Midtown Lunch

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 Sarah, an actress who likes her steak to still be moo’ing and is looking for a good guac.

Name: Sarah

Age: 26

Occupation: Actress/Blogger

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Auditions are as far north as 54th and 8th or as far south as 36th and 8th-so I have covered a lot of ground of midtown west in the four years I have lived here!

Favorite Kind of Food: Kimchee, sourdough bread, fried mandoo, VERY rare steak (still mooing, please), french fries, anything spicy enough to make my lips blister, bone marrow, foie gras, guacamole, the sourdough bacon burger from Jack in the Box, chili cheese Fritos, and nutella…YES NUTELLA!

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Okra. I can’t get past the slime factor. And Jello. A dessert should not be see through, and that’s just the way I feel.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Pick-A- Pita (on 8th btw. 39+40th) for some french fry stuffed falafel sandwiches, Baja Fresh (on 41st and B’way) for the steak quesadilla and the unlimited salsa bar, Woorjip‘s kimchee soup and fried mandoo (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th), the Pad Kee Mao at Pam Real Thai (on 49th btw. 9+10th), Sloppy Fries at Schnipper’s Quality Kitchen (on 41st and 8th), and absolutely anything on the menu at Xie Xie (on 9th btw. 45+46th) as long as you get the 1,000 year old ice cream sandwich for dessert. To misquote John Mayer, it is Gustatory Napalm. For reals.

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Press releases from chains typically go right to the trash folder here at Midtown Lunch (unless free food is involved), but one from Rock Center Concourse darling Tri Tip Grill piqued our interest. On Tuesdays the restaurant is running a summer promotion- for $19.99 you get a whole “char-roasted tri tip” and an XL size of Red Mashers. The release claimed it feeds 5-6 people, and clearly this deal had to be put to the test.

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Even though the El Rey del Sabor carts came out with their three chalupa special late last fall, I completely forgot about them. The location closest to my work (on 49th and Park Avenue) didn’t have any signs up for it and it wasn’t on their regular menu. Well, there’s a pretty legit looking sign up now, and even though the price has gone up a buck I had to try them.

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T-Minus 13 days to social media topped doughnut shaped hamburger craziness, stuffed with a healthy serving of twitterrhea. Can’t wait!

With all the turf war controversy surrounding Mister Softee trucks, we’ve always imagined Softee President Jim Conway as some kind of soft serve puppet master, holed up in his Jersey lair ruling the summer streets of NYC with a iron fist.  Nope.  Saw him on Fox Business channel last week, and he looks like… well… the owner of a large (and extremely professional) ice cream company.  Miss Softee makes an appearance in the background, and Conway goes into some interesting business facts about Mister Softee- including the fact that the hours are long, and many of their franchises are owned by immigrants from South America, Eastern Europe and West Africa.

Check out the video after the jump…

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The best thing about restaurants in New York is that the turnover is high. Such a system lends itself to constant rebirths and many opportunities for us to try new restaurants. What is funny though is that sometimes you get restaurants that just change their name and all of a sudden the food is completely different? I present you restaurant 1 and restaurant 2 on Yelp. Different name. Different ratings. Exact same address and phone number. But at $8 for appetizer and entree as part of the lunch special, this really required some more investigation.

When I asked Zach about this place, he (surprisingly) got a bit excited.  Apparently Siam Inn was one of the first Thai restaurants he ate at when he moved to NYC, about 5 years ago, when they were on 8th Ave. btw. 51+52nd.  About 3 years ago they closed down and opened around the corner as Blue Chili, but the vibe went from homey to neon and glossy. The menu for the new spot says Siam Inn and the website for Blue Chili says it’s Siam Inn @ Bluechili. It’s confusing as hell really. But lets just get to the food because $8 lunch specials are what attracted me to this place in the beginning.

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I’ve been meaning to stop in for after work drinks at Sake Bar Kirakuya ever since I saw the shimmering curtain sign in the window months ago. By the end of the workday, though, my instinct is usually to get as far from the office as possible and I just keep forgetting to try it.

So, I was excited to find a good excuse to check it out during the day now that they are open for lunch. The other day a friend and I stopped in to see what these new Japanese options are all about.

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