Midtown Lunch

I hate silly franchises just as much as the next guy (Bubba Gump anybody?), but this one is kind of sad when you think about. The original “Soup Nazi”, who had an incredibly popular soup business in Hell’s Kitchen immortalized by Seinfeld, can’t seem to find success in Midtown with his “Original Soup Man” franchises. As branches have spread across the country, the Midtown locations seem all destined to close. The one on 48th btw. 5+6th is the latest to go, and will be replaced (ironically) by Mendy’s.

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As promised by Grub Street last week, 2 Bros. Pizza opened today in the just out of bounds Hell’s Kitchen location of 9th Ave. & 40th Street. I don’t know if I’d normally trek to 9th Ave. for $1 pizza (oh, who am I kidding of course I would). 2 Bros. Pizza is already a well know dollar-a-slice mainstay in the East Village, and clearly they are looking to challenge 99 Cent Fresh Pizza’s domination of Midtown (they have two locations, one just one blocks away on 9th Ave. and 41st.) If today is any indication, they’re going to do pretty well…

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Hakata Ramen from Menchako Tei. Posted to the ML Flickr Photo Pool by Pabo76

This is starting to get ridiculous.  The branch of Menchanko Tei (on 55th btw. 5+6th) that was closed by a fire in December is still “closed for renovations”.  They had originally said they were going to reopen a week after the fire- which makes this lengthy delay even that much more puzzling.  No word on what the hold up is or how long it is going to be closed for.  In the meantime, you’ll have to make do with Men Kui Tei (on 56th btw. 5+6th), Sapporo (on 49th btw. 6+7th), or the other branch of Menchanko Tei (on 45th btw. Lex+3rd).  Or you can just sit at your desk, staring longingly at the photo above until you cry.

Related:
Fire Closes Menchanko Tei & Five Guys
Original Menchanko Tei Post (10/23/06)

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Meet Jamie, a future law student who works on the outskirts of Midtown, and thinks bacon, pigs in a blanket, and tequila qualifies as “healthy” food. She actually sent in two photos, and insisted I posted both because they “capture her essence.”  The before photo is below (I cropped out all her friends, but they’re about to start drinking). The after the drinks photo is after the jump.

Name: Jamie

Age: 23

Occupation: Non Profit Paralegal (with a food blog)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 33rd & 10th (and you think you have it bad!)

Favorite Kind of Food: A pretty impossible question, I tried to break it down into categories. Jew: sour pickles, pastrami/corned beef sandwiches, matzah ball soup made by my mother. Healthy: wings, crispy duck skin, bacon, tequila shots, pizza, pigs n a blanket. Japanese: takoyaki, miso soup, katsu, hakata ramen. Korean: fried chicken, bulgogi, kalbi, kimchee. Chinese: dim sum, dumplings, congee. Malaysian: roti canai, beef randang. Vietnamese: pho, summer rolls. Spanish: arroz con pollo, sancocho, lechon asado, ceviche, arepas. Eastern European: borscht, pierogies, stuffed cabbage, lagman. Also, can’t forget French, Italian, Burmese, Thai, Greek, seafood, spinach, soup… this is harder than the LSAT, I’m spent. (I also enjoy a nice piece of cheese and a well plated dessert.)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Half sour or dill pickles, super bitter things like grapefruit and arugula, and I do not love offal- I recently tried gizzard and wish I hadn’t.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The special noodle with brown sauce (ja jang mein) at Hyo Dong Gak on 35th btw. 5+6th is probably the best midtown lunch dish around. It’s a huge portion of noodles with a thick brown sauce made with pork, onion, and zucchini for $8 that easily lasts me two lunches. I recently enjoyed curried goat roti at the Best of the West Deli on 34th and 9th. I always get the sweet and sour pork at Woorijip (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th), the eggplant at Pick a Pita (on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th) is delicious, and I like the chorizo torta at Las Poblanitas (on 38th btw. 8+9th.)

The rest of Jamie’s answers, plus the “after the drinks” photo, are after the jump.

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And now a little something for those who enjoy using their lunchtime to stalk… If you enjoyed watching that video of Danika, from the Roger Smith Hotel, visiting Dainobu, the Japanese grocery store on 47th btw. Lex+3rd, than you should love this.  She will be co-hosting a cooking show, along with the chef from Lily’s Restaurant, in the window of the Lab Gallery (on 47th and Lex) at Noon and 6 p.m. every day, starting today, through the end of the week.  If you prefer to do your stalking in the privacy of your cubicle, the spectacle will be streamed on the web. Check out the live stream on the Roger Smith website (at 12:30 pm and 6pm) or after the jump.

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Photo courtesy of Food in Mouth

Another review of Woorijip’s semi-elusive Noodle Bar, this one from Food in Mouth. Danny’s advice?  Avoid the #1 (“which basically was a pack of $1 instant noodles, with an egg in there” for $5) and order the #5, beef with clear noodles (for $6.)

Related:
The Weather is Just Right for Woorijip’s Noodle Bar
Woorijip Gets a Makeover, Still the Best Cheap Korean on 32nd

Bret Thorn is reporting that the week of May 11th is going to be when the Baja Fresh on Lex btw. 45+46th opens for business. If you are as excited as I am, you’ll be marking this one on your calendar- although I’d recommend doing it in pencil… take the case of the new Crisp, which is now saying Wednesday is the big day.  They were supposed to open the day after Passover.

Related:
What To Expect From Midtown’s New Baja Fresh
My Prayers Have Been Answered: Midtown Baja Fresh Confirmation

The Roast Pork from Cafe Cello (on 45th btw. 5+6th)

I was pretty sure that you could only get swine flu from hanging out with live pigs, or going to school in Queens- but now the internets have me worried that you can get it from eating pork! Thinking that maybe this is why Cafe Cello was closed last week (they serve my favorite pork in Midtown), I hopped onto the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene website and discovered that they are all about the swine flu. Everything you could ever want to know is on that site… and it says nothing about not eating pork (phew!) So eat your favorite pork with reckless abandon people- unless it is being served by a coughing teenager from St. Francis Prep.

Incidentally, Cafe Cello’s last inspection was a whopping 65 (aka not good.) It’s the usual “evidence of roaches”, “not vermin proof”, blah blah blah. No mention of swine flu though. They have yet to reopen. As of Friday they were still closed, but we’re hearing they may have reopened today. Anybody have any intel?

Related:
Original Cafe Cello post (7/10/2006)