Midtown Lunch

So it looks like that food court on 8th Ave. btw. 44+4th is not gone for good.  A new sign has gone up, and it looks like Church’s Fried Chicken made the cut, along with the Subway & Nathan’s.  Not sure what Mama’s Food is (was that there before?) and maybe there will be pizza and a juice bar of some kind?  Or were those old signs left over from before the previous incarnation? Not sure. Whatever… Church’s Fried Chicken fans should be happy.  Still not open yet, but we’ll keep an eye out… 

Related:
8th Avenue is the Fried Chicken Corridor of New York City

Every Tuesday I 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 Jenn, a magazine minion who claims that Midtown Lunch may be responsible for her current state of employement…

Name: Jenn

Age: 22

Occupation: Magazine Publishing Minion

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 43rd & 6th Ave.

Favorite Kind of Food: The foods I inhale the most often fall into or across the following gastronomic categories: Spicy, Asian, Deep-fried, MEAT+BREAD, Molten Cheese, Foods That Can Be Eaten While Walking, Anything Topped With a Fried Egg, and Stinky Lunches That Cubicle Neighbors Secretly Complain About (sorry!). More specifically: cheeseburgers, hot dogs with everything on them (two Gray’s, one to eat on the spot, one for the walk home), cheesesteaks wit onions, carnitas tortas, prosciutto-mozzarella heroes, fried pork dumplings, sweetbreads, bi bim bap, okonomiyaki, lox with extra capers, rice balls, paratha rolls, sardines and rice, soon dobu, pa jun, breakfast burritos, mushroom pizza (with the canned slice mushrooms), potato/corn chips, charcuterie, ma po tofu, bento boxes, strong curries, sushi and ahi poke, banh mi, little onion rings, Difara’s, fideua, crab cake sandwiches, stinky cheese, fried oysters, shawarma kebabs with extra hot sauce, English breakfasts and Chinese food from my parents’ restaurant and my grandma. Also can’t forget condiments because with just a slather or a drizzle can make all the difference– favorites include: Sriracha, Dijon mustard, Chiu Chow chili oil, cocktail sauce, and garlic mayo.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Garden salads and raw celery

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: $5 bento boxes (especially the salted mackerel), inari, green tea beard papas and rice balls from Cafe Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th) I’m a slave to my mid-afternoon rice ball break addiction. Tuna Avocado over rice at Chiyoda (on 41st btw. Mad+5th) when I’m feeling un-poor, paratha rolls and chicken biriyani from the Biriyani Cart (on 46th & 6th), ma po tofu or roast pork over rice at Hing Won (on 48th btw. 5+6th), oyako don from Yagura (also on 41st btw. Mad+5th), veg combo from Minar (on 46th btw. 6+7th), Cubans and chicken sandwiches from Margon (on 46th btw. 6+7th), mini cheeseburgers with a pint of Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout from Stout NYC on 33rd btw. 6+7th (more of a Happy Hour Meal). The day I had a mentaiko rice ball and miso soup from Washoku (on 37th btw. Mad+5th) for $2 was a very, very good day.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Pret, Hale & Hearty, Red Flame on 44th btw. 5+6th (A company favorite for impromptu lunch meetings, the Red Flame Wrap with chicken, cheese, and honey dijon is way better than expected).

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When I first posted the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge I listed Sohpie’s Cuban’s fried pork and plantain sandwich as one of the major inspirations. So I was pretty pleased to hear that they were going to participate in the challenge. And while their entry (the “pernil with a twist”) isn’t really all that different from the original sandwich already on their menu, it is a slight improvement- and worthy of praise. (If for no other reason than the fact they are part of the reason this is even happening.)

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It’s been a bad few weeks for Midtown burgers. First Five Guys gets closed down for a month by a fire, and now this. The Goodburger on 45th btw. 5+6th has been closed by the Department of Health due to a “clerical error on their permit”. (This is probably true, because it is a white DOH sticker, not a yellow DOH sticker.) They hope to reopen today, but you might want to call before heading over. 23 W 45th Street (btw. 5+6th), 212-354-0900

Hey! I know those two girls…

Vendr TV launched yesterday, a new website and video podcast that goes inside the world of street vendors. They plan on covering street food from all over the world… but naturally are beginning in New York City. For their first video, they spent the day in Midtown with Kim and the Treats Truck- and not surprisingly Blondie and Brownie were caught on video buying treats in the background. (In case you thought their “Taking on the Treats Truck One Treat at a Time” feature on their blog was a farce… this is the evidence that they are in fact always there.)

