Midtown Lunch

Just got back from Thailand, and while I was gone had a few nice looking pics posted to the Midtown Lunch Flickr photo group… like this one of a Tostada Salad from Burritoville posted by Bloozorez:

There is a danger of good photographers making crappy food look delicious! 

I also saw this one of chicken over rice from Kwik Meal from bionicgirl: 

For those who didn’t know there are actually 3 Kwik Meal Locations in Midtown.  The one on 45th on 6th that I wrote about, and then there is one on 45th & 5th (which I believe is actually called Kwik Gourmet) and another one on 46th & Madison. 

If you have pictures of Midtown Lunch you’d like to share, we’d love to see them.  Post them to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Group or email them to zach@midtownlunch.com.

So, after 10 days of eating in Thailand, I can’t say I’m excited to be back to eating Midtown Lunches.  I thought our street food was good, but Thailand takes it to another level.  We probably had two “sit down” meals in 10 days.  Some of my favorite food pics from the trip- after the jump…

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Alright… it’s Friday- so it’s the last of our week long Profiled: Midtown Lunch’ers!  I’ll be back from Thailand on Monday… no doubt with some new opinions of Yum Thai.  Today’s Lunch’er is Sarah… our first (but probably not our last) Midtown Lawyer!!!

Name: Sarah

Age: 30

Occupation: Attorney

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Rockefeller Center

Favorite Kind of Food: Well, it’s hard to say- but whenever I feel like ordering in it’s always Sushi or Thai… so maybe- Asian food?

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Black Licorice.  Is that a food?  I also hate fast food… but that’s not totally true.  I like french fries, and Popeyes, and Ranch 1.  I guess I just hate McDonalds.

Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Depends who’s paying.  If I am, than Menchanko-Tei.  The Hakata ramen is my favorite.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: It’s definitely Cafe Duke.  I always get the salad bar (and load up on the free bread in the bowl!)

Place you discovered on MidtownLunch.com: Kati Roll and Sapporo

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Anywhere there is not a giant Christmas tree.  If I had to choose a specific place to work it would be Bali so I could eat at yummy food carts for lunch (but I don’t want to say that because than people will move there and ruin it)

What did you ask Santa to bring Midtown Lunch in 2007? Hidden lunch spots that tourists don’t know about (and you don’t have to walk by any tourists to get there)… preferably a cheap Vietnamese place.

That’s it for this week!  Thanks to all our Profiled: Midtown Lunch’ers for picking up the slack this week while I ate my way across Thailand.  To be a Profiled Lunch’er email me at zach@midtownlunch.com  Back on Monday!

I’m in Thailand until next Monday, so all week long I’m turning over MidtownLunch to the lunch’ers.  Every day this week you’ll get a new Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er with their recommendations for eating in Midtown.  PLUS as an added New Year’s Bonus, the profile will include their dreams for Midtown Lunch 2007!  Today’s Lunch’er is Helen… or as some blog & flickr junkies might know her as bloozorez.

Name: Helen

Age: 27

Occupation: Clinical Research Associate (and I write a blog http://bloorozez.blogspot.com/)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Right by Grand Central

Favorite Kind of Food: I hate this question!  How do you ask a foodie that?  Sushi, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, noodles, Salads drenched in dressing…

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I don’t have one.  If you’re talking condiments, it would have to be mayo.

Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Menchanko-Tei

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Cosi, Jiannetto’s Pizza Truck, Stella’s Deli, Old Bridge Deli, Hale & Hearty, Menchanko-Tei, Oms/b, Yuka, Cafe Zaiya, Sophie’s, Amish Market, Chipotle, Famous Chicken Place, Pita Girl, Mandoo Bar, Earl’s, K-Town, Burritoville…

Place you discovered on MidtownLunch.com: Hurry & Tasty Curry & Jiannetto’s Pizza Truck

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Further downtown… because there is more hole in the walls.

What did you ask Santa to bring Midtown Lunch in 2007? More Korean & Thai!  And preferably hole in the wall type places, but it’s Midtown- so I know that’s asking too much!

I agree on the whole Thai thing (especially since places like Yum Thai will probably be ruined for me by the food I’m eating right now in Thailand), but you’re 10 blocks away from Koreatown.  I feel no sympathy for you on the Korean tip.  (Mandoo bar was in your “goto” lunch places for god sake!)

I’m in Thailand until next Monday, so I’ve decided to turn over MidtownLunch to the lunch’ers. Every day this week you’ll get a new Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er with their recommendations for eating in Midtown and their dreams for Midtown Lunch 2007! Today’s Lunch’er is Tom… a born and raised New Yorker who is sick of people bashing the food in Midtown!

