Midtown Lunch

_{Photo taken from “Norse New York” Published in the April 2007 Issue of Saveur}

Eating in Translation has got the scoop on what looks like the place to be in Midtown Lunch’ing today!  It’s a little out of bounds (52nd btw. 1+2nd), but when you’re talking Norwegian food, made and served by Scandinavian church ladies… I’m there.

The Norwegian Seamen’s Church is having their annual Christmas Fair this weekend, and it starts today at Noon- which means if you work on the East side of Midtown, and were hoping to find a Christmas Fair with Norwegian food to spend your lunch hour at today, your wish has come true.  The official website makes claims of a “Cafeteria w/Smorgasbord” (and who doesn’t love a smorgasbord???)  Not exactly sure what food they’re going to have, but I’m guessing pickled herring will be making an appearance.

If this fair is any good (which, how could it not be?), I may have to check out their famous $17 all you can eat Norwegian buffet, offered every Wednesday at the Church from September through May. 

There are actually three Scandinavian Church fairs this weekend, and if you can’t make it to the Seaman’s Church today, Eating in Translation is doing a Scandinavian Church Fair Crawl tomorrow starting at Noon.

Norwegian Seaman’s Church, 317 East 52nd St, (btw. 1+2nd Ave.)

A few weeks ago I was in the Bay Area and had the greatest torta of all time at this little place called La Casita Chilanga in Redwood City.  What I wouldn’t give to have this lunch available in Midtown.  I’ve had the torta at Pampano Taqueria, but it doesn’t compare to this.   

I had “La Cubana” torta, and wrote about it on Serious Eats.  You can read about it here: http://www.seriouseats.com/eating_out/2007/11/serious-sandwiches-la-cubana-torta-from-la-ca.html

And if you have any NYC torta suggestions, please post them below.  (Seriously, please.)

53rd St. & 6th Ave is the Chicken & Rice Capital of New York City.  There will never be consensus over who makes the best, but there is no question about who is the most popular.  If you’ve passed 53rd St. & 6th Ave. after 8pm on any give night, then you’ve seen the line.  It forms from the time the cart opens, and doesn’t die down until the cart leaves at 4 in the morning.  Late night club goers, bridge and tunnelers, and cab drivers as far as the eye can see- sometimes stretching as far down as 7th Ave.

A lot of people see this line, and wonder “How could this chicken and rice be so good?”  Not me.  If somebody gets killed just for cutting in line, then I don’t question how good the food is at the front of the line.  I just wonder, where can I get Chicken & Rice worth killing for, in Midtown, during lunchtime!?!   The answer led me back to 53rd St. & 6th Ave., but not necessarily the corner you may think.

The definitive answers to all your chicken and rice questions, after the jump… Read more »

A few weeks ago I put out an APB for a Tibetan Cart that had popped up one day on 50th St. btw. 6+7th, only to disappear the next day. Thanks to the ML commenting faithful, the “Shangrila Express” was discovered in Jackson Heights, and since then has been mentioned in the NY Times and yesterday was given the full write up by Gothamist– but with no mention of why it was in Midtown that one day, or whether or not it would ever return.

Well, thanks to Joe at Gothamist, I got in touch with Dorjee from the Shangrila Express last night, and he confirmed that while the cart intends to be in Jackson Heights every night for dinner, it will soon be spending lunchtime in Midtown! They are still searching for the best spot, and plan on settling somewhere within the next two weeks.  They’re hoping to set up on Park Ave, but haven’t ruled out 5th Ave or Broadway. As soon as they set up shop, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, let Joe’s photos of momos and “Tibetan Beef Patties” get you pumped…

Apparently Yolato, and their PR dept’s definition of “Free Yolato” is something entirely different than my definition. Free Yolato means that you are not charging money for Yolato… And yet today, I arrived at Yolato to find the cash registers up and running, and a Midtown Lunch reader being charged $4 for her order. I guess Free Yolato to them means tiny cups of plain Yolato, being handed out on the sidewalk in front of the store. I can get a free sample of Yolato at any location in the city, just by walking in and asking for it. How is this a “Grand Opening Celebration”???

When free food is your favorite thing in the universe, being denied a full serving of promised free food after walking 15 minutes expecting free food makes Zach a very unhappy fat man.

The Midtown Lunch boycott of Yolato has officially begun. I demand satsifaction!

Related:
Wednesday is Free Yolato Day in Midtown

Ever since the news hit that the Malaysian chain Sakae was bringing conveyor belt sushi to Midtown, I’ve been in the mood for raw fish.  A few weeks ago, I wrote about Kikku, a sit down place on 55th btw. 5+6th that is considered one of the best cheap sushi options in Midtown, and of course there was my trip to Mitsuwa in New Jersey this past weekend.  But the quest for good, but cheap sushi in Midtown continues. 

