Midtown Lunch

 

No rain is keeping me from the grand opening of Mandler’s on 8th ave. btw 38+39th. On Monday they got the thumbs up from ConEd and the DOH, so today at Noon the first sausage was served. (I had to settle for the second one, a bockworst with onions and mushrooms- but I did get the first order of Zucchini fries! And yes, I am insane.)

It is as promised. Every kind of sausage you can imagine, 8 different dipping sauces to choose from, zucchini fries and corn fritters! Check out the menu at http://www.mandlers.com – a gameplan is definitely required…

Most people like to go to fancy lunches for their birthday. Me? I wanted buffet by the lb. so I loaded up at Cafe Duke (51st btw. 6+7th) with no guilt about the price (it ended up being $9.79 before tax). Fake shrimp, noodles, 5 dumplings. Screw the rules– today’s my birthday!

Every Tuesday I turn the site over to a Midtown Lunch’er for their recommendations of places to eat Lunch in Midtown. Today it’s Eli, a stooge who loves Italian, but hates Italian American…

Name: Eli

Age: 27

Occupation: Bond Company Stooge

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 51st & 6th

Favorite Kind of Food: Sandwiches, raw fish, raw beef, dumplings, french fries, hot sauce, cheese, anything Italian.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Italian-American, Indian, and anything that was prepared by someone who is over-ambitious and under-conscientious.

Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Dan Dan Noodle at Hing Won on 48th btwn 5+6th; Hakata Ramen at Menchanko-Tei on 55th St; Chicken and spicy rice from King Tut cart on 6th and 50th; Burger and a bag of fries at the Burger Joint.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Used to be Citarella To Go. What a reliable place that was. Now I guess it’s Chipotle (guilty pleasure). Here’s the thing about Chipotle: if you choose to spend your $9.83 for lunch there, are you sending a message to the McDonalds Corporation that there’s a strong consumer base that demands naturally raised, antibiotic-free foods?  Or are you just perpetuating the McDonald’s status quo of destroying rain forests, farming and slaughtering animals inhumanely, and making poor people fat?

Place you discovered thanks to MidtownLunch: The roast pork at Cafe Cello. I think I have an actual piece of crispy pork skin lodged in my aorta, but it was worth it.

Dream job location for lunch purposes only, and why?: Parma, Italy. The fish market in Tokyo. Anywhere lunch is called “siesta”, includes a nap, and everyone goes home for three hours.

Anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers?: Does anyone know of a Mongolian grill around here?  There used to be a place that was similar to Cafe Duke, in that it had everything, hot and cold salad bars, etc…I think it was even on the same block that Duke is now on…. they had a serve-yourself bar, with thinly sliced raw pork, beef, chicken, lamb, or shrimp, lots of vegetables, different kinds of noodles & rice.  Then you went over and chose all these different sauces, chopped garlic, ginger, different kinds of pepper sauces, fermented black beans, etc etc.  You gave them to the dude at the grill and he had these two gigantic chopstick-like things that he used to stir-fry your food. That place closed down a few years ago, and I haven’t found anything similar since. Any ideas?

Where to start.  I’m pretty sure the only message you send when eating at Chipotle is that you are willing to settle for crappy burritos!  I do however agree with you about the Burger Joint.  In fact, I ate there yesterday.  Burger Joint porn, my Chipotle Challenge, and your chance to recommend a Mongolian BBQ place to Eli, after the jump… Read more »

For practicing Jews, tonight at sundown is the start of Passover- the holiday that celebrates the time when the Jews escaped from slavery, and left Egypt so quickly that they didn’t allow for their bread to rise.   Little did they know, thousands of years later, tons of their relatives would have to commemorate this time by throwing away perfectly good bread, and eating crappy crackers for a week and half.

The part of the tradition I don’t understand is this…  The story doesn’t say the Jews were in such a rush they didn’t put yeast in their bread.  The way I understood it, they were in such a rush that they grabbed the already made bread, not allowing it time to rise.  So why can’t we eat bread with yeast in it, that just doesn’t rise that much.  Like delicious flat breads???  It’s because of this that I don’t celebrate Passover.  That, and I am a terrible Jew.  Sure I made a brisket for tonight, and my family is coming over to read the story, find some hidden Matzah, and drink a ton of wine… but after that I fully plan on eating bread the rest of the week.  I also wouldn’t want to disappoint the readers of Midtown Lunch with a week and a half of breadless posts.  That wouldn’t be right.  Yeah, that’s it.  I’m doing it for the blog…

But- in honor of the tradition, I’d like to present the Midtown Lunch guide to the best bread in Midtown.  For good Jews, use it to choose your final lunch before Passover.  It’s going to be the last bread you enjoy for awhile, so you might as well make it count.  For me, I figure if I am going to anger God, I might as well be eating good bread while I do it.

