Midtown Lunch

• Sakae Sushi (43rd btw. Lex+3rd), the conveyor belt sushi place from Singapore that was hoping to be open by the end of the year- looks nowhere close to being open (as you can tell from the photo taken above on Monday).  I’m still super excited…

• Zen Burger (Lex btw. 44+45th) is saying they will open on January 3rd.

• I walked by a closed Blue Pig Ice Cream on Monday (43rd btw. Lex+3rd).  Not sure if they are closed for good, or just for the winter- but the ConEd bill for $950 sitting on the floor just inside the door isn’t a good sign.  *UPDATE* Blue Pig is back open.

Sohpie’s Cuban News, another Hing Won/Hop Won spinoff, and 2nd Ave. Deli stuff, after the jump… Read more »

When it comes to take out, cheap chinese food there is no question in my mind that Hing Won is the king of Midtown.  On 48th btw. 5+6th, the quickness that they serve up authentic, Chinatown style dishes to hordes of Midtown Lunchers is mind boggling.  It can be pretty intimidating for the uninitiated, so they even have a steam table on the left side of the counter, for those addicted to sesame chicken (and afraid of ordering off a menu that is half in Chinese).

Walking around on the East side on Monday, I discovered something exciting.  On 45th btw. Lex+3rd, there is a Hing Won East.  It’s called Hop Won, and by looking at the takeout menu- you would never be able to tell the difference between the two places.  The even have the double sided ordering counter.  Right side is the steam table, left side is the real stuff!  With Menchanko Tei and Maharaja right next door, this is becoming a pretty formidable block.

My (not surprising to anybody who has eaten at Hing Won with me) lunch, 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 Lindsay, a legal assistant, who has terrible cholesterol, but takes pictures of himself eating bacon.  Ahhh, the perfect Midtown Lunch’er.

Name: Lindsay

Age: 25

Occupation: Legal Assistant

Where in Midtown do you Work?:50th & 8th

Favorite Kind of Food: I suppose Japanese or crazy fusion foods with unusual flavors (for a mind blowing and unusual set of bodega sandwiches, for example, try Sunny & Annie’s on Ave B and 5th), but I’ll eat pretty much anything. I recently found out that my mother blessed me with terrible cholesterol and high blood pressure and that I should avoid foods that exacerbate those things. After some agonizing, I realized that those foods now taste better because it’s a transgressive act. For example, last night I had a burger at BRGR, and it was pretty darn delicious because of the guilt alone. Thanks, Mom.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: South African — honestly most of the meat there tastes like paper (as does the beef at Better Burger). I’m not too huge on English food either, but I think that’s sort of its perverse selling point. Also any menu written in papyrus font immediately turns me off to its food.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The burekas, or the fava beans with hummus at Gazala’s Place (9th Ave. btw. 48+49th); most anything at Pam Real Thai (their Thai iced teas/coffees are also very reasonably priced) (49th & 9th); I’ve got an irrational soft spot for Island Burger (but eat in, don’t order: the burgers soak through the buns otherwise)(9th Ave. btw. 51+52nd). Also it’s hard to beat a lot of the street meat carts in the 49th/6th area; that stuff is just absurdly tasty. And I adore Bouchon’s ‘wiches, particularly the roast beef (Time Warner Center, Columbus Circle).

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Our own cafeteria, sadly; it’s subsidized heavily so it’s easy to be lazy and stay in. I also eat at Chipotle far too often for all the obvious reasons (sorry ML).  (Dude… if I were you, I’d be at Piece of Chicken (45th btw. 8+9th) every single day!  The day I took the photos for the place, I think I was sitting in the courtyard outside your building.  -zach)

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: Kati Roll and the Daisy May’s BBQ cart; Margon; pretty much any Mexican restaurant I’ve ever eaten at.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? I don’t know any place that matches Manhattan for its convenience and variety, so I’m going to have to say right here. More specifically the Lower East Side, although areas of Brooklyn and Queens have pretty strong arguments going for them, too.

Anything you’d like to ask the midtown lunch readers???: I’m still looking for a great Malaysian place…

A great Malaysian place in Midtown, or in general?  Because in Midtown, you are pretty out of luck.  Did a search for Malaysian on Menupages and nothing comes up anywhere in Midtown.  It looks like the closest you are going to get is Penang on 72nd btw. Columbus+Amsterdam.  They have an $8 lunch special, and they do deliver- down to 53rd St. (westside only).  So close, yet so far.  

