Midtown Lunch

Are you a Rock Center worker that’s been wondering what’s happened to the annual Greenmarket? For the past few years, it’s magically appeared for about a month or so starting in late July, but this year there’s been a Koons topiary taking up valuable space. No worries, my friends, we will be eating pumpkin whoopie pies soon enough: the Greenmarket is scheduled to return every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from September 10th to October 10th. Just in time for gourds.

It’s been a LONG time since anyone here talked about Bian Dang, fka NYC Cravings, so I decided to wander over and try something besides the pork chop or chicken leg over rice. More after the jump.

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There haven’t been any Earth-shattering changes to the dining scene at Grand Central Terminal (until this happens!), but there are some newer offerings that you may not be aware of. In the interest of stomach space, time, and not taxing your attention spans, I narrowed the newer food and drink options down to a few and was led on a mini-tour through the terminal. Most of the newness is on the dining concourse, but a smattering are at street level. Summer sorbet flavors, meats, fish, and caffeine after the jump!

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Speaking of street meat… underneath the scaffolding at the southwest corner of 47th St. at Park is the Kwik Gourmet cart, which you may remember as the winner of Street Meat Palooza 3 in 2010. That win was four years ago, and the cart has never had a proper review on this site. I wanted to correct that wrong (OK, and really wanted an excuse to eat street meat), and any street cart that regularly draws a line of suits from the nearby banks and offices on Park must be earning their business. A look at their lamb + chicken over rice, and some bonus shrimp action, straight ahead.  Read more »

We got word that a pop-up location of chocolate maker Jacques Torres was opening yesterday in the Lexington Passage of Grand Central Terminal. For whatever reason, the shop had an “opening soon” sign on the door late in the day, but the inside looked ready to go- so we’re assuming they’re open today. The pop-up will be open throughout May, then closed for renovation until August when the space will reopen as a permanent fixture.

But wait, there’s more!  Read more »

The folks at Kum Gang San are having themselves a busy year. They’ve recently expanded their operations to Rock Center with the opening of New York Kimchi, and now they’ve re-purposed their ground level dining room at their 32nd street location into a fast food / food court / buffet style restaurant called Janchi Janchi (translating to ‘feast’).

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Ground Central Coffee Company, a small coffee shop that opened on 52nd St. (btw Lex+3rd) last month, boasts a lunch menu with sandwiches that sound really good. And with price tags just below and sometimes above the ML limit, you’d expect them to be really good. But before we get to that, let me just say that Ground Central is a really cool coffee shop. It’s got a nice drink menu of coffees and teas and a nicely decorated interior with plenty of seating. It’s definitely somewhere I’d go to relax over a hot drink. They’ve also got a bunch of tasty-looking baked goods like madeleines, chocolate chip cookies, and financiers. And when you buy a sandwich or salad, you get a free drink.

But is it a good lunch option?

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Sometimes a great lunch spot is right under your nose and you don’t even know it. Take Radiance Noodle Bar, for instance. Buried in the basement of 805 3rd Ave. (btw 49th+50th), it’s only a few blocks from my office, but I only found out about it when Luncher Joer recommended I check it out. And I’m glad I did.

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