Midtown Lunch

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

Making Moustache Cookies at Butter + Love. Photo by Donny.

For his upcoming beer video, Brian interviewed Garrett Oliver at the Brooklyn Brewery, Donny has a new installment in his Foodaisance series at Butter + Love, Rachel lunched at Urban Lobster Shack, Blondie recapped Choice Streets, Brownie enjoyed the sheep’s milk dumplings at Kefi and I got a preview of Bed-Stuy’s newest bar.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… Zach launched a Food is the New Rock podcast, Jamie checked out a truck that serves hamburgers and banh mi sandwiches in Philly and Andrea reported on a sustainable food truck event called International Meats Local downtown at New Amsterdam Market this weekend.

Last week we announced the exciting news that Urban Lobster Shack launched their new truck, which has been hitting up Midtown pretty regularly since. Although we pretty much know what to expect from their lobster rolls, one item on the truck menu stood out as unusual: the Linsane Asian lobster roll. An Asian lobster roll? All my favorite things! Clearly I had to try it.
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It’s a new month once again, but this time there’s no new slice for Pizza by Certe. April’s Lafayette slice proved so popular they are keeping it for May! Which is good news for me since somehow April slipped by without a trip over to try the thing. The slice consists of: Vidalia Onion Confit w/ Bourbon, Gruyere, Grana Padano, Fresh Mozzarella and Thyme. Yes, please!
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• Is Margon better than Ai Fiori? [Midtown Eating]
• Speaking of Margon, anyone know if they still make the fried pork chicharron? [Midtown Eating]
• So … Pizza Hut’s crown crust carnival pizzas. Yea or nay? [Midtown Eating]
• Newbie Red Olive brings pork belly burritos to 55th & Lex. Oh, and apparently they’re half price this week. [Midtown Eating]

When I found out that Sarah’s Kitchen was just another generic deli with generic looking steamed table food, I was quite disappointed. There’s already a deli on every corner and they pretty much serve the same food. Do we really need more in Midtown East? Apparently the owners of Sarah’s Kitchen think yes. Nevertheless, I was a bit curious as to what they got going on in there food wise. You never know, there might be hidden gems. After a quick walk around the place, nothing really jumped at me as a “must try” until I saw the bulgogi beef sandwich ($7.50) on the sandwich board. Heck, since I was there, and I do love bulgogi, I decided to give the sandwich a shot.
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The Oyster Bar Take Out window in Grand Central is a Midtown Lunch gem. Perfectly fried oyster po’ boys, lobster gazpacho, Maryland She-Crab soup … these are just a few of the dishes you can get within Midtown Lunch range, from a New York institution that’s decidedly out of the typical ML budget. That said, they do have a few items that sneak above the $10 lunch mark. One of those being their Tuna Burger. Some time ago I sampled nearly the entire menu with my fellow ML contribs, but the Tuna Burger wasn’t included because of the price ($10.95). As a big fan of their Grilled Tuna Sandwich, I’ll admit the burger piqued my curiosity so the other day when my errands brought me to the Grand Central area, I decided to give that burger a try, to see if it was worth it for the extra buck …
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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 Yesbelt, an assistant and blogger pizza enthusiast who wishes she could move to Naples for the carbs …

Name: Yesbelt

Age: 32

Occupation: Assistant and Blogger

Where in Midtown do you work? 46th & Park and 48th & Madison

Favorite Kind of Food: Pizza! I can eat it all the time but it has to be good as I’ve become a bit of a pizza snob. I also really like sandwiches and I don’t discriminate, I like all kinds. I find it hard to be disappointed by Mexican food; tacos and enchiladas are so good.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: It’s hard to answer this but I’m going to go with authentic Chinese. I just think it is scary.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: 48th St between Madison and 5th has three of my favorite places. Mangia: the food is so good especially the Telera sandwich, anything in the food court, and the fresh juices. Toasties has delicious and creative sandwiches and a very good hot food buffet. Hatsuhana has the freshest and best tasting Sushi around; I like to go there when I want to treat myself.

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