deli, but has a hidden specialty- like the Korean food at Cafe Duke.  And of course there is discovering that good food cart, which in Midtown is literally like finding a needle size hot dog, in a haystack size pile of gigantic sausages.

But the most rewarding find, is the truly hidden jem.  The one that nobody tells you about.  The one you find on your own, without reading anything about it, or getting an email from a reader.  It’s pretty tough too.  There are very few places that I haven’t been emailed about, and somehow this double jem has managed to slip through the cracks.  Lucky for me, I walk by it every day on my way home from work…

I’m talking about the CyberCafe, a euro-style internet cafe that caters to backpackers and tourists looking to jump on-line while they sip on coffee or eat boring sandwiches and pastries.  But this is not your ordinary internet cafe.  Actually it is… in every way but one.  The food.  The CyberCafe is home to two of the best (and most unique) Midtown Lunch options:  Tuck Shop & Madeliene “The Crepe Lady”.  I have no idea how it happened, or what the business arrangement is, or who thought it would be a good idea to put these two delicious lunch options inside an internet cafe for tourists… but who cares.  It’s there, so we might as well take advantage of our stroke of good luck!

What’s a tuck shop, pictures, and more- after the jump…

Read more »