Midtown Lunch

Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Lauren, a freelance writer who gets all tingly around injera.

Name: Lauren

Age: 28

Occupation: Freelance writer, photographer, trendsetter

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Restaurantgirl.com and bestfooding.com! My office is wherever there’s free internet and something to graze on.

Favorite Kind of Food: Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mexican-ese….basically any cuisine that ends in -ese and encourages eating with chopsticks or your hands. Forks are so 2010.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Ethiopian. The injera bread makes my fingers tingly, which freaks me out.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: SnAKs in Saks (on 5th btw. 49+50th) for quick shopping and lobster salad sandwich lunch break. Mooncake Foods (on 54th btw. 8+9th) broiled salmon over salad. Grand Central Market’s Pescatore Seafood Co tuna fish. Le Pain Quotidien’s quiche lorraine is killer, the ricotta and fig tartine if I’m not starving.

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Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Jason, a sports love auditor who loves things extra spicy.

Name: Jason

Age: 23

Occupation: Auditor / Very Part-Time Sports-Business Blogger @ TheSportsTomato

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Most recently in the 50’s between 6th and Park

Favorite Kind of Food: I crave fresh authentic Mexican at least 4 times a day (always extra cilantro). I’m also on a huge udon kick (always extra cilantro). Finger-lickin’ barbeque is a permanent staple in my diet, errrr, my consumption practice. I enjoy all things spicy, and not Frank’s Red Hot spicy, I mean real, habanero/ghost chile spicy. My favorite thing to order is the most unique thing on the menu that I can’t get anywhere else.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I don’t understand how anyone can like those Indian pickles that come on the side. Any red meat that is cooked past medium rare is a travesty. Chipotle.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: El Rey Del Sabor (multiple locations) – the tortas are so worth the mess & beef tongue tacos ftw. Taim Mobile – the sabich tastes like it’s imported from Israel. Hing Won (48th btwn 5th and 6th) – their crispy pork over rice is pure gold and gets the approval from my Beijing counterpart. Last but far from least is the Big Buck Tri-Tip Sandwich from Tri Tip Grill in Rock Center- it’s the best thing on a sliced roll since I had tri-tip in central California.

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Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Patrick, an eggplant loving improv teacher who wishes he were in Sicily.

Name: Patrick

Age: 27

Occupation: Comedian and improv teacher at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. (And check me out in the webseries Cooking for One.)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: All over midtown, but usually in the 30s around 7th and 8th Aves.

Favorite Kind of Food: I get really excited for just about every kind of cuisine. Eggplant is probably my favorite trans-cuisinental ingredient. Baingan bartha, baba ghanoush, roasted in olive oil with a little salt and pepper, doused in miso paste, or hidden under a blanket of melted cheese and tomato sauce–I love it all. Oh, and I love pickles and coincidentally play a pickler in the latest episode of Cooking for One at cookingforone.tv which you should check out.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything with too much cilantro, raw onion or garlic. What are you trying to hide? Moderation, please! Also, inedible garnish confuses me.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: There’s a magnet in my stomach that is drawn to Mooncake Foods (the one on 30th between 7th and 8th). I’ve tried and enjoyed just about everything on the menu, but I go back to their buckwheat noodle salad with chicken 4 times out of 5. The ginger cilantro pesto is…well just trying to think of the right adjective made my stomach gurgle. I also eat at Schnipper’s (on 41st and 8th) like it’s a part time job. For a while they had a fish sandwich special that I hope they bring back. The mac & joe is another favorite dish and not nearly as gas-inducing as you’d expect. The Schnipper’s Mish Mosh shames the chopped salads you get at generic delis. Everyone who works there is so lovely and the people watching is great.

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Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Danielle, an online media planner who wishes she lived in Naples.

Name: Danielle

Age: 26

Occupation: Online Media Planner

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 40th and Broadway

Favorite Kind of Food: Pizza, Mom’s meatballs & gravy, charcuterie/cured meats, Ramen

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything that doesn’t need to be chewed – soup, ice cream, mashed potatoes, etc

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Kwik Meal (on 45th and 6th) Chicken & Lamb Over Rice with Green Sauce; LaBeleca (on 40th btw. 7+8th) – Chicken Parm sub; WichCraft – Pastrami Sandwich; Empanada Mama (on 9th btw. 51+52nd) – empanadas of course

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Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Nicholas, a former Midtown Lunch’er with some good recs for those he left behind on the west side.

Name: Nicholas

Age: 23

Occupation: Usher at the Angelika Film Center

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Now downtown, but used to be in Midtown back when I had a “real” film job over on 45th between 9th and 10th

Favorite Kind of Food: Indian Lunch Buffet, Bubble Tea!

