Midtown Lunch

Margon (46th btw. 5+6th) didn’t let us down last night at the Village Voice’s Choice Eats event, representing with a nice selection, featuring roast chicken, fried chicken wings, and slices of their famous Cuban sandwiches.  But the real prize, was their seafood salad- both shrimp and the famous octopus version, which I think may have flown under the radar for most of the event. 

On a night where beef and pork made the biggest splash at the Puck Building, the seafood salad turned out to be one of my favorite things.  The not so small “tasting”, in all its glory, plus a round-up of some of my favorites, after the jump… Read more »

Gotta take it easy at lunch today so I’m in tip top shape for the Choice Eats Festival tonight at the Puck Bldg (advance tickets are sold out, but there will be limited $35 tickets at the door starting at 5:30pm- more details here).  So, I headed over to one of the few generic Midtown delis I can stomach (Cafe Duke on 51st btw. 6+7th) for some sushi (that’s about as light as it gets for me).  I could do without the california roll, but any place that gives me eel, spicy tuna and one other raw fish/avocado roll together in one sushi box is alright in my book (even if it’s $8.95, and the rolls are half the size of a normal sushi roll).

Of course, I can’t leave Cafe Duke without some of their delicious fake shrimp.  With $1.05 left in my budget, I can handle two “shrimps”… 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. Today it’s Rachel, an editor and writer who tries to be healthy, but obsesses about cupcakes (in blog form). 

 Name: Rachel

Age: 32

Occupation: Editor/Writer (and blogger, as one of the three ladies who run the site “Cupcakes Take the Cake“)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: I work above Madison Square Garden

Favorite Kind of Food: Mexican food, sushi (it’s a tie)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Pasta

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I feel like I’m being sacrilegious here, but I have to give a shoutout to the Macy’s salad bar downstairs from where I work. I try to eat pretty healthily (most of the time) and they have some great, fresh stuff in their salad bar. I also go to Charleston’s on 7th Avenue when I’m meeting anyone for lunch – I think it’s technically one block below the Midtown Lunch’ing boundaries, between 30th and 31st, but they have everything and with the hot meals you get a really big lunch.  There is a Korean place on 32nd between 6th and 7th, near 6th, on the south side of the street. I forget the name, but it’s open 24 hours and really yummy and pretty quick.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: The Pump — it’s on my way back to work from my gym, Crossfit NYC, and I love it because you can get anything on the menu and it’s cheap and healthy. And for any naysayers who think “no oil, no fried foods, no white flour, no sugar, etc.” means it tastes bland, that’s so not true. Plus they have fun names like “Big Arms” and “Lean and Mean.” And hot sauce. Mmm…hot sauce. Really, everything I’ve gotten there is delicious, and I go so often they know my name. I’m very much a creature of habit and really like having one place where I know what my favorites are and it’s cheap and easy and also healthy; I am not a health freak but after I work out it makes sense to me to eat something not drowned in oil. Plus I like vegetables but don’t always eat enough of them so most anything I get from the Pump has spinach or broccoli. (Four Locations in Midtown)

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: I’m still looking! I didn’t discover it via Midtown Lunch but I am a big fan of Kati Roll and plan to check out your Indian food suggestions.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Hmm…this is tough. I might have to say San Francisco for the abundance of good burritos. I could eat Mexican food every day (see above, creature of habit). If we’re sticking to New York, I’d have to say the Lower East Side for its proximity to sugar Sweet sunshine, my favorite cupcake bakery in New York, if not the world. Not that I’d eat just cupcakes for lunch, but I also happen to really like the kale at Earth Matters. Kale and cupcakes sounds healthy, right?

Since you co-author the site “Cupcake Takes the Cake”, I’ve got to ask the obligatory cupcake question, right?  Best in Midtown.  Go: Unfortunately, the pickings are few and far between around here — there’s Burgers and Cupcakes on 9th Ave. btw. 35+36th, which is great if you’re craving that combination of comfort food. There is also a place on 8th Avenue btw. 30+31st, Daiuto’s (http://www.newyorknewyorkcheesecake.com/home/) that makes massive, delicious chocolate cupcakes, the kind you need to split with someone but are so worth it.

Alright, before we talk about cupcakes we gotta mention your goto lunch… the infamous Pump.  My wife has been trying to convince me of Pump’s greatness for a long time.  I’m certainly not looking to beef up, and lord knows I don’t exercise- but the notion of eating french fries that are “good for you” is certainly intriguing.  Do they have those?  You know… the “air cooked” french fries that those places usually have?  If they do, I may check it out.