Kati Roll (46th btw. 5+6th).  They fry the paratha fresh on a giant skillet/frying pan right in front of your eyes.  Delicious!!!

The flat bread at Cosi (Multiple Locations).  I think this should be ok for Passover, since the bread doesn’t really rise that much!  But it’s not.  So even though they have salads, I would recommend that good Jews stay away from this place entirely during Passover.  The free bread bowl may be too much temptation for a good Jew to handle.

More bread porn, plus a list of Passover closings– after the jump… Read more »

 
Taco Cart on 50th St btw. 6+7th, A view from above.
Posted to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Group, Coutesy of Coco Guillotine

MIDTOWN LINKS

• Eat Sushi off a Naked Women’s body.  In Midtown.  [Urban Daddy]
• Most Disgusting Restaurant in NYC, as rated by the DOH.  In Midtown.  [NY Observer]
• Interview w/ Mary, the oldest counter girl at the Grand Central Oyster Bar [NY Mag]
• More about fried chicken in Koreatown [Project Me]
• More about new Italian/Japanese Natsumi [Restaurant Girl]

Next week…  a full write up of Sophie’s Cuban- plus the Midtown Lunch “guide” to lunch’ing during Passover!  Have a nice weekend…

“Has anybody seen Stephen Colbert’s Americone Dream anywhere in Midtown?” -Rob C. (on 49th btw. 6+7th)

Ah yes… the elusive new Ben & Jerry’s flavor.  Vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl.  Who wouldn’t like that???  (Liberty haters apparently)  Interesting you should ask this Rob… I just got an amazing tip.  Both Midtown Locations of Ben & Jerry’s just received Americone Dream shipments today!!! The Times Square Location (8th Ave. & 43rd) has about 12-15 as of 2:45pm (They got in about 25, but half of them were immediately purchased by The Colbert Report, which tapes in Midtown West).  The Ben & Jerry’s below Rockefeller Center has them in as well.  They only come in the pre-packaged pints though, so you may want to get a friend or two together to share!  I smell afternoon ice cream break… see you there!

Anybody else seen the flavor in Midtown?  Possibly in Midtown East?  Ben & Jerry’s website has a “flavor locator”, but none of the 2007 flavors are listed…

Got a question for Midtown Lunch?  Email me at zach@midtownlunch.com

What the hell is going on? Yesterday it was 70 degrees, now it’s 40. Only one thing for lunch on a day like this! Not too many options are better than the Hakata Ramen at Menchanko Tei. We’re at the one on 55th btw 5+6th, but there is also one on 45th btw. Lex+3rd.

It looks like Banh Mi has finally come to Midtown!!!  Well, sort of.  It’s on 2nd Ave., which is technically outside of the Midtown Lunch range but- come on!  It’s Banh Mi.  If you’ve never had Banh Mi, it’s a Vietnamese Sandwich made with some sort of meat (usually pork) and pate, topped with shredded carrots and cilantro, and served on a french bread type of roll.  They also make vegetarian versions that usually come with glass noodles.  Really delicious, and possibly worth the trip to 2nd Ave.  Here’s the early word on this place from tipster Dan:

“Just wanted to let you know about this new Vietnamese shop that just opened on the east side of 2nd Ave between 42nd and 43rd. They boast some pretty great Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches, with a bit of a twist. I ended up getting the banh mi ga, which had chicken and arugula rather than pork. They also allowed you to make your own sandwich, bowl, or burrito type meal, but i didn’t pay much attention to that because i went there for one reason.

The Banh Mi was good, and when i brought it back to my office people were asking about it because of how good it smelled. I just don’t know if it was $7.50 good. The staff still seemed to still be fairly new at it and the space is really empty– no tables or anything, despite the fact that there’s room for at least a few. hopefully they’ll get their act together.” 

$7.50!!!  Isn’t that just a bitch.  Leave it to Midtown to take something cheap and amazing (they are usually between $2 and $3 in Chinatown), and turn it into something “chic” and expensive.  I guess I can’t say I’m that surprised.  I’ll probably still check it out… while secretly praying that somebody opens a cheap Banh Mi cart in Midtown proper!  Here’s the menu.

