Midtown Lunch

At the peak of the heat last week I reported that Pro Hot Korean (on 56th btw. 5+6th) was now serving naengmyeon, a cold summertime Korean noodle soup- welcome news for anybody who works in the northern part of Midtown and can’t trek to Koreatown for some refreshing cold noodles.  It turns out the version they serve is Bi Bim Naengmyeon, which isn’t a soup at all (like the Japanese hiyashi chuka) but a cold noodle salad mixed with red chile paste, zucchini and apples or asian pear.  Oftentimes it will come with a cold broth on the side and Pro Hot Korean gives you a cup of their “miso” soup, but it was hot so I’m guessing you’re not actually supposed to pour it over the noodles (unless maybe the hot broth gets cooled down by the cold noodles?  I’ll admit, I don’t really know.)

As with anything pre-packaged, and the PHK version of naengmyeon is made in advance, it wasn’t the best thing I had ever had- but it certainly was refreshing and fairly tasty.  They were also serving a kimchee dangmyeon, which is pretty much the same thing (at Pro Hot Korean anyway), but instead of the buckwheat noodles they use the standard Korean glass noodles.  For $2 less ($6.95 instead of $8.95) I think next time I may try the dangmyeon.  Despite using a different noodle, they both looked practically the same from the outside (although the naengmyeon comes with half of a hard boiled egg.)

The best deal is after the jump.   Read more »

It’s been a month since I posted the Price Hike list, and not surprisingly a lot more places have raised their prices… but a few haven’t.  Let’s start with some good news…

In a total shock, the 3 rolls for $10 takeout sushi deal is still available at Aoki on 48th btw. 7+8th.  I thought for sure when I wrote about this in April they would pull a Del Frisco’s but, in a delightful surprise, the best sushi deal in Midtown is still available.  Just remember, you have to take it to go.  It’s $11 for 3 rolls if you sit in the restaurant.  2+ months and counting…

Photograph by nycblondieandbrownie

Now the bad… plenty of places have raised their prices recently, but it’s always more upsetting when it happens at a Midtown Lunch standby.  All three Kwik Meal carts have tacked 50 cents on to most of their items.  The falafel on pita is already on the small side, and for $4.50 I’ll have to think twice about buying two (a standard Kwik Meal order.)

The ugly, after the jump… Read more »

Got a frantic email yesterday from a lunch’er lookin to confirm the news that Lost City reported about the Hallo Berlin Cart:

I heard the head vendor talk about how all the world wanted him and his food and he wouldn’t be at the corner forever. I didn’t completely get the gist of his meaning, but the general idea is that the cart was wanted elsewhere across the globe and he was going on a world tour. He would sell sausage in Beijing for the coming Olympics. From there he would go to Rio de Janiero for a spell. The upshot was we would be without the cart for a number of months, but he would eventually return.

It turns out the cart will indeed be gone for at least the first two weeks in July (and probably the second two weeks) as the two Babiel brothers make their annual trip home to Germany.  It’s hard to tell when they’re joking and when they’re being serious, but they also told me they’d be attending a sausage and beer convention.  Either way, the cart will be gone starting on June 30th, and will return the first week in August at the latest. 

As for the Olympics, which begin on August 8th, Rolf confirmed that they have been invited to Beijing to sling sausages- but there will be a replacement cart on 54th & 5th, so there won’t be any further interruption in service.  In the meantime you’ve got a little less than two weeks to load up at the cart, and then we’ll all have to make the trip over to the 9th Ave. Hallo Berlin Express (btw. 50+51st).

When Olympic Pita first came to Midtown in February of last year, I was pretty excited.  The Brooklyn location was pretty well known, and has a lot of fans (plus has been mentioned by at least 4 Profiled Midtown Lunch’ers)- but I couldn’t help but be put off by a few things.  First, the back is a sit down restaurant with most items on the menu costing over $10 (a Midtown Lunch no-no).  They had a take out counter in the front, where you could watch them bake beautiful looking fresh laffa bread, but all of those sandwiches (with the exception of the falafel) were over $10.  You could buy a cheaper sandwich on pita, but why would you want to eat something stuffed in pre-packaged pita, while there’s amazing looking laffa staring you in the face.