Sorry about that momentary lapse.  Back to the cupcakes!  I’m not a huge cupcake person, but I certainly don’t have anything against them.  Miniature cakes, topped with frosting.  How can that be bad?  What’s your favorite cupcake in Midtown?  Post it as a comment below…

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

My hatred of the generic Midtown deli is no secret to anybody who reads this blog, but what may surprise you is that it has nothing to do with the concept. The concept is actually pretty great. Variety. Cheapness. Speed. Convenience. Did I mention variety? Plus, it has the “by the lb. buffet”, which to me is like cocaine you buy off a dealer you don’t really know: satisfying on so many different levels, but more expensive than you expected, and lord knows what ends up in it before it reaches your hands.

What I can’t stand about generic delis is the mediocre food. It can be explained in this easy to understand math formula:

A massive amount of office workers in a small space + laziness = Tons of Generic Midtown Delis with crappy food.

The incentive to make good food is gone when your customer base is built in. Put that same generic deli in a location where people will actually have to drag their asses a few blocks- and these businesses would inevitably fail. The owners of Indus Valley, a Zagat Rated (23) Indian Restaurant on 100th & Broadway, have set out to change all that by taking over half of the City Market Cafe on 48th St. btw. 5+6th, and replacing all the generic Midtown deli items, with Indian food. Instead of roast beef and mac & cheese, you get Chicken Tikka Masala & Saag Paneer. The soup station has been replaced with a samosa and pakora center, and possibly the biggest improvement, boring deli sandwiches, swapped out for kati rolls & naan wraps. It’s the kind of ingenuity you love to see in the Midtown Lunch’ing landscape, giving rise to a hybrid that could only exist here. The Generic Midtown Indian Deli.

What they’ve got, and whether or not it’s better than Minar, Kati Roll, the Chapati Roll Cart and Utsav, after the jump… Read more »

According to the NY Times City Room Blog, the rising cost of flour is sending pizza prices soaring. The owner of Midtown Lunch fave La Bellezza is quoted as saying they haven’t raised prices yet, but may be forced to. But the real question is, does this spell the end of 99 Cent Fresh Pizza?

• The rising cost of flour sends pizza prices soaring. Midtown favorite La Bellezza says they may be next [City Room/NYT]
• Naples 45 is one of the 10 best pizzas in the Country! Who knew? [Forbes]
• Three delicious looking mousses from Cafe Zaiya [Meatloafing]
• For all of us who are office cafeteria-less, here’s another one to be jealous about [Grub St.]
• Midtown Kosher spot “The Vegetable Garden” on 41st is closed, and being integrated into Bagels Plus on 38th btw. 7+8th. [KosherNY via Eater]
• This generic Midtown deli is slightly better than other generic Midtown delis [NYC Food Guy]
• Top Chef Hung cooks his first meal in Midtown, is terrified of Rabbis… [TONY]
• … he also likes Pop Burger better than the burger at the Ritz Carlton [Grub St.]

So, about three weeks ago I took Benji Lanyado, a Travel writer for the Guardian UK, to El Sabroso, the latin lunch counter hidden inside a freight elevator hallway on 37th St. btw. 7+8th.  He told me he was interested in writing about Midtown Lunch for his “Meet the Bloggers” series, and wanted to check out one of my favorite places to eat.  Unbeknownst to me, it was a blogger competition- and El Sabroso won!!!  He gave it a 9/10, calling it “what foodie blog content is all about – really good food with a cultural angle, off the beaten track, and with a quirky situational twist. ”

Amanda from Eater took him to the ultra hip (and what I would have picked as the hands down favorite) Fette Sau in Brooklyn & Josh from Grub St. took him to a generic NYC Deli near the NY Magazine offices- but in fairness to the other “competitors”, I didn’t know it was a competition- so they probably didn’t either.  But who cares!  Midtown never wins shit, so I’m taking it.

The dishes that won it for El Sabroso, after the jump… Read more »

A little over a month ago I started a new category of post called “You Decide”.  The thinking was, sometimes I find places where the menu is just too long to try everything, and rather then give an incomplete write up (negative or positive), I would turn it over to you, the Midtown Luncher’s.  First to the chopping block party was Good Portions, an everything but the kitchen sink, Asian take out place on Lexington btw. 39+40th.  I had a pretty mediocre pad thai and order of pork buns, but with all of the great Asian food on their menu I assumed that there had to be something edible.

