Midtown Lunch

The Midtown burger hits just keep on coming.  Friday morning you got your first look at the inside of Zen Burger.  Now, Grub St. has the first look at the three level Pop Burger opening at the end of the month on 58th btw. 5th+Madison.  Our only hope for a true “Midtown Lunch” will be the “first floor, open from 11 a.m. till 4 a.m. for takeout and dining” and “there will be delivery”. 

Reviews of the downtown Pop Burger are mixed.  According to Grub St., we’ll get our chance to weigh in the week of November 26th, but I can’t imagine it unseating Five Guys and Burger Joint, for lunchtime purposes anyway (both just a few blocks away).  However, it shoudn’t face any competition for the “I’m a typical Midtwon douchebag banker looking for a place to drink and eat burgers after work” crowd… (unless you count Hawaiian Tropic Zone).  I kid Pop Burger, I kid!

T-Minus zero minutes until lunchtime around Rockefeller Center becomes
unbearable.

_{On Wednesday, The Treats Truck was parked on 45th & 6th
it’s first day in Midtown north of 42nd St!} 

• The DOH finally posts the reasons why Yum Thai was closed.  Don’t click if you’d like to keep eating there [NYC Dept. of Health]
• On the weekend, Five Guys Burgers is a completely different place! [Scoboco]
• The turkey sandwich from City 75 is the real deal, but get there early or else [Plate of the Day]
• Is there a better lunch than Woorjip, followed by a visit to the Treats Truck?  [A Passion for Food]
• A few words with the guy from the Chapati Roll Cart [Meatloafing]
• A few Midtown choices pop up in a list of NYC’s best soups [AMNY]
• The Pranzo Pizza Truck appears side by side with Jiannetto’s on a list of NYC’s best food trucks?!?!  [Gridskipper]
• I had to eat a lot of interesting things on Wednesday night… check out the winner of the Brooklyn Kitchen’s “Bodega Challenge” [NY Daily News]

A deleted scene from Borat. To be enjoyed by Cinnabon lovers and haters alike…

Related: BREAKING NEWS: Rock Center Cinnabon Opening Today at 4pm

Amid rumors of financial problems (the Union Square Zen Palate closed two weeks ago), Zen Burger is scheduled to open the weekend of November 24th on Lexington btw. 45+46th.  Here’s a look at a mock up of the inside:

_{Courtesy of The Angel Group for Branding & Design}

It’s a lot more McDonalds’ish than I expected (down to the photos on the overhead menu, which don’t look like veggie burgers to me).

From the looks of a photo of the entire interior, leaving Zen Burger may require some sort of teleportation (achieving Nirvana perhaps?).  That photo, after the jump… Read more »

The unmistakeable smell has already begun to fill the tunnels beneath Rockefeller Center, as Cinnabon prepares to open for business at 4pm.  In honor of the “grand opening” they will be handing our free coffee (today only) but the guy inside would not confirm (or deny) the possibility of free samples of cinnamon bunly goodness.

The location is not actually in the concourse, but in that underground area between buildings, next to the Dunkin Donuts just outside the Subway turnstiles.  You shouldn’t have any trouble finding it… just follow the intoxicating smell.

Thanks to Lisa C. for the tip.  If you have any news, info or recommendations- email them to zach@midtownlunch.com

In Midtown there is no shortage of fancy Indian all you can eat Buffets.  I’d love to try them, but I can’t justify shelling out $13, $15 or $18 for all you can eat Indian food when there’s Sukhadia for $10.95 and my new favorite Spice Fusion for $9.95 available.  Sure, the quality of the food at some of these super expensive *may* be better (that is not totally confirmed), but it’s just not worth the extra money.

Utsav, a fancy Indian buffet on 47th btw. 6+7th, solves that problem with a little take out section in the bar area of their $17.95 all you can eat buffet.  For $7.95 or $9.95 you get a lunch size sampling of what the fat cats upstairs are shelling out $18 for- and it’s pretty damn good.

What you get, and a +/- after the jump… Read more »

When I was in Bali, I fell in love with a little thing called tempeh.  A cousin of tofu, tempeh is a “cake” made of whole soybeans that has been fermented.  Sounds delicious right?  Well in Bali, where they sliced it thin, fried it and then sauteed it in Indonesian sauces- it was! (Photo to the left posted to Flickr by rheanna2)  Now I don’t think I have to tell anyone who reads this site, that I am far from a vegetarian (unless somebody decides to classify roast pork as a vegetable)- but I can appreciate good vegetarian food, and when I saw that the Organic Harvest Cafe on 53rd btw. 2+3rd had an “Indonesian Wrap” made with tempeh, I decided it was worth the extra half an avenue walk outside of Midtown Lunch boundaries to check it out.

The Indonesian Wrap (PLUS a bonus Bulgogi Wrap at a little place called “Spoons”) after the jump… Read more »

The Fish Sandwich at Kim’s Aunt Kitchen Cart comes on a hero roll!
Posted to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Group by “The Flooz”

• The Treats Truck is (again!) hoping to park  parked on 45th & 6th today, in a space vacated by a hibernating Ice Cream Truck.  Check their website for updates… 
• At Sun Yip/Ho Yip on 45th btw. 5+6th, the price of the by the lb. buffet after 2:15 has gone from $3.75 to $3.99.  
• Serafina at the Time Hotel (49th btw. 7+8th) opens tomorrow
• The Goodburger on 45th btw. 5+6th is still a “few weeks away” from opening
• Sakae Sushi (with the conveyor belts) on 43rd btw. Lex+3rd isn’t even close to opening
• The Yolato near Grand Central is *supposed* to open on Tuesday the 13th.
• FreeFoodsNYC is starting to come into its own.  Saw a little bit of a lunch crowd in there yesterday
• If you live in Brooklyn (or are looking for an excuse to go there on a Wednesday night), tonight is the 1 Year Anniversary Party for The (Amazing) Brooklyn Kitchen (Williamsburg’s version of Williams Sonoma, on Lorimer).  It’s taking place at Union Pool, and there will be food, and music, and THE BODEGA CHALLENGE (which I will be participating in, in a judgemental role).  And the best part is, it’s free… so come check it out.

Poor Chipotle.  It’s not the only McBurrito on the block anymore…

Qdoba, the fast food burrito place owned by Jack in the Box, is planning on a December 1st opening for their a new 53rd St. & 3rd Ave location.  Anybody ever tried this place?  I know there is one on 34th btw. 2+3rd, but I haven’t been able to make it there yet.  I’m guessing it’s just going to make me miss Baja Fresh more than I already do, but the Chicken Mole Burrito looks mildly intriguing… thoughts?