Midtown Lunch

Jerk Chicken at the Jamaican Dutchy

Julia Moskin has a great Jamaican jerk feature in this mornings New York Times and guess who should pop up, but our good friends at the Jamaican Dutchy (on 51st & 7th Ave.)  She interviews owner Oneil Reid and calls his jerk chicken one of “the best truck lunches in the city.”  No argument here.

But the most interesting part to me is what the article had to say about jerk pork, and why Oneil doesn’t offer it at the Dutchy:

He said that he would like to make jerk pork sometimes, but that many of the other food vendors, and the taxi drivers who inch past his cart in Midtown traffic, are Muslim, and the pork smell bothers them.

That’s a bummer, although entirely commendable.

One of my favorite Out of Bounds lunches, Piece of Chicken (on 45th btw. 8+9th) was closed by the DOH yesterday for an “expired operating permit.”  This place opened last year in the kitchen of Caribbean restaurant Jezebel, selling $1 pieces of fried chicken out the back door.  Jezebel closed, and a wall was built, effectively turning P.O.C into its own little take out place.  Jezebel is now Five Napkin Burger, and Piece of Chicken is one of the best places to get cheap and quick soul food in Midtown West.  They will re-open in the middle of next week, and urge people to call and confirm.  212-582-5973.

Plus I walked by East Ocean, a little steam table Chinese place on 55th btw. Lex+3rd which has closed.  Someobody commented about this in the beginning of June, but I think subconciously I ignored it (hoping it wasn’t true.)  That upper corner of Midtown East really is a dead zone.

Got any news to report?  Send emails and photos to zach@midtownlunch.com

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. Today it’s Nina, a paralegal who loves Asian food and would like to meet each and every one of you…

Name: Nina

Age: 26

Occupation: Paralegal

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 44th St. & 6th Ave.

Favorite Kind of Food: Anything Asian, especially kimchee. Really good bread. Essentially everything except cauliflower and raisins. Most things I like to eat also tend to make the office smelly. To me, it’s heavenly, but my coworkers don’t always agree.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: See above. Also, organs or things made with organs (liver, tripe, haggis, etc). I mean, in all fairness, I haven’t really tried them, but it’s the general disgust for the idea that keeps me away. Everything else is essentially a go.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Oms/b (on 45th btw. Lex+3rd), of course. Korean food at Ambrosia (on 45th btw. 5+6th) even with the price hike. Olympic Pita (on 38th btw. 5+6th).

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? People eat in the cafe upstairs in our office building. It’s cheap and pretty decent, but I keep telling myself that if I eat there, that means I don’t leave the building at all during the day, and that’s depressing.

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Olympic Pita (on 38th btw. 5+6th). Thank you, thank you, thank you! I do believe that Laffa is officially proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? I would like to work on East 11th between Aves. B and C, because my favorite place of all time, Kasadela, is located there.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? This isn’t really food-related, but I think it’d be fun to meet up with some of the Midtown Lunch readers for our hour-break from the grind. It’d be a good way to discover new places, eat good food, and take a break from coworkers, all while meeting new people. Just a thought.

Oh yeah?  This idea has been floated out there a few times, but nothing has ever come of it.  If you guys would like to start a meet up thread in the comments, I’m all for it.  Although if I were a betting man (and I am) I’m guessing it will just disintegrate into a bunch of dudes telling Nina they’d love to meet up with her anytime, at which point some of our “choice” commenters will step over the line of what is commonly accepted conversation, and that will be end of the meet up talk.  Either way, it should be a very productive/entertaining read…

As always, if you want to be the next Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er, or you’d like to nominate somebody in your office, email me at zach@midtownlunch.com

Fresh Bites (on 6th Ave. btw. 56+57th) was my friend Dan’s favorite Midtown Lunch… and now it’s gone.  I guess people don’t want “fresh tastes at great prices.”  I ate there once (on his recommendation) and had a good lunch but nothing special.  It did have its fans though, and I’m sure it will be missed.  Oh wait… no it won’t.  There are a million other places like it still open in Midtown. Nevermind.

Say goodbye to June, but look back at all the good times we had.  A new movie gave Go Go Curry and Ying Du fans a heart attack, while I was busy discovering how I could create a salad nightmare at Chop’t (hint: get the po’boy and add general tso’s dressing.)  You guys seem to love Midtown Lunch’er “Janine”, even a tad bit more than the Ecuardorian lady on 46th who sells food out of a grocery cart.  Here’s the top ten posts of the month:

1. Kirsten Dunst & Ryan Gosling Close Down Go Go Curry & Ying Du
2. Chop’t is As Terrifying as You Would Think
3. PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Janine”
4. Secret Street Food of Midtown: Ecuadorian on 46th
5. Price Hikes: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
6. Famous Chicken Place Has a Damn Good Gyro Sandwich
7. Shocker: There is Something I Like at Crisp
8. Thursday is Hideki Matsui’s Birthday; Triple Free Coupon Day at Go Go Curry
9. Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er “Vanessa”
10. Olympic Pita Wins Me Over With Laffa & French Fries

The Top 5 Most Commented on posts, including one that set a new record- after the jump… Read more »

I think Margon (on 46th btw. 6+7th) does this every summer, but I’m not positive. Either way, if you’re in the mood for Cuban this week, you’ll have to make due with one of the other Latin places in Midtown.

By now, if you’re a regular reader of this site then you have pretty much figured out my rules for what qualifies as a true Midtown Lunch.  The most important rule is probably the one about the meal costing under $10, but I fully admit that sometimes this rule isn’t always clear.  Does that mean with tax it has to be under $10?  How about drinks?  Or chips? Or french fries?  What part of the meal must be $10?  For example alot of people will email me and suggest a sit down restaurant with an $8.95 or $9.95 lunch special.  Sure technically, that could be considered a Midtown Lunch- but I tend to shy away from those places, unless they are doing something that you can’t get anywhere else in Midtown.  After all, once you add tax and tip and everything- it ends up being over $10, and not necessarily a great value.

On the other hand, when the bar menu loophole was discovered at Del Frisco’s I immediately blogged about it.  $9.95 got you high quality steak tips and mashed potatoes at a sit down restaurant, where lunch normally costs $40.  If busting into a super fancy steakhouse, dressed like a schmuck, and eating the cheapest (but totally filling) thing on the menu isn’t the epitome of Midtown Lunch’ish behaviour, then I don’t know what is.  They raised the price two weeks later.  To some, it may still be worth it- but it’s no longer a Midtown Lunch.  In the end, sometimes the whole price thing just comes down to a gut feeling.

So a few weeks back, my gut and I headed over to Beacon, an upscale (read: expensive) American restaurant on 56th btw. 5+6th to check out their “Burger Bar”- which has an under $10 loophole of their own.   Read more »