Did you make the video? Check it out after the jump…

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Nicely played Cafe Metro… because everybody knows that nothing impresses Fashion Week attendees more than a guy in a logo’d red suit and top hat handing out fliers. (Or maybe it does work and they’re geniuses!!! I don’t know shit about fashion…)

If you have to work today, I’m sorry.  That really sucks… what sucks even more is a lot of your favorite lunch places may be closed, so call ahead before heading out.  On the positive side, the places that are open should be pretty empty- and maybe your boss is out… so it’s a good day to catch up on one of the sandwiches from the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge.  FreeFoods NYC is closed, as is the Jamaican Dutchy, and Sophie’s Cuban isn’t answering their phones at either location.  But Certe (on 55th btw. 5+6th) is open (thanksgiving dip!), and so is Lazzara’s (on 38th btw. 7+8th).  Plus we’re hearing rumors that sandwiches have been added at Naples 45 and Cucina & Co (both on 45th btw. Park + Madison), and both are open today.  Good luck!  (And if you do go out to lunch today, report back on any other openings or closings in the comments for those who are stuck working.)

Photo by Ultraclay

• A delicious looking lunch at the now open for lunch BonChon in Koreatown [Ultraclay]
• I don’t know what a dark chocolate marzipan budino is, but it’s Kathy YL Chan’s new obsession at FreeFoods NYC [SENY]
• Dong Hai isn’t as good as Szechuan Gourmet, but they make some good noodle soups [Bionic Bites]
• The Front Studio girls found Cafe Zaiya to be “rundown”, but still liked the food [Lunch Studio]
• If you’re looking for some Valentines Day cupcakes, Crumbs has got your covered [Cupcakes Take the Cake]
• Lucky Cheng’s may move to Times Square. Do they serve lunch? [The Feedbag]
• If you’re working this weekend you may want to eat at Crisp. They’re registering people all weekend long to win a diamond ring. [Crisp]
• City Burger embraces the Black Label hype [Grub Street]
• If you follow the comments on Midtown Lunch, you’ll probably be interested in reading this article [The Feedbag]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap. Unfortunately, sometimes when you and your coworkers are super thirsty, and hungry, and trying to find a place that is convenient for everybody, you end up stumbling into a dud. Which is exactly what happened this week…

Now I will preface this review by saying, dear gentle readers, that I am not a woman of high means. Yet, I have indulged in a bottle of Midleton Very Rare or even a Jameson ‘pure pot still’ 15 year whiskey. However, when I am faced with a pricy “signature cocktail” I am not afraid to speak out for a change! A change in the great Big Apple swindle, or what I call, the girly drink grift!

Here was the group of us late at night at Legends on W. 33rd Street. In our defense, it was the only place nearby to our respective train stops… and this is what we found: Legendary Cocktails for $11. This included the Big Apple Martini (a sweet and sour concoction), the Sex in the City Cosmo (that unfortunately speaks for itself), and the Empire State Bellini (that I’m sure is actually poured pretty small). The Happy hour was from 4pm to 7pm with $4 domestic drafts and $5 well drinks. Well, at least that wasn’t too bad… if you ignored the decor.

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The International starring Clive Owen opens today, and according to Lunch’er Leslie our favorite salad (and now sandwich) cart, 100% Healthy & Halal (on 55th & Park), makes an appearance at the end of the movie: “Just wanted to let you know that we here at Nation’s Restaurant News patronize the cart on a regular basis. The salads are great just as described. In fact, the cart can now be seen in the new movie ‘The International’ with Clive Owen. There is a small scene towards the end. I saw it last night and recognized Gamal. I asked him about it today. He was so nonchalent.”  It’s good to see they used what they shot with him in the finished film… the Daisy May’s cart never made the final cut of Don’t Mess With the Zohan.

Note: Surprisingly none of the official promotional stills for the movie contained our beloved halal cart (shocking right?) so I had to doctor up the one above. The fake photo in no way reflects on the accuracy of the story.  You probably think that this doesn’t need to be said, but the last time I used a fake photo to add a visual element to what was a true story, people loved pointing out that the photo was clearly fake (as if I was trying to pass it off as real.)