Midtown Lunch

Every Friday our man UltraClay goes 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.

The Sirtaj is hidden in plain sight. Eclipsed by neighbors Hill Country and barbecue bar The Hog Pit, you could walk by it a million times without really considering walking in. I checked it out on the recommendation of a friend who is easily as into food as I am, but didn’t see what the big deal was about until I started to explore the daily specials – including vegetarian options I would never consider otherwise.

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• Everybody seems to agree that Bon Chon > Kyochon [Midtown Eating]
• When can I find Freddie King of Falafel in Astoria? [Eating Outside of Midtown]
• What happened to the Ecuadorean Truck? [Midtown Eating]
• Fancy Greek restaurant gets a B [Midtown Eating]

Photo courtesy of Eater

Curious about the forthcoming Glaze Teriyaki, the Seattle style teriyaki joint opening on Lex btw. 54+55th? Wined and Dined forwarded us a link to their business plan, which has a few tasty nuggets we didn’t know originally, like… the owner of Glaze was a co-owner of Spotlight Live in Times Square, and they see Chipotle as their business model (wonder if they’re concerned about this?)  But our favorite part of the pitch is how they describe Teriyaki Boy:  “In contrast to Seattle, New York has only one comparable restaurant (Teriyaki Boy) with three locations. Unfortunately, Teriyaki Boy serves poor quality, tasteless Teriyaki and has been unfavorably reviewed on Yelp.com.”  Ouch.  My old co-worker Stanley T respectfully disagrees.

Nothing is set in stone yet, but we’re hearing that Glaze hopes to be open the week after Thanksgiving.

What significance does 3 ounces have? Aside from the threshold of liquid & gel carry-ons that the TSA enforces flyers to adhere to, or perhaps a double shot of tequila chugged on a dare, 3 ounces is the difference in size between Bill’s Bar & Burger’s ‘Classic’ burger and their ‘Original’. And it makes all the difference in the world.

I’ve paid several visits to BB&B (on 50th btw. 5+6th) after Jeremiah’s initial assessment, and like Jeremiah, I opted for the thriftier 5oz ‘Classic’ ($6.95), which only drew a lukewarm reaction. On a recent visit curiosity and hunger got the better of me and I coughed up the extra $2 to upgrade to Bill’s ‘Original’ 8oz burger ($8.95), and an extra fifty cents for a topping of caramelized onions. This simple act of gluttony, it turns out, was the right decision.

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On the ML Twitter Tracker today…  Wafels & Dinges truck is on 46th (and their cart is on 40th), Joyride is on 52nd, Eddie’s Pizza is on 52nd with meatball parm heros, Papa Perrone is on 55th with a special sandwich, Schnitzel Truck is on 52nd with soup, La Cense is on 47th, Malaysia Kitchen Truck is on Park Ave. with free samples from New Haven’s Bentara, and Uncle Gussy’s is planning to be on 51st btw. Park+Lex at 12:15pm giving out free chicken over rice and possibly souvlaki.

The other day as I was running errands on 5th Ave I noticed a sign in the Michel Cluizel shop advertising a Parisian breakfast of pastry and coffee or tea for $5 from 8am to 10:30am. When I noticed pain au chocolate was one of the options I was sold.

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