Name: Tom (although I think that might be an Alias)

Age: 23

Occupation: Finance

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 46th & 5th

Favorite Kind of Food: Bread.  Bagels, pumpernickel, toast, sourdough, pretzels, white, hot dog buns, potato, hearty Italian, wonder, baguette, pancakes and waffles.
 
Least Favorite Kind of Food: Mayonnaise

Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Utsav Indian Buffet on 46th btw. 6+7th.  It is more expensive ($15) than other Indian buffets, but well worth it.  They always have lamb korma, which is ground spicy lamb-kind of like sloppy joe’s, great naan, and TWO desserts! I love the carrot kulcha… it tastes like carrot cake.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Food World on 46th btw. 5th & Madison.  It is one of the everything under the sun places.  They do a good burrito, a nice salad bar, as well as the standard grill station.  The salad bar is $6.99, and you get 6 things (including 2 meats).  They also have many cheeses (blue and parmesan), spicy chicken, tuna, beats, eggs and much more with tasty dressings to compliment them.  I like the caesar.  The standout is the make your own Mongolian BBQ station, which is great.  They even have a flat screen TV out from so you can see all the food being made.  The big let down is the pasta bar.

Place you discovered on MidtownLunch.com: Margon.  Mmmmmm.  Cubanos/Dominicanos

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Here in New York City!  I’m tired of all these picks of the week bashing on this city.  I am a native New Yorker, born and raised.  This city has the most options of any city in the world, and they are all open late.  Try, just try to get Chinese food at 3am in D.C..  It is impossible and you will cry.  Here, no problem.  (Although I do wish I could get some good Texas Red Chili)

What did you ask Santa to bring Midtown Lunch in 2007? I asked Kwanza Karl to bring me a Gyro machine for the office and a half smoke from Ben’s Chili Bowl (Washington DC). Failing that, I would settle for a shorter line at Kati Roll and a real Scottish style Fish and Chips shop, where you can chase your scrod with a deep fried Mars Bar.

Anything else you’d like to ask our readers? Anybody know any good Ethiopian places?   Or picadillo, the Cuban style “Sloppy Joe’s” ground beef dish?  Or tamales?  I like the bodega on 14th & A, but it’s a shlep.

My recommendation for Ethiopian, and Texas Red Chili (which I’m sort of surprised Ed doesn’t know about)… after the jump.

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I’m in Thailand until Monday, so I’ve decided to turn over MidtownLunch to the lunch’ers. All week long, Profiled: Midtown Lunch’ers and their recommendations for eating in Midtown. PLUS as an added New Year’s bonus, the profile will include their dreams for Midtown Lunch 2007! (I posted mine the Friday before Christmas… unfortunately David Chang hasn’t gotten back to me yet). Today’s Lunch’er is Lisa… a very homesick Texan who may or may not have gained 10 pounds since starting to read Midtown Lunch!

Name: Lisa

Age: Old Enough

Occupation: Magazines (and the blogger behind http://homesicktexan.blogspot.com/)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 44th & 3rd

Favorite Kind of Food:  I’m an equal opportunity eater that enjoys most everything- but I’m especially fond of cheese enchiladas, cheeseburgers, and any food that’s green, red or orange.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Food that’s been sitting under a lamp for hours… and stuff made with MSG (I’m allergic)

Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown: If I had my druthers, I’d eat at Goodburger every day.  I always order a cheeseburger with mayo, lettuce, tomato and pickles with a side of fries, and extra mayo for dipping (I love mayo!)  Some people complain that the burger is too small, but for me it’s just right.  Before Goodburger opened we’d go to Blarney Stone, but I can’t eat a whole one of those without getting seriously ill.  I’m also a big fan of street meat.  There’s a cart I frequent on 45th & 3rd Ave. (across from Sparks Steakhouse) and no matter how many times I go I still have to beg for extra hot sauce.  The cart master always says “Are you sure?”, and I always reply “Yes, I’m a Texan!”  I’ve tried a lot of carts in the area and this one is the “safest” one.  No gastro-intestinal issues yet!

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Goodburger.  See above.

