Midtown Lunch

After a tip from reader “Dani” I went and saw for myself the sad shell of a place I once loved…

Midtown Lunch spots are dropping like flies as 2006 draws to a close. First Aron’s, now my favorite cheap Indian buffet Rangole, on 46th btw. 5th & 6th. That’s right… no more $8.99 all you can eat Indian Buffet. I guess I’ll have to upgrade to the $10.99 Sukhadia buffet on 45th btw. 5th & 6th. No word on what happened to the chef- but I’m sure he’ll be ok. After all, if you ever read the menu, you’d know he once cooked for Indian Royalty.

If you ever see any Midtown closings, please email me at zach@midtownlunch.com. As much as it hurts- it’s always better to hear it from someone you love…

There are very few things I won’t eat.  In fact, I’ll pretty much eat anything that a culture deems worthy of eating.  And to prove it, I present to you this story involving a very strange dish at a Midtown Deli.  I was walking by the Bagelfeller Cafe on 48th btw. 5th & 6th on Wednesday.  For those of you who have never heard of this particular place, it is a standard Midtown “Deli” with a salad bar, sandwiches, Burrito/Taco bar, sushi station and, as you can imagine, a bagel bar.  (I’m also pretty sure it’s owned by Asians… but that doesn’t mean they can’t have good bagels!)

I’ve gotten a few recommendations from people suggesting I check out this place, so I decided to pop in and see what they had.  Nothing really caught my fancy- until I noticed something very strange in the Sushi fridge.  A weird looking, nut covered sushi log/roll that was labeled “Banana Roll” $4.95.  I immediately asked the Sushi chef what is was.  His reply… “It’s a banana roll.”  My reply to that… “Oh… is it stuffed with banana tempura?”  Because in my fat guy mind, a slice of banana would have to be breaded and deep fried to belong in a sushi roll (that’s just my logic).

“Nope.  It’s just regular banana on the inside”, he said.  “Then we lay slices of banana over the top, and cover the whole thing with sliced almonds, and a wasabi mayonnaise.”

Hold the freakin’ phone.  Wasabi mayo?  You’ve gotta be kidding me.  The thing looked as disgusting as could be… but knowing that the goop covering the whole thing was made from mayo made it that much grosser. 

Naturally I had to try it.  Photos (plus Midtown Links and the end of the week wrap up) after the jump…

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If you work on Madison near 49th St., you may have noticed this sign on the side of one of the buildings:

I noticed it the other day when walking back from my lunch at Fusion Grills.  Excitedly, I followed the big arrow to what I was hoping would be “The World’s Finest Noodle Shop”, but secretly I knew there was going to be nothing at the bottom of that arrow.  If there was an amazing noodle shop named Larmen Dosanko on 49th & Madison, I probably would have heard of it by now.

For those of us who are new to eating Ramen in New York City, Larmen Dosanko was a Japanese chain of noodle shops that were very popular in the 80s.  Apparently there was also one on 52nd & 5th, and one in Flushing (which it seems was the last one to close in the late 90s).  For some nostalgic Dosanko reading, check out this Google thing or this chowhound post.  (The google link has a New York Times article from 1981).  If you have any old pictures of this place (or any Midtown Lunch related photos) feel free to post them on the newly created Flickr Midtown Lunch Group.

Luckily there is no shortage of Ramen in Midtown.  Check out Men Kui Tei, either of the two branches of Menchanko Tei, or Sapporo for your larmen/ramen fix.

Walked by this sad sight earlier this afternoon…

Aron’s (a sit down Kosher restaurant in the Diamond District that dared to try and succeed one street north of the best Kosher food this city has to offer) has closed.  Less than two months ago it was praised by the Village Voice… and now it’s gone.  It wasn’t the best Kosher place in Midtown- but it was the only one that sold assorted pastries (and kosher egg rolls) from a folding table on the sidewalk.  We’ll miss you…

There are many reasons I choose to write about particular places in Midtown.  First is obviously the food.  If a place has great food (and is cheap), I’m going to write about it.  Unfortunately, we work in Midtown- so if I limited myself to only places with great food, my blog would be about 7 entries long (see My Favorite links in the right hand column)… and even some of those are just great “for Midtown”.  Barring great food, some places get written about because they are serving something out of the ordinary (a generic deli with Korean food, or a burrito stuffed with fried plantains).  I could also write about a place because it’s hidden, and not alot of people know about it… and sometimes I’ll just write about something because it’s funny.  Occasionally, a bunch of these reasons combine to form something that just can’t be ignored…

I got an email from a reader named Krista last week telling me to check out “the lower concourse of the building… on 53rd & 3rd, where Au Bon Pain is located… (they have an) ok sushi place with authentic green tea that I enjoy, and a brand new Chinese place that only charges $5-6 for chicken/beef/shrimp, noodles or veggies and choice of rice.”  Concourse?  That means food court right!?!?  Lower?  That means hidden right?!?!  Brand new Chinese place?!?!  That means I’m immediately interested, right?  I rushed over, and found a food court- as described, with one major omission…

(Pictures, +/- and more, after the jump…)

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Every Tuesday I profile another Midtown Lunch’er.  This week, it’s “Jim” a pizza loving Project Manager, who can’t stay away from the Yips…

Name: Jim

Occupation: Senior Project Manager

Where in Midtown do you work?: 51st and Madison, TBWA/Chiat/Day advertising agency (yes, the slashes are supposed to be in there)

Age: 35

Favorite Kind of Food: Hard to pin down just one, but probably rustic Italian when it’s done well.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Steak. I’ll probably get strung up for saying this, but a plain slab of meat has no appeal for me. Second least favorite is the $10 mediocre salad that dominates most midtown takeout places. How can lettuce cost that much?

