Midtown Lunch

It’s very hard not to walk into Hop Won (on 45th btw Lex+3rd) and not end up getting lunch from their steamed table. I’m a big fan of their chicken and broccoli and have also tried roast pork, their sweet and sour chicken, and chow mein. But there are also some great gems on the regular menu, especially if you pay attention to the handwritten items on pieces of bright yellow papers taped to the wall. Gems like the shrimp omelette over rice for $6.23.

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Some friends and I are leading a crawl to a place where drinks come with bacon. Photo by Clay Williams.

Blondie got the Millenium Falco pizza at Roberta’s, Brownie tried to recreate Shopsin’s Mo Betta sandwich, Brian played video games and drank beer at Barcade in Williamsburg, Rachel had breakfast at Cafe Bene, Donny checked out the new One Girl Cookies in Dumbo and I’m hosting a Bed-Stuy Bar Crawl with some friends.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… Zach gets excited about Korean food at Pioneer Chicken in Los Angeles, Philly guest contributor, John reports on Texas BBQ in Center City and Andrea wins with Chicken and Waffle sandwiches from Real Good Food.

We got a tip from winedanddined last week with a photo of a mysterious new truck called Domo Taco. According to Twitter, they were trying to set up shop on Friday at 55th and Park but for some reason were forced to leave and promised to tweet when they found a new spot, but there has been radio silence ever since. From what I can gather on their Facebook page, they’re thankfully not serving the now overplayed Korean tacos, but instead turning to Japanese flavors for tortilla inspiration. An order of tater tots topped with bonito flakes and other goodies sounds amazing. Has anybody tried this truck yet? And let’s all bother them on Twitter or Facebook and convince them to give Midtown another try.

We recently reported that the old Mia Dona space on E. 58th St has been transformed into Land of Plenty, an upscale-ish Sichuan joint. A cursory examination of the menu and a perusal of early reviews showed some promise, so I headed over for some Sichuan goodies.

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Last summer we spotted construction on 43rd street for Crave Sandwiches, and now the sandwich (and salad) spot is open for business. The menu is divided into classic and traditional sandwiches — which seems kind of redundant, if you ask me — but all of these substantially-sized sandwiches are under $10.

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Well, it’s a new month (where did January go??), which means it’s Sandwich of the Month time from Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5+6th). This month’s beauty is “The Gobsmacker.” Here’s the kicker: it’s not just a sandwich, it’s a combo consisting of Rich Irish Stew With an Aged Cheddar Grilled Cheese w/Horseradish for $8.95. Stew AND grilled cheese? Let me get my coat! The sandwich debuted on Monday and will be available through the month of February. Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments!

Certe, 20 W 55th St (btw 5+6th), 212-397-2020

• Fahima Halal has moved to 37th & 6th [Midtown Eating]
• Sushi Stop will open soon, but doesn’t look like a Midtown Lunch [Midtown Eating]
• Has anybody tried JJ Hong Kong Cafe yet? [Midtown Eating]
• The first ML happy hour meetup of 2012 is tonight at 6pm [Connections]

Last month we got excited about a new Mediterranean Truck that started parking on 39th and 6th Avenue. But it’s seemed to disappear. A comment left by luncher stelloid indicates that the truck has not been in that location for a while. We all know the difficulties of parking a food truck in Midtown these days so it doesn’t surprise me that their location didn’t remain stable. Unfortunately they don’t have a Twitter account and I can’t seem to track down a phone number, so we’re just going to have to do things the old fashioned way and keep our eyes peeled. Anybody seen this big blue truck?