Midtown Lunch

The random swings in temperature over the last few weeks probably have a lot to do with the coughing and hacking I’ve been hearing up and down the rows of cubicles at work. It’s getting to be about that time when the office cold starts spreading. Hoping to preempt the first cold of the season, I headed to Negi-Ya (on 37th btw. Mad+5th), formerly Washoku Cafe, to fortify myself with noodles and rich, warm broth.

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It’s that time of year again!  Today is Cowgirl Catering’s 16th Anniversary, so to celebrate they’re rolling back prices to 1994 levels at Gourmet 53- their take out cafeteria counter in the basement food court of 875 3rd Ave. (btw 52+53rd.)  Just like last year you’ll be able to get any of their lunches for just $3, there will be free passed hors d’oeuvres, and 10 lucky winners will get free lunch for a month.  Oh, and by free passed hors d’oeuvres we mean coconut shrimp!!!  Of course you’ll want to go early for that… last year they ran out of coconut shrimp by 1:30pm. The celebration freeloading begins at 11:30am and ends at 3pm.

Related:
Gourmet 53 is One of Those Places I Should Have Mentioned Years Ago

The newest branch of AQ Kafe (on 10th Ave btw. 36+37th) opened yesterday morning and to celebrate they’re giving away free stuff every day for the rest of the week.  Today they’ll be giving away sandwiches from 11am to 3pm, tomorrow (Thursday) there will be free cinnamon buns from 3-6pm, and on Friday it’s free coffee all day long.  It’s about time something great happened to the poor lunchers in the technically-out-of-bounds SW corner of the ML universe. Enjoy!

• Looking for Little Morocco replacement [Midtown Eating]
• Roll N Go is now open, and they have a $5 falafel [Midtown Eating]
• A 2nd November ML meetup happy hour is being planned [Connections]
• Which would you prefer… Chipotle or WAMU? [Midtown Eating]
• If you dream about food carts you might read this site too much [Misc.]
• Get 5 lunches for $37.50 at Bon Chon on 38th [Midtown Eating]

I know it’s now a chain, but I can’t help my love for the ‘wichcraft. I like a few of their soups, I like some of their sandwiches, and I crave their grilled gruyere. It’s definitely on my “go-to” lists especially when I’m in a rush since it’s the closest to my office. Everything Zach reported about ‘wichcraft two years ago still remains true, it’s all slightly overpriced, but it’s the comfort of knowing exactly what I’m getting that keeps it in my rotation. No matter… I was cold and in need of lunch, plus I knew that they had just made their autumn switch to thick pumpkin soup, so off I went. But they threw me for a loop when I saw that mini pies came back during my California vacation!

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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 Steve, a $10 salad hating journo who wishes his office moved 10 blocks every year so he could easily sample the other areas of Midtown. He’s also the same Steve that tipped us off the Trini Paki Boys’ jerk chicken yesterday.

Name: Steve

Age: 48

Occupation: Journalist

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Midtown West 40s

Favorite Kind of Food: Szechuan, Cantonese, Asian but NOT “Pan Asian,” haute cuisine, grilled almost anything but splamb

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Most brands of fast food, Tex Mex and other Americanized Mexican, steam table pasta, chicken breast in most of its incarnations

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Hing Won (on 48th btw. 5+6th) is great for lunch – roast pork w/ sour cabbage, fried soba noodles, Malaysian chicken, beef stew w/noodles; Kati rolls at Biryani Cart (on 46th and 6th); Biryani at Trini Paki Boys (ask for extra veg, no salad); Chaats at Bombay Lunch; Cubano at Margon on 45th btw. 6+7th (but man that thing has got some calories); falafel at Kosher Deluxe on 46th btw. 5+6th (w/pickle/salad bar); Jerk at a couple of carts; Kobideh Kabab at Kabab Express (on 55th and 6th)

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I noticed this large billboard yesterday in Times Square. I’d never heard of Earl of Sandwich before, but apparently it’s a chain of hot  sandwich places started by the actual Earl of Sandwich and Robert Earl, the founder of Planet Hollywood. (Oooooh.  That’s promising!) According to their website there are twelve locations, in such amazing  places as Logan International Airport in Boston, the Downtown Disney Marketplace, and the Port St. Lucie rest stop on the Florida Turnpike. Sounds perfect for Times Square, and sure enough Zagat says they are opening somewhere in Midtown. Has anybody ever eaten at Earl of Sandwich? Is there any reason to be even a little optimistic about this eventual addition to NYC?