Favorite Place to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The Jiannetto’s pizza truck on 51st and Park. One vodka slice and one regular makes a perfect lunch. Such salty tomato-ey goodness. And I enjoy asking co-workers “Who wants to hit da pizza truck wit me?” It’s a freaking truck. You’ve got to love that.  (Editor’s Note: When we first wrote about Jiannettos’ the truck on 51st just east of Park was out of commission.  It is now back, so there are two locations in Midtown again…)

The “goto” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Yip’s. We learned about it on this site, and since then we’ve been gorging ourselves on its brown-sauce treats about three times a week. We initiate new co-workers by taking them to Yip’s, having them ask for something not on the menu, then laugh when the counter guys throw them out of the line.

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: See above.

What is your Dream Job location for lunch purposes only?: Warren, Vermont. The Warren Store has some of the finest sandwiches on earth, the coffee is fantastic, and the baked goods in general are outstanding.

I understand how you feel about Yips Jim…  I have a cheap Chinese food obsession.  Some would call it an addiction.  As a matter of fact, I went to 52nd last Monday with the full intention of eating at the Bread Market Cafe (the Plantain stuffed burrito place) and ended up getting sidetracked by Yips- and their “new menu item”.  A picture of the new item, plus how you can be next week’s Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er- after the jump…

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It takes alot for me to eat at a Midtown Deli.  There are so many of them, and they offer so little.  They breed laziness in every Midtown worker- and if they weren’t right outside your office, you would never eat there.  Just admit it.  But, every once in awhile, one of these delis offers something extraordinary… something that sets it apart.  Variety Cafe, with their fat guy salad bar (I stopped eating there after it was closed by the health dept.), Cafe Duke and their Korean food station, or the one location of Europa Cafe with a make your own burrito bar.

Well, last week, I hit the motherload.  Not only did I find a deli with something beyond the norm- they may have invented a new and unbelievably delicious food!  The burrito, stuffed with fried plantains.  That’s right.  And the place to get it is the Bread Market Cafe (on 52nd btw. 5+6th).  A generic make your own burrito bar, distinguished by one add-on ingredient.  The sweet, fried plantain.  It makes sense if you think about it… at Margon, you eat a meat, rice, beans, and fried plantains.  Why not wrap the whole thing up in burrito form???  It’s genius.

See the pics, and the +/- after the jump….

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This morning, the Hershey Store on the NW corner of 48th St. and Broadway got a little competition in the form of a gigantic two story M&M store right across the street!!! (The NE Corner of 48th & Broadway).  My question is, how will Times Square support TWO generic American brand chocolate stores, right across the street from other???  And how far are these stores willing to go for the money of slack jawed tourists amazed that there’s a place where you can a get an oversized Kit Kat sweater?  The answer to that question came on my walk home from work tonight, when I saw this in front of the M&M Store:

I know this isn’t about lunch, but this shit was too funny to ignore… That’s right.  A gigantic M&M with arms and legs beckoning tourists into the store with his general adorableness.  The M&M alone wasn’t so funny… but the Hershey Store’s response across the street was pretty sweet!  Check out the picture, after the jump:

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Right before Thanksgiving I posted a little feature about Pumpkin dishes at Chiyoda Sushi.  As promised, here’s a full look at what has become one of my new favorite places in Midtown.  It’s located on 41st between Madison & 5th (just east of Bryant Park) right next to Cafe Zaiya– another of my favorite places.  In fact, Chiyoda is like a slightly nicer version of Cafe Zaiya, with bento boxes, pre-packaged sushi, and all sorts of little odds and ends.  It’s slightly more expensive then Zaiya, but the food is much more refined.

Some places I like to blather on and on about… and some places are best left to the pics:

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

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I love New Orleans and it seems to come up a fair amount here on MidtownLunch.com.  My wife and I were married there, I’ve written about it a few times, and 3 of our Profiled: Midtown Lunch’ers mentioned it as a place they’d rather be (Liz, Elizabeth  and Nick).  But for some reason, it didn’t sink in- until recently- that Two Boots was part Cajun.  That’s right.  The NY pizza chain with the strange decor and the weird, slightly overpriced slices of pie is actually half Italian, half Cajun… hence “Two Boots” (Italy & Louisiana).

Now, I’m sure some of you “smart” “observant” people, who don’t walk around with your “head up your ass” might be saying to yourself- “Gee Zach… what are you an idiot?”  And to that I say, “Yes.  Yes I am.”  Alright, so I’m not that quick.  I’ve gotten pizza from many of the various Two Boots locations around the city, and in all that time I never really noticed the Po’Boys or Jambalaya on the menu painted on the wall… just the pizzas in the glass case.

I’m not sure who clued me into the whole “Two Boots” thing, or the fact that they have things other than pizza… but as someone who is constantly on the lookout for quality New Orleans style food, I figured it was time to give the non pizza boot a try.

What I ordered, a run down of the pizzas and the +/- after the jump…

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