Boi to Go, 800 2nd Ave (btw. 42nd & 43rd).  212-681-1122

A little over a month ago, this photo was posted to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Group by joshbousel:

For un-fat people not looking to stuff various foods with french fries, a picture like this might be hard to decipher.  I am not one of those people.  Thanks to Josh, I became aware of the very exciting information that Pick a Pita (on 38th btw. 7+8th) will stuff your falafel or shwarma sandwich with french fries.  Immediately this place went from “that shwarma place I heard was good and should probably try out” to “Pick a Pita.  The greatest place ever invented in the history of mankind”.

Apparently stuffing your shwarma sandwich or falafel in pita is commonplace in many countries in the Middle East… but for some reason I have not seen it done at any of the places in Midtown.  I’m sure there are places I have been to that will put french fries in your sandwich if you ask, but Pick a Pita doesn’t force you to figure this out for yourself.  They suggest it for you:

50 cents is a small price to pay for the greatest sandwich condiment of all time.  Sure, you can order french fries anywhere and put them on top yourself, but then people might think you are fat and disgusting.  Pay someone else to do it, and now it’s not your fault!  “Honey… it wasn’t MY idea.  They put them in the sandwich BEFORE they gave it to me!”  If that doesn’t work, I just go with the more accurate “I’d be crazy NOT to get the fries stuffed into the sandwich!”

More food porn, and the +/- after the jump… Read more »

Every Tuesday I turn the site over to a Midtown Lunch’er for their recommendations of places to eat Lunch in Midtown. Today it’s Nancy, a self described hater of “healthy” foods who not surprisingly, loves the street meat…

Name: Nancy

Age: 31

Occupation: Print Designer

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 52nd btw. Madison & 5th

Favorite Kind of Food: It’s a tie between anything Asian and pizza. Asian definitely includes ghetto wok Chinese like Yips. I’m Chinese and I think I’m not supposed to admit that, but I’m brave so it’s okay.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything “fresh”, “light”, or “healthy”, euphemistic terms used only to describe those under-dressed salads usually consumed on Mondays that trick my mind into thinking my body didn’t gorge on delicious fried or cheese-covered nastiness over the weekend.

Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I guess my guilty pleasure is Rafiqi’s, the halal lunch cart. My co-workers and I go to the one on Park and 52nd. It’s a gut bomb but totally worth it. Oh, but if one of us has a hangover, it’s Prime Burger all the way- with fries well done.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Digby’s (@ 52nd b/w 5+6th). After about an hour of tossing around possible lunch options, we typically resign ourselves to Digby’s. We end up walking out of there several times a week with our $9 lunches feeling like total Midtown chumps.

Place you discovered thanks to MidtownLunch: FIKA Swedish Bar. (Is it still around? Haven’t been in awhile). It’s pricey but good, especially if you’re looking to mix up your lunch routine a bit. I would recommend their coffee to those who spend time and good money in a Starbucks line. It is damn good.  I’m all about their Swedish meatball sandwich with beet salad and dill dressing. (Ed. Note:  It is definitely still there, Swedish Meatball sandwich and all.  I’ve actually been meaning to get back there too, and try their smoked salmon wrap.  Looks delicious!)

Dream job location for lunch purposes only, and why?: Chinatown/Soho, preferably directly across the street from Vietnam Banh Mi So #1 on Broome. Their Vietnamese sandwiches are an ingenious combination of textures and flavors. I could seriously eat a couple for each meal of the day, every day. I usually break into one of them while I’m walking through Soho and people have stopped me mid-bite to ask me where to get one. That’s how seductive they look. I’ve tried a lot of banh mi sandwiches around town and I love them all, but I stick with Bahn Mi So #1. Oh, banh mi.  I love you.

Anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers?: Does anyone know where to find decent falafel anywhere in Midtown? My co-workers were recently disappointed by Bread & Olive. The sad looks on their faces as they chewed their first bites was heartbreaking.

Yeah, I’ve heard a lot of Bread & Olive complaints lately… but I haven’t given up on it yet- although the falafel is my least favorite thing they serve.  There are so many great falafel places in Midtown, you shouldn’t have any trouble.  I’ll revisit my favorites, plus how you can be next week’s Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er, after the jump… Read more »