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Sushi (sorry, bros)

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Chicken “Taco” w/Mixed Vegetables from Good N’ Plenty to Go (Crazy good take-out run by two elderly theater-loving gay men and their all Latino crew on 43rd bet. 9th and 10th.) Cream of Tomato w/Chicken+Orzo Soup w/ Small Baby Spinach/Sundried Tomatoes Salad combo from Hale+Hearty Soups. Chicken Bulgur Wheat Platter w/ Tsatziki, Garlic Sauce, Tahini and Hot Sauce from Meze Grill (on 8th Ave. btw. 55+56th). Grilled Chicken Sandwich w/Mixed Greens, Red Pepper Sauce, Fries from Chicken Bar (guilty pleasure on 8th Ave. btw. 45+46th)

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Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Gabriella, a tourism professional who wishes she could send herself to Rome.

Name: Gabriella (aka The Explorateur)

Age: 35

Occupation: Tourism sales, marketing & public relations

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Northern New Jersey

Favorite Kind of Food: Thai & Italian

Least Favorite Kind of Food: French

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown:Main Noodle House (6th btw 37th & 38th) for mixed dumplings and Wonton/roast duck soup, Chai Home Kitchen (on 8th btw 55th & 56th ) for duck spring rolls & green curry chicken, Naya Express (on 3rd btw. 43+44th) for hummus and chicken shawarma, (3rd ave & 44th) and I follow all manner of food trucks to see if my meeting patterns fit in with their daily roaming.

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Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Brian, a food cart tour guide who loves to eat everything (but is scared of sparkling water.)

Name: Brian

Age: 32

Occupation: Tour Guide and Host of a food webseries

Where in Midtown do you Work?: I give Food Cart tours for Urban Oyster on Sixth Avenue between 42nd and 52nd Street

Favorite Kind of Food: I seriously love it all. If somebody is serving it, odds are I’ll eat it. I do have a soft spot for Japanese food. I love the delicate, clean flavors. I’m also a sucker for smoky dishes (BBQ, bourbon, smoked fish, baba ghanoush). And of course, I can’t walk by a food cart or truck without giving it a try. But the most exciting foods to me are new discoveries whether it’s unusual flavor combinations, an ethnic dish that I’m trying for the first time, or the uncovering of a hidden unpublicized restaurant.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I really do eat it all, but I’m not a big fan of offal (I do like sweetbreads). And sparkling water has always freaked me out.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I love the lunch at Yakitori Totto (on 55th btw. B’way+8th)- specifically the chicken thigh yakitori special is an awesome deal. Hakata Ramen at Menchanko Tei (on 55th btw. 5+6th) is surprisingly rich, creamy, and has a great balance of flavors. It’s still my go-to ramen spot in midtown. Café Edison (on 47th btw. B’way+8th) for classic and cheap diner food (love the blintzes and the matzoh ball soup). I also much prefer the burgers at both Burger Joint (on 56th btw. 6+7th) and Five Guys to the overhyped ones at Shake Shack. And the lines are much easier to manage. And one last Japanese: After the tour, I often wander east and get any number of rice balls from Oms/b (on 45th btw. Lex+3rd). I particularly like the Gorgeous Football Rice Ball and the Lobster Salad. And of course, dessert at Macaron Cafe.

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Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s John, a media relations exec who hates boiled zucchini.

Name: John

Age: 47

Occupation: Media relations executive

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Goodman Media, 7th Ave between 49th and 50th

Favorite Kind of Food: Turkish, with Italian, German, and Japanese as close seconds. Dim sum, especially chive buns and chicken feet. And – don’t laugh – I love English food.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Boiled zucchini – I mean, why would anyone do this to zucchini? I will eat anything else, including worms (actually beetle larvae), which I’ve had a few times, notably in Mexico on a tortilla with onions and peppers. It was good, but also had a taste reminiscent of putting your tongue on an open light socket.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Hallo Berlin Express on 9th and 50th – “The Freakin’ Deal”, choice of one wurst, one German meatball, potatoes, red cabbage and winekraut, $9.00. Margon (on 46th btw 6+7th), Cuban Sandwich $6. I love Margon’s ‘hole-in-the-wall’ size and even the crowded atmosphere. I’ve been a customer of Hallo Berlin since Rolf Babiel first founded the Vendy-winning cart on 54th and 5th in the mid-80s. I ate there maybe twice a week when I worked at NBC and as often as possible when I didn’t. I was very saddened when he passed away last year. I’m really happy that his family is keeping the restaurant on 9th and the beer garden on 10th going.