Place you discovered on MidtownLunch.com: Oms/b.  While I’d always known about this place (it’s across the street from my office), I never went there until I read your review.  Expensive, but tasty.  And the Japanese are so brilliant at packaging and presentation.  I’m never sure if I want to eat it, or just take a photo of it.  I’d also like to try the Mexican Cart with the Sombrero (even though it wasn’t a favorite of yours).  I was also hoping to go to the Diamond Dairy.  I love hidden away secret spots.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? )The Piedmonte Italy.  I spent a week there at the end of October and oh boy, the Italians know how to do lunch.  Nary a deli, salad bar, or American fast food chain to be found.  Instead we ate in restaurants and cafes where we were served these ludicrously long, multi-course meals all washed down with glasses of Proseco, Barbaresco, Barolo and Sauternes.  Not to mention the ubiquitous white truffles in autumn.  And after all that good eating, you get to take a nap!  The Italians know how to live…

What did you ask Santa to bring Midtown Lunch in 2007? I would die and go to heaven if Taco Cabana or Whataburger came to Midtown.  I read that Taco Cambana is now owned by a company based out of Albany, so it should be too difficult for them to open a Manhattan branch!!!  And why not more Shake Shacks?  Sure, I enjoy Goodburger, but if Shake Shack was in Midtown, I’d probably go there every day.  Sorry Goodburger, I like you a lot… but you’re no Shake Shack.

Anything else you’d like to say? I’ve gained 10 pounds since August, and I’ve been reading Midtown Lunch since August.  Coincidence?  I think not!  You should try and wrangle some sort of Midtown Lunch gym discount for your readers!

Good idea.  You hear that, Gold’s? Or Sports Club L.A.?  (Those are names of Gyms right?  I’m not positive since I’ve never stepped foot inside one of those places in my life…)

Midtown Lunch is taking the week off between Christmas and New Year’s (back on Jan. 2nd) so this is the last post of 2006.   I thought about making a Best of 2006 list, but then I thought, why bother?  Every place I’ve ever eaten lunch at in Midtown is in this blog- so some list isn’t going to tell you anything you wouldn’t find out from reading the archives.  But I can tell you the most read post of 2006.  And that is hands down Kati Roll.

More people have read the Kati Roll piece than anything else I have written, and it is still the most searched for lunch on the site.  (And it’s delicious to boot).  I feel like the purpose of Midtown Lunch is summed up by a place like Kati Roll (well, that and so you can see pictures of people lined up for a free burrito at a Chipotle grand opening).

For 2007 I have a few dreams for Midtown Lunch’ing.  And here they are:

1. We need a Momofuku Ssam Bar in Midtown.   Are you listening David Chang?????  Have you seen the lines of people paying $8 for crappy Mexican burritos.  These are the people who will pay $8 for your delicious pork buns and Korean/Chinese burritos!
2. Somebody open a cheap/take out Vietnamese place in Midtown.  So much Indian food.  So much Chinese. Koreatown is very close.  A few places for Thai (although there could be more)… but no cheap Vietnamese!
3. We need a good Chinese All You Can Eat Buffet (for under $10).  There is one on 8th Ave. in the 40s, but even I’m scared of that one.  Come on people.  Actually, we need more buffets all around… and not the $13.95 Indian buffets.  I’m talking about under $10, all you can eat buffets!  I have a dream, people!
4. And finally I have a New Year’s Resolution for everbody.  Forget about exercise… eat more.  And do it at lunch time.  And don’t settle.  We work too damn hard in Midtown Manhattan to run down to the nearest crappy deli, for some garbage sandwich that costs $9, just to run back upstairs and eat at our desk.  You get an hour.  Take it.  There’s plenty of good Midtown Lunch’ing if you’re willing to walk 5-10 minutes in any direction from your office.  You need a break!

That’s it for this year.  Midtown Lunch will be back on January 2nd with a whole week of Profiled Midtown Lunch’ers, and their dreams for Midtown Lunch’ing.  If you are interested in being profiled, email me at zach@midtownlunch.com

Finally, a special treat.  Midtown Lunch 2006 a year in thumbnails, after the the jump.  Looking at everything in one long photo makes me sort of embarassed I ate all that.  It’s a doozy…  click on the link (and see why my wife is disgusted by me). Read more »

Here’s some great shots uploaded to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo group in the past week.  To join the group, and post your own pictures of Midtown Lunch’ing, click here.

3 Burgers & Fries @ Burke in the Box @ Bloomingdales (59th btw. Lex. & 3rd
Posted to the Group by Slice (from A Hamburger Today)

Cod Roe Onigiri @ Oms/b (45th btw. Lex & 3rd)
Posted to the Group by Bloozorez

More pics after the jump…

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I should probably have my head examined trying to eat lunch near Rockefeller Center in December… but I found out that Dean & Deluca has Sullivan St. Bakery Pizza- and had to check it out.  The actual Sullivan St. Bakery is on 47th st. btw. 10th & 11th, right around the corner from where I live. (The name comes from the original storefront on Sullivan St. in the West Village).  The current location on 47th is where they make all their bread… and delicious flat bread pizzas.  Unfortunately, 10th ave. is a little far to walk for lunch- so when I found out they’ve got the pizza at Dean & Deluca I was pretty excited.

