Midtown Lunch

Several Midtown Lunchers have noted in posts and by contacting us directly, that the Goodburger on 54th and Lex has closed. According to the New York Times, Phil Scotti, owner of the prolific P.J. Clarke’s bar/restaurant chain (which serves a damn good but somewhat expensive burger) will be opening a spinoff called Clarke’s Standard in this Northeast Midtown locale. The Times reports more burgers will be served, along with chili, sandwiches, and ice cream in Dixie Cups (we’re guessing the kind you eat with the tiny wooden spatulas). When the ML Team went by to check it out, the remnants of Goodburger’s sign were still visible, while the window clearly signaled Clarke’s Standard impending presence… we’re movin’ in! We asked someone working on the renovation when they’ll be open. He expected if not by the end of the year, then early 2013.

Pizza joints don’t get me too enthused these days… especially after MJP’s fantastically written $1-Slice-O-Rama, it’s hard to seriously enjoy a slice at a $3-$4 price anymore. I had been walking by Uncle Paul’s Pizza (Vanderbilt btw. 45th + 46th) for several months, assuming it had either been covered by Midtown Lunch already, or it had faded into the fray of mediocre Midtown pizza joints. After I went on a Slice-O-Rama excursion with MJP a few months ago, I was inspired to research Uncle Paul’s to do a comparison, and I realized it was a fairly new pizza restaurant, only opened for a few months, that hadn’t yet been covered.

I’ll start off by covering the things about Uncle Paul’s that are gonna catch some hell…

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Recently, to celebrate the holidays, Nuchas launched a Thanksgiving-themed empanada special that features the best of Thanksgiving leftovers … but before the holiday has even begun. As a super-fan of the Thanksgiving meal, I made sure to check out what sounded like a little pocket of heaven from the kiosk in Times Square.
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In what we can only hope to be a gross misinterpretation of a Talking Heads song on part of their building neighbors, Cafe Zaiya’s location on 41st has been closed due to a fire in their building. No ETA to repair or restore yet, but if I’m not mistaken (please, please, please let me be mistaken) there’s now no place in Manhattan to get green tea soft serve ice cream. Could this be some karmic retribution on behalf of the Oms/b faithful, whose onigiri fortress was taken over recently by the expanding Cafe Zaiyaverse?

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Just in case you can’t wait until Thursday for turkey, cranberry, and stuffing, Certé has got you covered. In our latest holiday video, we document the Getting Thanks, Certé’s special November sandwich which includes turkey meatloaf, cranberry ketchup, and a green bean casserole. And since this is Thanksgiving, I thought it was only appropriate to bring my family along. Check out the Thanksgiving food porn and the traditional frustrations, headaches, and guilt after the jump…

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I’ve always been fascinated by the science of taste. Back in my elementary school days, I learned the “taste map” on the tongue consisted of sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. But apparently this wasn’t the full or accurate story. In college, I first heard the taste map was bullshit, and they had introduced the new the flavor “umami“. “What the hell is umami??” I wondered. It was described as the savory but not quite salty flavor of meat.

It took me a long time to wrap my head around that. Almost all meat I’ve eaten is embedded with salt, making the separation of favors nearly impossible in my mind. But last week, sadly craving Yagura (RIP), I decided to stop by Sunrise Mart (41st Street btw. 5th + Madison) since I like their bento boxes. Instead, I tried something there that was almost pure umami. This was the $6.50 ($7.02 with tax) tonjiru soup special. As soon as I put it in my mouth, I was mesmerized by the umaminess of it. I finally fully understood what umami tastes like without a salt mask.

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Do these look like “pale unsalted squid rings to you? Photo by Jason Lam

• Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar isn’t that bad [Me So Hungry]
• Tabata Ramen is better than Menchako Tei and Sapporo [II]
• Danny Meyer is opening a juice bar in the Equinox on 50th [Eater]
• Tulcingo del Valle makes a great chile relleno [SENY]
• Bouchon Bakery makes ice cream!? [SENY]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent posts about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

Whilst reading Grub Street earlier this week, I happened upon the name of a bar I hadn’t heard before. They covered an article about a hurricane benefit at The Three Monkeys (54th btw. Broadway and 8th), and although I wasn’t able to make it to the benefit, I thought I’d check it out since it hadn’t been featured in the Midtown Lunch happy hour column yet. It turns out The Three Monkeys (hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil, get it?) was once on Rivington Street in the Lower East Side. Yelp reviews for the newer Midtown location date back to early 2011, so it’s fairly new to Midtown.

I was hopeful as I approached. The bar has a decent deal on beer — the all day happy hour is $4 Yuengling and Lionhead drafts (16 oz) and there are also $6 wells.

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