Well, clearly I was wrong.  After 20+ comments nobody had anything positive to say about Good Portions– and my “You Decide” experiment was a total failure.  My intention was to take one of the recommendations, try the dish, and report back to everyone.  But with nothing to recommend, there was nothing for me to try.  So much for that.  But then something unexpected happened.  Last Tuesday, as part of Jennifer Lee’s profile, I asked lunchers to comment with their favorite Chinese food dishes in Midtown- and this was posted by “Cait”:

Tie between the roast pork lo mein and pork buns at Chinese Noodle House (down the street from Manchenko-tei) and Scallop Wonderland w/brown rice at GoodPortions on Lex between 39th and 40th. The sweetness and crunchiness of the scallions goes perfectly with the soft scallops and the chewy brown rice, and the sauce is to die for.

Now wait a second.  That’s not a “this dish is pretty good”, that’s a “This is my favorite Chinese food dish in Midtown” comment.  So yesterday, I trekked over to Good Portions to eat scallops, for only $7, at a take out place loathed by most of the Midtown Lunch’ing community.  Another example of me sacrificing my body for the good of this site, after the jump… Read more »

1:06 pm, and the waiting area at the front of Szechuan Gourmet (39th btw. 5+6th) is a mob scene.  The wait for a two top: 15-20 minutes.  This is Midtown people?!?!  During lunchtime on a Wednesday?  I think it might be time to move Szechuan Gourmet from “One of the best Chinese food restaurants in Midtown” to “One of the best Chinese food restaurants period”.   Right?

“Cupcakes from Cucina” posted to the ML Flickr Photo Group by NYCBlondieandBrownie

• Restaurant Girl Says FreeFoodsNYC feels like a “Vermont country store”, and says most of the dishes she sampled were 100% organic [Restaurant Girl]
• P. Diddy Eats at the Ray’s Pizza on 8th Ave. & 52nd St. [Gawker]
• New Italian Restaurant Bistro Milano quietly opens across from Menchanko Tei on 55th [Citysearch]
• A list of good wine bars in Midtown West [NY Times]
• The “Sick” “Well Again” “Sick Again” Treats Truck is “Well Again” and will be at 45th & 6th Ave. today from Noon to 5pm [Treats Truck]
• Here’s a pretty awesome looking long lunch at Mia Dona [Wandering Eater]
• If you don’t mind stepping foot into the Brooklyn Diner, and paying $16 (!!!), their Bacon Cheeseburger is the best? [NYC Food Guy]
• Two Midtown Burger Kings are Forced to Close for Not Adhering to the Value Menu [NYDN]

I’m pretty excited for this week’s Profiled Midtown Lunch’er. A personal hero of mine, Robert Sietsema is not just a food writer for the Village Voice, his “Counter Culture” column is a champion of the type of eats we struggle to find every day here in Midtown for lunch. He’s also the curator of the Village Voice’s Choice Eats, a huge restaurant tasting event happening a week from tonight (March 11th) at the Puck Building featuring food from 35 places from all over New York City, hand picked by Robert himself (including our very own Margon). Advance tickets are all sold out, but they will be selling a limited number of $35 tickets at the door starting at 5:30pm on Tuesday (March 11th). Plus, I have a pair a tickets to give away to one lucky Midtown Lunch’er, after Robert gives his picks for lunching in Midtown…

Name: Robert Sietsema

Occupation: Food Snob

Where do you Work?: The Village Voice

Favorite Kind of Food:West African (especially lamb mafe! which has a peanut sauce), Mexican (regional cooking from Oaxaca and Guerrero), Italian (Umbrian, Tuscan, and Calabrian), and Italian-American (yay, meat ball hero!)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Venezuelan, way too bland and boring, too much mayo!

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Margon(46th btw. 6+7th) for their pernil and chicken fricassee. Katsuhama (47th btw. Mad+5th) for their splendid pork cutlets incorporated into katsudon. And Sapporo(49th btw. 6+7th), especially for their cold noodle dish in the hot summer months.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Ressie Mae’s on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th. (May she rest in peace -zach)

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Port of Spain, Trinidad — rotis & doubles!

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? Where is the best meat ball parmesan hero in midtown?

My favorite Meatball Sub, plus how you can win tix to Choice Eats, after the jump… Read more »