Momofuku in Midtown
Apparently today is the GREATEST DAY IN MIDTOWN LUNCHING HISTORY. Don't take my word for it, ask my friend Zach of Midtown Lunch. Today's the day that David Chang's Momofuku empire expanded to Midtown Manhattan. After conquering the East Village, you knew they would have their sights set on even more hoods throughout the city. When there are lines to your restaurants every night, it makes sense to give the people what they clamor for. What exactly are we clamoring for? For starters, some high end banh mi in Midtown. And so we have Ma Peche, the newest colony in the Momo empire.
The lunchtime deal at Ma Peche is pretty simple, you get a choice of calamari salad, bun with pork, three terrine banh mi or a chicken banh mi. With the deal comes a coke or diet coke. All of it comes out to $10 dollars. Tax is $0.89, making your lunch $13 after tax and tip (if you're not a tipping curmudgeon like me, you can tip more obviously). For now they're not doing take-out, but you can do ghetto take-out by eating half of your sandwich and then wrapping the other half in a paper towel, and then take pictures of it in the rain like a dumbass just so you can have a post up on opening day. Really... this is my hobby. Dear Santa, this year for Christmas, I would like to be normal. Just for a day...
It's a good sandwich, what can I say? No I can't eat this everyday, but $13 for the experience is well worth it. The idea is whether you feel like you over-paid for the product and I didn't. It's well-known how cheap I am and I thought this was worth it. Ma Peche is located inside of the Chambers Hotel, so you kind of know the price range of a restaurant inside of a hotel. I sat in the corner on this big chair that's basically like a hotel lobby lounge chair with a wooden block in front of me as a table. The person who sat in the hotel lobby chair next to me ordered the squid and two banh mi's. Although I think she did the ghetto take-out for some of her sandwiches. So even though one sandwich is a good experience, you could definitely have two dishes here.
Since this was opening day and still is opening day... and the full menu wasn't released... there really isn't much to say except that I'm excited to have this new restaurant in Midtown. Getting in will surely be a problem in the future as the get more popular. Oh lastly, I learned about the best excuse to tell someone if someone asks why you're taking pictures. Just say, "I'm taking these for a friend who really wishes s/he could be here." Not bad, right? I learned that one from asking the person next to me who was taking pictures. Next time I'll know what to say!
Ma Peche
15 W 56th St.
New York, NY 10019
That banh mi looks delicious, but I'm hurtin' enough from spending $6-8 per day on midtown lunches. $13 would really send me over the edge!
allix
November 29, 2009 8:05 pm
@allix,
totally. i hear ya, and sometimes I can't bear to look at the price tag. Lately my eating habits have been out of control too, so maybe it's time to tone it down and just drink soup all day. haha
Danny
November 30, 2009 1:16 am
that first pic looks so real and delicious that i just want to crawl inside the sandwich and take a nap.
barb
November 13, 2009 12:10 pm
This sounds good, but unfortunately, I only eat at restaurants that require me to desperately try for an online reservation, fail miserably for an entire year, and cry myself to sleep at night. Too bad.
donuts4dinner
November 15, 2009 5:34 pm
@barb,
That's what I like to do, crawl up inside of sandwiches, but usually then I just eat it instead of nap.
@donuts4dinner,
Yes, well there's that too :)
Danny
November 17, 2009 3:49 pm