Unfortunately, the closest and best known Dean & Deluca is smack dab in the middle of Rock Center (in clear view of the Christmas Tree).  Ah… the wonderful tree.  You find me someone who works in Midtown, that doesn’t hate that tree… and I’ll prove to you that that person doesn’t work in Midtown.  It’s almost like the tree has this magnetic force that only pulls at “I Love NY” sweatshirts, and really bad fanny packs.  Lucky for me, I found a hidden Dean & Deluca, for those of you who work on the West Side of Midtown, far enough away from the tree to get your Sullivan St. bakery pizza fix in December.

Pics of the pizza, the hidden location and +/- after the jump…

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Every Tuesday I turn over Midtown Lunch to a random Midtown worker, for their favorite places to eat lunch in Midtown. This week, it’s Julia- the current leader for most jobs listed by a Profiled Midtown Lunch’er (including a stint at Burritoville!). She likes all-you-can-eat Chinese buffets, so she’s alright with me!

Name: Julia

Age: 29

Occupation: Part-Time Receptionist/Music Industry Drop-Out/Yoga Teacher Trainee

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 53rd & Madison

Favorite Kind of Food: Sushi, until I became Vegetarian. Still Asian food probably- Udon Noodle Soup, thai peanut sauces, Pad See Ew (wide noodles) and chinese eggplant. Plus anything Italian. I like noodles and rice and tofu alot.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Mexican. I used to work at Burritoville… no horror stories at all, they’re fantastic- but I burnt out on Mexican food in high school. Also, I don’t like Papaya very much. Smells like armpits to me.

Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Bunchberries on 53rd btw. 2nd & 3rd. Scallion pancakes and mac & cheese. And I hate to say it but I’ve been trying to bring lunch from home lately. (Editor’s Note: I usually will only go as far as 3rd Ave. But for a place that serves scallion pancakes and mac & cheese… I might be willing to go the extra half an avenue!)

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: I don’t really have one… but my boyfriend’s is Woorijip on 32nd St. btw. Broadway & 5th. They go there so much they’ve already collected enough stamps to get two aprons!

Place you discovered on MidtownLunch.com: Indian Cart on 53rd and Park, lots of noodle shops, and Ho Yip (actually, I might have found that myself, but you endorsed it)

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? Scarily enough, I kind of loved working at 40th and 6th ave. There was a salad bar place Cranberries that made a million good things, and there were all these tolerable carts and pizza shops and soup places and such. If I picked my real favorite good lunch spot, it would be my natural supermarket Perelandra in Brooklyn Heights — I feel healthy just smelling the place. Or Houston Street / West Village. There’s a lot there…

Anything else you’d like to say? I’d like to thank everyone who helped me get this honor today. My ex-boss Patrick, for being so impossible to work with that I was lead to my true calling, and sent my ass temping around the city in the interim. My Long Island Jewish family who dutifully introduced me to Chinese buffets. Jonah for introducing me to Woorijip. My data-entry temp co-workers of the summer who put me onto Midtown Lunch. Thank you Midtown Lunch. My life is forever changed.

Um… thanks, I guess? By the way… if Woorijip is you boyfriend’s “Goto” lunch, I’m super jealous. I wish I worked in Koreatown. Pics of my last lunch from Woorijip (plus how you can be one of the new year’s first Profiled: Midtown Lunch’ers- after the jump).

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It’s Chanukah everyone!  And in honor of the Holiday, I decided on Friday to go out in search of some Latkes (or potato pancakes) for lunch.  I had gotten a few emails from people over the past week asking me where they could find these delicious fried patties of potatoey goodness in Midtown- but I was embarrassed to admit that I didn’t really know.  The last time I had latkes in Midtown was a billion years ago at the Stage Deli, and I don’t really remember them being that good.  But even if I had fond memories of those touristy, over-priced potato pancakes- I don’t think I’d be caught dead eating at the Stage Deli this time of year.  The same goes for the Carnegie Deli. 

Actually the same goes for every place within walking distance of the tree in Rockefeller Center.  Is there any worse place in the world to be in December then Midtown?  I’m pretty sure the answer is no.  So, to avoid the hoards of tourists, I decided to try and find this hidden Kosher place on 47th St. btw. 5th & 6th called the Diamond Dairy that I’ve read about a few times.  A Kosher luncheonette, hidden away in some Jewelry shop, with the best blintzes in town…  but this week it’s not about the blintz.  It’s about the latke.

More pics and the +/- after the jump…

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