Logic (and basic economics) tells me that it’s impossible to find good and fresh raw fish, in a 100% takeout setting- that doesn’t cost over $10.  But I refuse to give up.  Kikku and Taki have established themselves as decent and cheap sit down sushi meals, but I want sushi you can grab and go.  Right now that kind of lunch is dominated by Midtown Delis, the last place I want to be eating raw fish from.  Enter Naruto Sushi, a brand new exclusively take out place on 49th btw. Madison and 5th that is hoping to be the solution to my cheap sushi problem.

Why it is, and why it isn’t as part of a gigantic +/- with photos, after the jump… Read more »

No more delays… the Yolato on Park Ave. (btw. 41+42nd), that we’ve been waiting for since July,  is finally opening;  and to celebrate, they are giving away free Yolato all day long (11am to 11pm)!  And while it’s not a Lenny’s/Yolato combo outlet (as one site incorrectly reported yesterday), it will be the biggest Yolato yet (possibly until the one inside the Empire State Building opens in December???).

As for the Lenny’s/Yolato merger that just happened, the first Lenny’s to start serving Yolato will be the one on 9th St. & 6th Ave.  There are no announced plans for the Midtown Lenny’s locations– but once it all gets worked out, there will in fact be Yolato available at all Lenny’s big enough to accomodate it.  Until then, enjoy the new Yolato location outside of Grand Central!  (Did I mention it’s opening tomorrow, and there’s free Yolato all day long?)  God I love free food…

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 Dan, an Economist with a life changing sandwich recommendation…

Name: Dan

Age: 31

Occupation: Economist

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Midtown East

Favorite Kind of Food: Eggplant pizza

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Alfalfa sprouts

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Fresh Bites on 57th and 6th. The #12 sandwich is a life-changer (I think it’s called Tijuana Chicken). The lemon poppy pound cake is also incredible and I don’t usually even eat dessert. On the east side, the soba noodle salad at Nippon (52nd btw. 3+Lex.),  and whitefish on an onion bagel at Ess a Bagel (3rd btw. 49+50th).

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Pampano Taqueria (3rd & 50th) and Simply Food (48th and 3rd). The last one is one of those jack of all trades places but they do some pretty incredible stuff. They regularly have a roast pork line on their hot buffet, which they can turn into a mean pork on focaccia sandwich.

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: The 47th St. Japanese Convenience Store & Deli on 47th btw. Lex+3rd.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? The East Village. Because that way I could have Prune’s lamb-burgers, Bereket, and Katz’s every day for lunch. Not to mention $5 lunch specials from Mingala Village.

Your roast pork on focaccia sandwich intrigues me, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.  I’ve walked by that place so many times, but it scares me with it’s lime green sign- and general Midtown Deli’ishness.   Can anybody else vouch for the hot food line at Simply Food?  Feel free to post a comment below.

And as always, if you want to be the next Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er, email me at zach@midtownlunch.com

This may surprise you, but over the weekend I don’t eat lunch in Midtown.  (Why would anybody???)  I do however feel the same hunger on Saturdays and Sundays that I feel during the week, and my tastes don’t change either (fat man likey good food).  So, I’ve decided to share a few of my weekend lunches that would fit the very high Midtown Lunch’ing standards (namely- cheap, fresh, authentic and delicious!) 

If you had two hours for lunch, and worked in Port Authority, you might be able to make it to Mitsuwa Marketplace for lunch during the week (the shuttle is 30 minutes each way), but unfortunately for most, it will have to be relegated to weekend lunch’ing.  If you are not familiar with it, Mitsuwa is a giant Japanese Grocery store in Edgewater, NJ, with a built in food court serving up ramen, katsu, sushi and all other things Japanese.

We trekked out there on Saturday and had a bowl of Udon from the food court, but the real treat was the Giant Bluefin Tuna Cut Performance that happens once a year.

Photos of the giant fish that was filleted right in front me, minutes before I enjoyed eating it… after the jump-

Read more »

The walkway beneath Rockefeller Center is quickly becoming a minefield
for fat people trying to be good. Making it past the smell of the newly
opened Cinnabon is not the only thing you’ll have to contend with now
that Mrs Fields cookies is occupying what used to be the salad bar of
the Liberty Deli. Sure it’s a chain, and we have the Treats Truck- but
there is a soft spot in my heart for a bag of their warm mini chocolate
chip cookies. (They’re all small, so they must be better for you than
full size cookies!)

Sweet Jesus, why must there be temptations everywhere I go?