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Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Two weeks ago we had James Oseland, this week it’s Kelly Choi- who Chris H. ran into at a Korean food event at Bann. (His favorite lunch + his favorite girl? I’m surprised his head didn’t explode!)

Name: Kelly Choi

Age: 35

Occupation: TV Producer and Host

Where in Midtown do you Work?: I don’t! But I’m a Wannabe midtown luncher, does that count? I love your site. (My office is near City Hall and the lunch possibilities down there are, except for Chinatown, really dearth). [Editor’s Note: You need to check out our Downtown Lunch section!]  I’m all over the city on any given day featuring and checking out restaurants for my TV shows, Very Appetizing with Kelly Choi and also Eat Out with Time Out magazine, which both air on nyc life.

Favorite Kind of Food: I love tasty, comfortable, home-cooking kind of meals best. Foods I can eat with my fingers are also tops in my book…like creamy garlicky hummus I can scoop up with plush warm pita breads..thick stews (yuk gwe jang, a korean spicy shredded brisket stew I adore), slippery toothsome spicy noodles, and hearty voluptuous sandwiches…dumplings! (pork & chive steamed dumplings @ Food Gallery 32 are simple and fabulous, I tried them couple of weeks ago and I want some now). And rice! I love rice dishes. I love creamy textures – not necessarily cream-based foods, per se, but the mouthfeel of a food, the weightiness on the tongue is important to me (like chunky, delicious guacamole or coconut pudding). This drives up the crave-ability factor! And spicy foods! Oh god, I love spicy sweetness.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Fondue. I can’t stand fondues, it’s too precious for what it is

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: At the moment, i’m loving Pure Thai Shophouse (on 9th ave. btw. 51+52nd), Totto Ramen (on 52nd btw. 8+9th), Blue Dog Cafe (I love their chicken tarragon sandwich with havarti cheese and avocado slices paired with their luscious carrot ginger soup). And any good bagel joint, I can never resist. I love bagels with tuna salad and egg salad, together in one sandwich.

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Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Cheryl Tan, an author/freelance writer/blogger who just wrote a book called A Tiger it the Kitchen, A Memoir of Food and Family. It comes out Feburary 8th, but we have 5 copies to give away today… right after Cheryl gives us her recs for Lunching in Midtown.

Name: Cheryl

Age: 36

Occupation: Author, freelance food and fashion writer

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Currently, at home in Brooklyn Heights but I used to work at Time Inc. on 50th Street

Favorite Kind of Food: Anything spicy; anything with big, robust flavors. I grew up in Singapore, where the cuisine is a hybrid of Indian, Chinese, Malay and European styles and almost everything is fiery — or kicked up several notches heatwise with super-spicy tiny chilies. So I tend to seek out those flavors — I adore Korean food (yook gae jang, the bright red spicy beef soup, is a favorite), Indian, Singaporean, Malay, Thai. I love anything curried — even sweet Japanese curries. Even better if these spicy flavors are combined with fried chicken or pork — curry katsu is one of my absolute favorite dishes. As is ayam masak merah, this amazing Malay dish involving chicken that’s deep fried and then stir fried in a spicy and sweet gravy. When I was researching my book, I persuaded a friend’s mother who is a phenomenal cook to teach me how to make it — it’s super easy.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I’m an adventurous eater but I don’t always love dishes involving less typical parts of the animal like intestines and testicles. It’s not so much the taste — it’s really the mouthfeel. Rubbery and gelatinous don’t really do it for me.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Go! Go! Curry (on 38th btw. 7+8th)– I would eat there every day if I could. It’s cheap, the portions are huge and the curry pork katsu there is really the stuff of dreams. I adore many restaurants in Koreatown (Kum Gang San and Kun Jip, both on 32nd Street, are favorites) but probably end up going to Kang Suh the most just because it’s large — so it’s easy to get a table, which is important if you need to have a quick lunch — and the food is consistently very good. They do a lovely job here with kalbi and yook gae jang. Menchanko-Tei on 55th Street (btw. 5+6th) is a delight — I’ve sampled almost all their ramens and they’re all fantastic. I love their chicken kara age (Japanese fried chicken, an appetizer) and rice balls filled with salmon, too. When I covered New York’s fashion week while it was held at Bryant Park, I found myself repeatedly going to one place for lunch simply because you can have a super quick, comfortable and not bad meal at the bar (I’ve been in and out and had a full meal of pizza or pasta in just 20 minutes): Simply Pasta (41st Street, near 6th). It’s not the best Italian you’ll find in the city but they have a nice selection of the basics, the food is usually satisfying — and it’s very quick.

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