Midtown Lunch

Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

MidtownLunch has a long and amorous history with buffets (thank you, Zach Brooks!) When I walked by the above sign, I knew it was my Contributor duty to check it out. Additionally, I was excited that I would get to try Sri Lankan food. Given the proximity to India (and after reading a little online, I learned about Sri Lanka’s role as a major trading hub leading to additional influences), Banana Leaf was a good bet.

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It’s been a good week for Café China. The hot Szechuan restaurant not only received a Michelin star this week, but they also found themselves included in Time Out’s Annual 100 Best issue, which was released yesterday. Sadly, Cafe China’s $9 spicy diced rabbit dish is TONY’s only real ML option (leaving me to wonder how it stacks up against Lan Sheng’s version.) Other Midtown dishes on Time Out’s list are either past the $10 mark (the cassoulet at Chez Napoleon, the fried pizza at Don Antonio) or are not available for lunch (the Shacked Cheese at Reunion Bar, the Spicy Fries with Wasabi Cream at Mr. Robata). Still, I’ve managed to find some mighty tasty bites from their previous lists, so if you’re feeling like a splurge, these might be worth a look. You can check out their entire list at Time Out’s website.

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Did you know that today (October 4th) is National Taco Day? [crickets] Neither did we, but you can bet that now that we’re aware of it, it will forever be a highlight on our calendar. In honor of the day that celebrates the taco, please find some of your humble Midtown Lunch contributors’ favorites right now. Not ever, and not in the history of the universe, just some tacos we’re digging at the moment that will hopefully inspire you to celebrate this national food holiday with us.

Rachel Goldner: beef taco at Blend Latin Fusion Truck

Blend truck’s $6 taco trio is a really great deal. My favorite option is the beef taco that Brian also enjoyed back in May, but you can mix and match your three with different proteins. These tacos are colorful, flavorful and with a nice portion of shredded meat in the double tortilla wraps. A little crema and hot sauce on top, and you’re good to go!

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Don’t pinch yourself (unless it’s what floats your boat), don’t power-cycle your monitor, don’t panic. This is legitimate, this is for-real, you are not experiencing a wire cross somewhere in the tubes. Papa John’s has a location that does dollar slice pizza. It is on 28th between 7th and 8th. We have reviewed it. Yes, this is still Midtown Lunch. While we generally aim – rightfully so, IMO – to steer our lunch dollars towards the little guy, we are still doing a comparison of individual pizza slice purveyors that sell for a dollar per plain cheese slice. This fits the criteria, and it is up to us to advise for or against. In the past, there’s been no issue calling out awful dollar slices just as easily as there’s been no issue lauding surprising good finds in unlikely places. As this, the final column in $1 Slice-o-Rama comes to a close, do we end off with a corporate underdog story or do we merely shake our heads at having done a necessary, but not joyful, service to the lunch community?

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Do you wonder what the ML contributors do when they’re not eating lunch in Midtown? (We’re actually pretty easy to stalk – Especially if you were at the Vendys!)

Shabu shabu for two at Khan’s in Los Angeles. Photo by Zach.

Now that it’s October, Brownie is looking forward to food book events, while Blondie is all about Oktoberfest… that seems about right. Brian finally had the awesome blood orange doughnuts at Dough, Rachel made lemongrass ginger iced tea at home and I celebrated the end of summer in Brooklyn at Atlantic Antic.

Elsewhere in the ML Universe… Jamie visits the King of Fried Things in Philly, Andrea has nothing good to say about the banh mi at Yushi downtown and Zach discovered shabu shabu – and doesn’t make any Ricardo Montalban jokes – at Khan’s Shabu Shabu in Los Angeles.

The Michelin Guide released their star ratings of restaurants in New York yesterday. Normally this is not something we get too excited about here at Midtown Lunch because the stars are usually reserved for restaurants way out of our price range. Except this year both Lan Sheng and Café China, two restaurants that we can actually afford for lunch received one star each. This is big news – even bigger than when the nearby Szechan Gourmet received two stars from the Times. For those of you keeping score at home, that means Lan Sheng and Café China now have the same number of stars as Ai Fiori, Blue Hill (!?!), Del Posto, Grammercy Tavern, and Wd-50.

Two weeks ago, a troop of brave Midtown souls gathered in Bryant Park for our annual Street Meat Palooza! They sampled chicken and lamb over rice from 17 different carts and trucks, all to crown the winner of them all. For those of you playing along at home, the 2008 crown went to Famous Halal Guys’ daytime cart (SE corner of 53rd+6th), followed by Kwik Meal (SW corner of 45th+6th) and Kwik Gourmet a year later. Since Comme Ci, Comme Ca won last year, they were out. Who would be our new winner?!!

I’ve been crunching the numbers for days in ways that make my inner-economist proud, and it’s time to reveal the results.

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Fall is here, everyone. Bring on the sweaters! Bring on the football! Bring on the pumpkins… and pumpkin spiced beverages of all kinds! Bring on a three-month excuse to get fatter with Halloween candy, multiple Thanksgiving dinners, and holiday parties with latkes, cookies, and endless booze. AND, bring on the SOUP! Yep, it’s time for ramen, chili, stew and all variations of soup to tap you on the shoulder and say, “Did you miss me?”

Why yes, soup. Yes I did. And while I’m sure ramen will be on the top of many lunchers’ lists to revisit, I wanted to send a quick shout out to the easily missed Taam Tov for their soup selection. If you’re not a Midtown Lunch veteran, you might not yet know that Zach hit up this Kosher Uzbeki restaurant (47th btw. 5th + 6th) in one of his earliest reviews back in 2006, and nearly six years later, it’s still attracting customers in it’s somewhat hidden third floor locale.

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Anybody in the market for a food cart decked out with a flat screen TV? Today on Twitter, O’Neil from the Jamaican Dutchy announced that he is selling his cart. It used to be a staple of 51st Street and 7th Avenue with the Jamaican flag blowing in the wind, lively music videos, and whiffs of goat curry in the air. Once O’Neil upgraded to a truck (which has returned to Midtown on 43rd and 3rd), his cart was operated by a family member as R. Retha’s Food downtown. Sadly, they had some trouble with the Health Department as Andrea reported, and now the cart is on the market. The cart itself will surely be missed, but thankfully O’Neil’s food still thrives.

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 Lexie a PR exec looking for some authentic Mexican food in Midtown.

Name: Lexie

Age: 33

Occupation: Public relations executive

Where in Midtown do you work? Park Avenue and 55th Street

Favorite Kind of Food: Thai food (Pam Real Thai or Sook in midtown and UWS respectively)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything by hostess

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: It was Menchanko Tei for their amazing menchanko ramen and rice balls–but it recently closed. Love the food truck on the corner of Park and 55th. They have an awesome brown rice, veggie and chicken combo for $7! Also, can’t go wrong with Grand Sichuan on 2nd Avenue and 55th–soup dumplings–oh yea! Also dig Taksim on 2nd Avenue in the low 50s. Amazing kofte sandwiches and great tarama (taramaslata), stuffed grape leaves and borek.

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