Midtown Lunch

It’s time for the 2012 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

Midtown Lunch’s downtown boundary is 32nd Street for a reason: K-Town, New York City’s 24 hour epicenter of Korean food. Woorijip has ruled this category every year since it was introduced, but with all the changes they underwent this year could this be the time for a new victor? There’s Kung-Fu Panda lunch special spot Shilla, Food Gallery 32’s Korean BBQ stall Korea House and the brand-new mandoo stall Bunch, and 52nd Street’s sandwich/dumpling/noodles Gobuki Cart. Of could this be the year of the Korean food truck, with laid back Kimchi Taco Truck or sensory-overload Korilla.  Let’s get it on.  Here are the nominees for Best Korean food in Midtown…

• Food Gallery 32
• Gobuki Cart
• Kimchi Taco Truck
• Korilla BBQ
• Shilla
• Woorijip

Vote for your favorite after the jump…

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The Columbus Circle Market has had some good holiday lunch options in the past (anyone remember the Pies ‘n’ Thighs booth?), but I think this year may be one of the best I can recall. For all of you last minute shoppers, here’s my guide to the best things I’ve eaten there (and what you can pass on). Read more »

It’s time for the 2012 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

Last year, the Kati Roll craze was in full swing, and Biriyani Cart and Kati Roll Company took top honors in our Best Midtown Kati Roll 2011 Readers’ Poll. This year, the ever-popular kati rolls are still saturating Midtown, but is that the best Indian food there is in Midtown? And in addition to our classic, cheap restaurants and carts like Minar (who won this category in 2010), Joy Curry & Tandoor, and Bombay Fast Food… a new truck is on the scene: Mausam Curry & Bites, and a new restaurant: Desi Shack. Meanwhile, Joy and Kati Roll have expanded into new Midtown locations. With all the important ML criteria of taste, portion, authenticity, and price… what will you choose?

• Biriyani Cart
• Bombay Fast Food
• Desi Shack
• Joy Curry & Tandoor
• Kati Roll Company
• Mausam Curry & Bites
• Minar

Vote for your favorite after the jump…

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It’s time for the 2012 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

Considering that Hing Won has won Best Fast Food Chinese in Midtown every year since we started this poll we figured we’d switch things up a bit this year.  Not as front-seat-commanding as its Japanese cousin, Chinese noodle soup is still one of the best things out there. Almost always cheap enough for ML standards, there’s variations out the wazoo. Main Noodle House and Hing Won battled it out earlier this year with their roast meat noodle soups. Lunch Box brought in a noodle chef last year from Flushing to round out their offerings, and Chef Yu’s happy hour and expansive menu conceals remarkable Shanghai noodles. Evergreen 38’s nearby neighbor Spring’s dumplings got a good billing, but their noodle soup has yet to make it’s ML debut.

There’s options and permutations galore, and as it gets colder, it’s time that soups got their time to shine. Let’s talk noodly soupy goodness – here’s this year’s nominees:

• Chef Yu
• Evergreen 38
• Hing Won
• Lunch Box
• Main Noodle House
• Spring

Got a favorite slurping spot? Give ’em your vote below the jump.

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It’s time for the 2012 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

Last year, Shake Shack ran away with the votes in the burger category, proving that any backlash against the chain had died down. At the top of the year, though, we saw the inspiration behind Danny Meyer’s burgers also make a splash in Midtown. Will Steak ‘N Shake’s arrival upset Shake Shack’s reign, or will Five Guys or Burger Joint return to the top? Only one way to find out. Here are the nominees for the best burger in Midtown…

• Bill’s Bar & Burger
• Burger Joint at the Parker Meridian
• Five Guys
• Schnipper’s Quality Kitchen
• Shake Shack
• Steak N Shake

Vote for your favorite, after the jump…

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I’ll admit, when I first heard about April Bloomfield’s new Murray Hill Mexican spot, Salvation Taco, I didn’t expect it to fit into the Midtown Lunch budget. But, once I saw the prices on the menu, I had to take closer look. Last week Blondie and I headed over to investigate. As with all newly opened places, many things, including the menu are still in flux, so remember this is just a first look.

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It’s time for the 2012 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

This year it seemed like there was a new gourmet food truck appearing every week in the city. Back in the early days of NYC food trucks (read: 2007), you could almost guarantee whatever you ordered from a food truck would be mighty tasty. Today many food trucks are appearing serving gimmicky food (let’s do Ethiopian tacos!!!) and hoping to earn a quick buck. It’s the ones that focus on the food that make us excited about what’s still to come from four wheels. The Vendy folks thought that Phil’s Steaks was the best new truck this year, since they awarded the Rookie of the Year to the philly cheesesteak mobile. Morris Truck serves the only grilled cheese that is worth the price (they offer a duck fat add-on!!) with their seasonal and local ingredients. Nuchas has solid empanadas in the largest truck I’ve seen yet on the street, while Okadaman has really unique and delicious Japanese bar food. And Our Heros, while currently off the street fixing internal problems, had the biggest bang for your buck with classic Italian sandwiches. But only one can be the best.  Here are this year’s nominees for Best New Food Truck in Midtown…

• Morris Grilled Cheese Truck
• Nuchas
• Okadaman
• Our Heroes
• Phil’s Steaks

Vote for your favorite, after the jump…

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If you haven’t done your Christmas shopping yet, Clay and I put together this video as a guide on how to shop for the big holiday season. The Bryant Park Holiday Market is convenient and has diverse gift possibilities. Problem is there is some serious distraction at the holiday market. And it comes in the form of lunch. Check out the video after the jump…

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It’s time for the 2012 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

Desserts are one of those food groups that constantly morphs yet stays exactly the same–you can improve on the flavor, but can you really improve on doughnuts, cookies, cake, and frosting? This follows right through to our Best Desserts nominees. The Treats Truck has quietly snuck back into their old favorite spot on select weekdays, while newbie Schmackary’s appeals to the cookie fiend in all of us. Quality Cakes has the to-die-for ice cream cakes, Dough’s doughnuts can be found in Bryant Park and at Culture Espresso, while Gregory’s Coffee and Macchiato Espresso Bar make their own delicious sweet treats in house. And can you remember a time when Midtown was Momofuku’less?  We can’t.  But the big question is- can any of them beat last year’s runaway winner, Wafels & Dinges? Here are this year’s nominees…

• Dough Doughnuts (at Culture Espresso Bar & the Bryant Park Holiday Market)
• Gregory’s Coffee
• Macchiato Espresso Bar
• Momofuku Milk Bar
• Quality Cakes
• Schmackery’s
• Treats Truck
• Wafels & Dinges

Vote for your favorite after the jump…

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It’s time for the 2012 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

I can’t believe we’re saying this, but I think it’s safe to say that Midtown has finally supplanted the East Village as the ramen capital of New York City… if not now, then definitely once Ippudo finally opens in Midtown West. Because after that, what more could you want that Midtown can’t give? There’s the Hakata style ramen at Hide Chan, the sumo-wrestler’s stew served at Menchanko Tei, Mark Bittman’s personal fave– Men Kui Tei, the sapporo style ramen at Sapporo, the wacky Burmese influenced ramen at Tabata, and of course, the chicken based ramen from last years winner Totto Ramen (which is so popular that it is expanding to a second location just a few blocks away.)  And could this be the last year that somebody other than Ippudo wins this category?  Here are this year’s nominees for Best Ramen in Midtown…

• Hide Chan
• Menchanko Tei
• Men Kui Tei
• Sapporo
• Tabata Noodle Restaurant
• Totto Ramen

Vote for your favorite after the jump…

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