Midtown Lunch

This has nothing to do with food, but everything to do with being a cheap bastard.  I love Target, so I was pretty excited to see that one of the four temporary “Bullseye Bodegas” they’re opening in NYC is in Midtown. I know it’s lame but there is something about living and working in Manhattan (and not owning a car) that makes me crave crap like strip malls and Target.  The pop up store is taking over the space that used to be inhabited by the Delta Pop Up Cafe on 57th & 6th Ave. The store will be open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Monday. If you’re into using your lunch break to do a little shopping, you can get more info here, here, and here.

Photos of the inside are after the jump…  Read more »

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 Jeremy, who you my remember as the author of the Midtown Lunch guide to turning free samples into a lunchtime tasting menu.  I guess they’re paying him more at work because his profile is filled with stuff that actually requires money.

Name: Jeremy

Age: 24

Occupation: Publicist/Private Chef

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 44th Street bet. 5+6th Avenues

Favorite Kind of Food: Recently it’s barbequed cuttlefish and Malaysian food, both introduced to me by my friend Mark who makes some of the craziest pizzas in New York. But I love all kinds of pork, hanger steak, and oysters! In college I set up a raw bar outside of the library during finals. Nobody got sick but I cut my hand pretty badly with a Swiss Army knife.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Chicken feet are disgusting. I’ve never had memorable Indian food. If you can convince me otherwise, lunch is on me.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Soon Doo Boo Jjigae (Tofu Seafood Stew) at Ambrosia (45th btw. 5+6th), Mountain Vegetable Udon at Yagura (41st btw. Mad+5th). And I’m still eating my supervisor’s hard-boiled eggs.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Dishes (45th btw. Mad+5th), which I don’t understand, because everything there is wet. I probably eat at FreeFoods (45th btw. 5+6th) way too often because it’s right outside the door and I dig the lobster soup.

Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Zaiya and its neighbors were an epiphany for me, but I can only eat sushi alone at my desk for so long. Can Midtown Lunch provide friends to eat with? Just kidding.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Cote de Beaune (Burgundy), France. I know it’s a little pretentious, but if it means snails and pinot noir for lunch, so be it.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? I guess I have a few questions. Let’s start with this: That Indian place on 45th between 5th and 6th. I go in about once a week looking for soup and they always tell me there’s no soup. Unbelievable. Why? Can you eat a 1kg burger? I think I can but nobody will take me up on the challenge. And finally, has anybody ever eaten at the Indian place on 44th bet. 5th and 6th? I think it’s called Jewel of India and it recently got shut down by the health department for being “uninspired.”

I’m guessing that the place on 45th you’re talking about is Sukhadia? For a guy who claims to not like Indian food, you kind of seem obsessed with the two places near your office. If you want the best Indian food in Manhattan, try the Khodiar Food Services steam table in the former newsstand on 6th Ave. btw. 37+38th. It’s vegetarian, but it’s the best I’ve had. And I have to say, I wish there were some good chicken feet in Midtown. As for the burger, how big is one kg? The largest burger I’ve eaten in Midtown is after the jump…  Read more »

That headline is cruel to anybody who has ever been to the real Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. I’m sorry… but I couldn’t help it. Clearly New Orleans’ Cafe du Monde is not opening up on 37th btw. 5+6th in Midtown. There is no mention of beignets on the sign, and the logo is terrible. I kind of have to wonder- are these people idiots? I know technically it just means “Cafe of the World”, and there is no fear of anybody confusing a generic Midtown deli with one of the greatest coffee shops/fried-dough-covered-in-powdered-sugar makers in the world. But is this legal?

Beignet lovers… I’ll make it up to you after the jump Read more »

The blog Hungry Travels points out the horribly amazing logo of the Oriental Noodle Shop on 45th btw. Lex+3rd.

I’m waiting for the P.C. police to come storming in and shut the place down. That’d be a shame, because if you ignore the mildly offensive logo and name, you can get tasty noodle dishes and noodle soups here at reasonable prices, especially for midtown (lunch will run about $7-$10). I especially like the thick, almost chewy texture of their pan fried noodles.

After last weeks (still going in the comments) debate about the Trini Paki Boys Cart (on 43rd & 6th) I shudder to think of what people are going to say about this.

There will probably never be consensus on the best chicken parm sub in Midtown, but the search will continue on. I had a enjoyable one at Tuscany Catering (on 55th btw. 5+6th), but was surprisingly disappointed by Little Italy Pizza (on 46th btw. 5+6th) and Park Italian across the street. The best I’ve had so far is probably at Labeleca on 40th btw. 7+8th (and their sister location La Bellezza on 49th btw. Lex+3rd.) In order to keep up with lunchtime demand, none of these places fries their chicken cutlets to order- and while they’re all fine, none will end the search.

So on Friday after I walked by the still plywooded Washoku Cafe (the new Cafe Zaiya’ish Japanese place that is opening soon on 37th btw. Mad+5th), I decided against my better judgement to check out Mondello’s, a standard take out pizza and subs place right next door. I say “against my better judgement” because I pride myself on my strange sense for good Midtown Lunch’ish food. There is a vibe a place gives off that lets you know it’s going to be good, and this place didn’t have it.  But there were alot of people in there, and sometimes you just feel like a chicken parm.   Read more »

Last week a lunch’er sent word that a Kati Roll cart had popped up on the NE corner of 45th and 2nd Ave. It has since disappeared and there has been no further word.  At first I thought it may be the Biriyani/Chapati Roll Cart (on 46th btw. 6+7th), which has plans to roll out their second cart on the East side in the next few weeks. But a quick check revealed that it’s not them… this is a another deal altogether. Last june a mysterious Kati Roll cart popped up on 46th btw. 6+7th (next to the Chapati Roll cart) but quickly disappeared as well.  I wonder if it has returned? 

Have you seen this cart? Email any info to zach@midtownlunch.com