At the time, Kosher Deluxe’s shawarma on pita was (barely) under $10, so I was of the opinion that I didn’t need Olympic Pita.  Plus if they were going to charge that much for a sandwich, there were cheaper places to get good falafel and shawarma sandwiches, like Pick a Pita on 38th btw. 7+8th (and they’ll even put fries in your sandwich!)  Since then, Kosher Deluxe has raised their prices (a shawarma on laffa sandwich is now over $10) and so I finally caved in and tried the Olympic Pita falafel on laffa ($6.50), the only item on the menu worthy of a Midtown Lunch distinction… and all I can say is- wow.  What the hell took me so long! ?!  Read more »

There is an actual article in this morning’s NY Post about (and this is a direct quote) “the cutthroat world of the tossed-to-order salad, which has replaced the three-martini lunch as the [Midtown] office worker’s mealtime measure of status and self-worth.” It goes on to explain what your lunchtime salad choices (Chop’t vs. Cafe Duke; Pre Made vs. Pick Your Own) say about you as a worker/human being. I don’t know why they didn’t interview me- I could have pinpointed exactly what eating at these salad places says about the world we live in… it says that this anti-salad-website is doing god’s work. (Although I have to admit the “Po’Boy Salad” at Chop’t does sound intriguing.)

The rumors about the clothing store Strawberry on 49th St. btw. 6+7th closing have turned out to be true, as evidenced by their gigantic closing sale signs.  They will be moving to a new location on Broadway and 54th at the end of August, clearing the way for a “high end” “high profile” seafood restaurant, according to some of the talk going around the building.  This information was made all the more interesting by this, which was printed in the NY Sun today:

Oceana (on 54th St. btw Park+Mad), is moving closer to the heart of Midtown after its lease expires in July of next year. The new space, whose location has not yet been disclosed, will be larger, with 200 seats and room for private dining.

Interesting… that sounds about right. If Oceana does take over the space, then this really has nothing to do with Midtown Lunch, but there is still the business of the former Duane Reade space which is empty on the opposite side of the building. Mini-Sizzler anybody?

The newest member of the Treats Truck family made her debut in Midtown today when Kim Ima brought “Dot” out for a little test run on 38th & 5th Ave.  I love treats, but my inner cynic really wants to hate this whole naming of the trucks thing.  That being said, there is something strangely adorable about this new truck.  Old, rundown, chipped paint, smaller than the normal Treats Truck, and no fancy glass display case, there is a clear Herbie-the-Love-Bug-vibe coming from this vehicle.  It doesn’t hurt that it’s filled with cookies and brownies either.  Today was just a test run, and Kim is probably a ways off from having both trucks up and running at the same time- but “Dot” may enable her to park in Midotwn spots that Sugar can’t fit into… so there may be some immediate benefits.

A closer look, after the jump…  Read more »

Got word from a tipster that last Thursday a taco truck was parked on
the SW corner of 40th St. And 5th Ave. Showed up today and not
surprisingly, it’s nowhere to be found. In its place is a coffee and
breakfast truck that confirmed the existence of a mysterious taco truck
that popped up for one day. “I thought our truck was big, but this
thing was the biggest truck I’ve ever seen.” According to the tipster
it “looked like they had steak, chicken, al pastor, cecina, etc.” Plus
there was a counter to stand and eat your tacos at.

Are you kidding me? People we are at defcon 5. Nothing is important
until this giant taco truck is found. Sightings to report? Do it in
the comments, or email 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 Janine, a vegetarian/consultant/food blogger who strangely enough has been closely tracking the opening of Five Napkin Burger on 9th Ave. in Hell’s Kitchen.  I guess they serve veggie burgers?  Plus, she has a question at the end I’m sure you are all going to enjoy answering…

Name: Janine

Age: 22

Occupation: Consultant and food blogger (http://lifewithfoodanddrink.blogspot.com)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Times Square

Favorite Kind of Food: Cake in general, although chocolate cake with white frosting is my favorite. I also like cupcakes, the more convenient yet significantly less frosted cousin of the cake.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Well, I’m a vegetarian, so I guess I’m obliged to say meat, but that’s not really my “least favorite…” I’m not the biggest fan of eggs eaten straight up, although in other dishes I’m fine with them. Also, I really hate parsnips.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Now that I’ve discovered a Pain Quotidien near Bryant Park, that’s got to be my favorite lunch place in Midtown (although I haven’t been to that particular location yet.) I also like Free Foods NYC (45th btw. 5+6th), Starwich (38th btw. 5+6th), and Zest (B’way btw. 40+41st)… but I bring my lunch to work a lot also.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? Europa, Mangia (catering), Duke’s (41st & B’way). And the Kati Roll place (39th btw. 5+6th), for some reason.

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? The Macaron Cafe! One of my friends loves macarons, so I was happy to find an alternative to Maison au Chocolat (36th btw. B’way+7th).

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Boston, Massachusetts, because it has my favorite lunch places in the world: B.Good. The Boston office of my employer is actually two doors down from one of B.Good’s four locations, and yet perversely I chose to work in NYC… if I could have the B.Good New American salad with orange soy dressing and real fries every day of my life, I would be a very happy person.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? What is the best “pick-up” place in Midtown (restaurant, bar, club…)? I’m talking eligible, datable singles here (and preferably men.) Midtown Lunch readers, help a single girl out!

Oh boy… this is me slowly getting out of the way of this one.  Er… comments?

And 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