Midtown Lunch

Back in August, SNL guitarist Jared Blake Scharff confessed to Zach on the Food is the New Rock podcast that he would love to write for Midtown Lunch.  Well, it only took 3 months but here’s his first contribution!  If you listened to the episode of the podcast you know he’s a huge fan of ramen so it only makes sense that we would have him review the first NYC location of Ivan Ramen in the Gotham West Market.  You can follow Jared on Twitter @scharffishere and Instagram @scharffishere

“Saturday Night Live Guitarist, Producer/Writer, Ramen Enthusiast” states my Twitter profile, so let there be no confusion… I’m MEGA-serious about my Ramen! I got my first taste of “adult” ramen (aka non-dorm room “top ramen”) a few years back when Momofuku Noodle seemed like the only game in town. First bowl in and my world had changed. I went to Japan a month or so after that and quite possibly ate my weight in Ramen. Looking back on it now, I may have discovered my own personal heaven in Japan, the place where I learned what Ramen truly could be.

Unless you live under a rock, you may have noticed the ongoing Ramen explosion in New York City (and Los Angeles) over the past few years. Along with this comes absurdly long lines, additional locations being added, and increasing ramen varieties amongst all the competitors. While all of this has been rapidly growing, so has the legend of Ivan Orkin. Orkin, a self proclaimed “Jewish kid from Long Island”, rose to fame with his own critically acclaimed Tokyo shop “Ivan Ramen” in 2007. He has been doing sold out pop-ups in NYC throughout this past year but this past week finally settled down into a permanent location in NYC. It looks like Ivan Orkin is back and here to stay.

Enter “Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop” at Gotham West Market.

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(and a very hard to photograph sign)

Like we mentioned last week, Gotham West Market (11th Ave btw 44th+45th) is now open for lunch, dinner, and snack business and I hiked over to the end of the world 11th Avenue to check it all out. The market itself feels like a post-modern food court with its glassed-in open air stalls and stainless steel seating open to all, the only break up being an entrance into the Brooklyn Kitchen anchoring the back wall. Oh, and $13 ramen.

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Here’s two more big ramen openings for Midtown…

A sign on the window yesterday promised that Hinata would open for lunch service today on 55th Street between Lexington and Third Ave. I have not been able to find a menu online, but according to the sign, ramen will be the focus. But in even bigger news Ivan Ramen is finally open as part of the giant Gotham West Market on 11th Ave. btw. 44+45th.  It’s way out of bounds for most lunchers, and some of the prices are a bit over the $10 limit, but if it’s anywhere close to as good as its hype it should be well worth it.

Check out the menu after the jump…

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Every Friday we go 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.

After visiting Pongsri Thai in August, with a tepid experience, Flatiron Lunch’er stevenp recommended Regional Thai as a better option, so I went to check it out for myself. He also mentioned M Thai which will make an appearance on a future Flatiron Lunch post.

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The Korean-owned, French-inspired bakery, Paris Baguette, has opened its Midtown East location on Lexington Ave. (at 52nd St.). Actually, according to Serious Eats, it’s been open for a while now. The bakery offers a variety of breads and pastries, as well as sandwiches and beverages. Their dessert and bubble tea offerings are especially good. And as Clay noted, their savory options are not to be ignored either. Let us know if you stop by to try anything.

Paris Baguette, 52nd Street and Lexington Avenue

Back in the early days of Midtown Lunch, Zach discovered a cart serving Tibetan specialities on 50th and Sixth Avenue. Then it disappeared into the wilds of Queens leaving us completely momo-less. Amazingly, I spotted a seemingly new food cart on 50th between 6th and 7th. It was overshadowed by the large fleet of food trucks, but there it was: Shangri-La Express. The guys at the cart told me they’ve been at this new/old location for about 3 weeks and plan to set up there every day for lunch. No word on whether this is related to the old one, but if the food is good, it doesn’t really matter.

Check out the menu below to see their offerings, including chicken lollipops, sha-balay (Tibetan beef patties), and of course, momos.

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Sometimes a great lunch spot is right under your nose and you don’t even know it. Take Radiance Noodle Bar, for instance. Buried in the basement of 805 3rd Ave. (btw 49th+50th), it’s only a few blocks from my office, but I only found out about it when Luncher Joer recommended I check it out. And I’m glad I did.

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Now that we’re more than half way through November, it seems like a good time to reminder ML’ers that fans of Momofuku‘s annual Thanksgiving croissant should make their way to Milk Bar inside Ma Peche (on 56th btw. 5+6th) ASAP. The stuffing-flavored pastry filled with turkey, cranberry sauce and gravy won’t be around for much longer. I had one for the first time recently, and it was worth every penny of the $4.50 I paid for it.