Penang’s very popular Mango Chicken, after the jump…  Read more »

And so the quest to find the best chicken parm sub in Midtown rambles on.  First, there was Tuscany Catering, the little hidden catering place/take out counter on 55th btw. 5+6th.  I was down with it, but my boss (the resident chicken parm expert) wasn‘t impressed- and a few commenters noted that it was just average.  The train moved on to 45th St., where we hit up Little Italy Pizza.  The bread was good, but the chicken was not up to par, unlike across the street at Park Italian- where the chicken is good, but the bread was weak the day we were there (apparently, their 1st string bread is much better than their 2nd string bread, and maybe we got the back up bread?).

Commenter Margot mentioned La Bellezza on 49th btw. Lex+3rd, and since then, I have gotten a few more recommendations over email.  Then, two weeks ago, Profiled Midtown Lunch’er “David” mentioned the Chicken Parm from a La Bellezza on 40th & 7th.  Same place?  Different place?  What is going on here?  I set out to discover some answers… and by that, I mean I used this as an excuse to eat Chicken Parm subs for lunch in one week.

What I discovered, and some chicken parm sub porn- after the jump… Read more »

_{A 2nd Blimpie w/ Spanish Food! (35th btw. 7+8th)
Posted by Joshwand to the ML Flickr Photo Group}

• Get a sneak peak at the 2nd Ave. Deli (Opening on Monday the 17th) [Gothamist]
• ‘wichcraft to start serving beer in certain locations.  No mention of the tourist filled Rock Center outpost, the one location where a lunchtime beer might be the only thing that would make lunch there bearable. [NY Mag]
• Profiled Midtown Lunch’er Lawrence (aka Superman) has a terrible sandwich at The Backstage Deli on 49th [NYCFoodGuy]
• Popular Midtown b’fast spot Norma’s in the Parker Meridien has unveiled a new menu [Eater]
• Buy a $100 gift certificate to Dos Caminos (for someone at work maybe?), and get $25 towards lunch for yourself [BR Guest]
• A list of fancy dining deals in Midtown.  There’s nothing along the lines of the  $10 Del Frisco’s steak tips, but some good suggestions in the $25 prix fixe range. [Food & Wine]
• Tintol, the tapas bar on 46th, is now the Clubhouse Cafe [Eater]
• Mike Huckabee won’t eat at TGI Fridays, but will eat at Olive Garden.  Buddy!  They both suck…   Mike Huckabee’s first choice of food in NYC is TGI Fridays.  2nd Choice, Olive Garden.  Buddy!  They both suck… [2008Central]

If you thought the “Bovine Perfection” sign was slightly disturbing, you probably shouldn’t watch this video. Also not recommended for anybody about to eat a Hamburger for lunch. (Highly recommended for those who like animated cows and aliens)

Once again, I’d like to congratulate burger lovers working in the 40s.  You finally have a burger place to call your own.  If you haven’t been to any of the Goodburger locations, and want to read about the food- almost all of what I wrote in November of last year, about the location on Lex., still applies, the one notable exception being that now the combo costs $10.35 instead of $9.95, which means- technically for this to be Midtown Lunch, you will need to forgo fries or a drink.  It’s just not right.

The new location on 45th btw. 5+6th (which opened yesterday) is a lot larger than the location in Midtown East, and has an upstairs seating area. 

An actual goodburger, plus a sign worthy of being put on Suicide Food, after the jump… Read more »

No sleet is keeping me away from the new Goodburger loation on 45th btw. 5+6th, which is now certified officially open (Eater take notice…) No more trekking north to the 50s or east to 3rd Ave, the heart of Midtown Lunch’ing finally has its very own overpriced burger place.=

Hidden gems are possibly my favorite part of Midtown Lunch’ing.  There are varying degrees of hidden of course.  The Burger Joint in the Parker Meridien is always referred to as a hidden gem, but who doesn’t know about that place?  Then there are the ones on 47th St. that you could have the street addresses for and still not find them (Taam Tov, Diamond Dairy and the Ecuadorian El Rincon del Sabor).  And of course, there’s the latin food in a Blimpie.

But El Sabroso is on a different level.  At least those other places are actual restaurants.  El Sabroso is just a counter, with a few stools.  A counter, inside a hallway, leading to the freight elevator of a building.  Yup.  My first lunch in a freight elevator hallway.  And while the menu is mostly standard Latin fare (pernil, pork chops, stewed and baked chicken, rice & beans), on Fridays they serve a few Peruvian specials- courtesy of the Peruvian lady who makes all the food.

What they’ve got, freight elevator food porn and a +/- after the jump… Read more »

The “Serious Sandwich” that I wrote about this week on Serious Eats happens to come from Midtown- “The Something Different” at Junior’s.  Yes it is rediculously expensive.  Yes, the place is a tourist trap.  No, I would never go there for a “Midtown Lunch”.  But damn, did it taste good.   Check it out…

Serious Sandwiches: Junior’s Latke Sandwich