Midtown Lunch

Huge news via Eater: “Pinche Taqueria is opening a third location in the old Mantra space at 986 Second Ave (at 52nd) tonight at 5 o’clock. Downstairs it will have the usual Pinche setup with the same Pinche menu of tacos, burritos, quesadillas, and tortas… they’ll be open after 5 p.m. today through Saturday. Next week they’ll start opening during lunch and doing deliveries throughout Midtown East.” Sure, it’s one avenue outside the standard Midtown Lunch boundaries- but whatever! For Pinche Taqueria it’s totally worth it. This just in: Be afraid Pampano Taqueria (on 50th & 3rd).  Be very afraid.  Your overpriced, Midtown East, hipster Mexican food reign of terror has just come to an end!

Photo courtesy of Kathy YL Chan

That’s a lot of brown

All that talk about Panda Express in the comments made me hungry for some bad steam table Chinese food, and for that there is really only one option… Yips (on 52nd btw. 5+6th.)  Hing Won & Sun Yip are pay the pound, Ying Du is too authentic, and that place in the Rock Center concourse is so bad even I won’t go there.  So Yips it was… the general tso’s chicken had just come out fresh, so how could I not?  Fried rice and fried pork chops round out the lunch, and for $5.95 how could anybody possibly complain.

Ever since they went from 3 steam tables to 2, I assumed Yips was on its way to closing up shop after 30+ years (their sign says “Since 1974” I think).  But after today’s lunch, I think they may be better than ever.  Perhaps getting rid of that 3rd steam table improved the overall freshness.  It’s still crappy Chinese food (and enjoyment can fluctuate wildly depending on what you end up choosing)… but my general tso’s/pork chops/fried rice combo was the best Yips I’ve had in 3 years of Midtown Lunch’ing.  Craving satisfied.

It only took seven weeks, but the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge finally has a banh mi entry courtesy of Boi Sandwich, the take out place on 3rd Ave. btw. 44+45th owned by upscale Vietnamese restaurant Boi.  Midtown Lunch’er “Clues” was on this one early, and filed this report in the comments:

I just had their special “Curried Chicken Meatball” sandwich. It was awesome in two respects: size and taste. First, this thing is big. It’s probably almost 2x the size of a Sophie’s sandwich. The “baguette” is more like a 7″ x 5″ slice of a large loaf. The bread is, however, one of the strongest elements of the sandwich – crisp on the outside and very moist and airy on the inside. The French influence in Vietnam definitely pays off here. The combination of flavors is very good – curried chicken meatballs, cilantro, some sweet pickled veggies… all comes together well. None of the flavors are overwelming (the curry is very mild). I highly recommend it. The $7.50 price is high but you do get a lot of food and they are giving away promotion cards where you get your tenth meal for free – so ten sandwiches works out to $6.75 each plus tax.

Well, after reading that endorsement, how could I wait any longer to try this thing for myself?

Read more »

A few emails yesterday tipped me off to the closing of the two story Wendy’s on Third Ave. btw. 57+58th.  Not that sad… and in fact it could end up being great news, depending on what ends up moving in there.  Double decker Panda Express anybody!?! (I know, I’m a broken record and I apologize.)

Far sadder was the sight 13 blocks farther south, on 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th.

Read more »

To me there is nothing more exciting than the arrival of a brand new cart… especially when it’s as weird as this one! Meet the “Happy Well Being House” cart, which popped up on 50th street btw. 6+7th for the first time yesterday. Started by a Korean lady, and another girl (who I’m guessing is her daughter), the cart is serving up fried fish and grilled chicken, over rice or home fries for $6. They used to own an “American food” restaurant in Long Island. I don’t know what is “well being” about fried fish and hash browns but this cart is in the early lead for strangest cart of 2009.

I was already on my way to a different lunch destination, but thankfully they offered me a taste!

Read more »

Some bad news on the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge front:

“The Taj at Crisp (on 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th) is apparently discontinued. I called them yesterday evening and they said they’re not making it anymore. Maybe I heard it wrong and they just serve it for lunch and not dinner. Either way, I haven’t tried it yet and now it seems like I never will… -Tanman”

The owner says they could not continue serving the Indian style falafel without getting rid of another sandwich on their menu-  so, they are “trying to figure out the logistics” and will bring it back eventually. (And when they do, I’ll be there on day one- that sandwich was good!) This should also be a lesson to all of you… if a sandwich challenge entry sounds good, don’t put off trying it. These special sandwiches may not be on the menu for long.

Related:
Crisp: Abomination… Or One of the Best Falafel in the City

A guy who owns a Midtown lunch truck is retiring and moving to Florida… so his condiments are up for grabs on Craigslist: “ALL BOTTLES ARE OPENED AND ARE NOT FULL* but this would be great for someone who owns a small restaurant or lunch truck, or just anyone who likes to add condiments to their food. I can give them out all together or individually. Please call me asap, you can pick them up in Midtown Manhattan at my apartment today.”  Amazing.  I’m kind of curious what truck this is. [Craigslist]

UPDATE: Who knew free condiments were so popular?  The post has already been deleted… (but just to prove I’m not crazy, a screenshot of the ad is after the jump)

Read more »

via Twitter today:

C’mon boys… this is the Dining Editor of the New York Times we’re talking about. Don’t you think he knows what chicken and rice cart he’s talking about?

Read more »

The blog Deep Fried Kimchee has posted an interview with the owners of the soon to open Baja Fresh (on Lex btw. 44+45th), where they promise to offer the same quality of food and service Baja Fresh is known for on the west coast.” They also say that all the produce will be “locally grown”, and that there will be an off the menu “dos manos” burrito that is twice the size of a normal burrito (I seem to remember this being a standard menu item at all the Baja Fresh locations in L.A., but maybe they’re making it some sort of secret thing?)  So far so good… and they’re still shooting for a mid-may opening. 

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

I noticed something interesting while walking down 9th Avenue this weekend… the original signs for Taj Delhi Chat (which used to hang in the window of the former newsstand on 6th Ave. btw. 37+38th) are now hanging in the window of an Indian steam table place on 29th and 9th.  Apparently the lady who started “Taj Delhi Chat” was kicked out of the Khodiar (aka Newsstand) space, and is planning on reopening at this new location in Chelsea.  She’s not up and running yet, but plans to be selling chaat from that location at some point in the next two weeks.

So, what does this mean for the chaat being served out of the newsstand on 6th Ave.?

Read more »