No animals were harmed in the making of this blog. Mother Earth? Not so lucky.

Last week I received a chain email about ways to help out Mother Earth. One of the suggestions included in this made-for-TV special list was turn off your computer when you take lunch at work. Either this list was written in the 1950's or the author works for Uncle Sam (not you, Mrs. Murphy) where I believe the last eight hour, full benefits and kickin' pension exists. When I read this I thought but how will I get my work done? I couldn't tell you the last time I sat down, ate lunch, and talked to a human face to face. And no, Gchat does not count. Maybe elsewhere, but my office doesn't promote the wash-your-sandwich-down-with-a-cold-glass-of-mental-stability. But maybe that's just New York. After all, the only 9 to 5 in Manhattan nowadays will cost you a pretty penny.

Okay, buddy. Back to the picture.

The point of this post is talk about the fact that lunch was a positive part of my day. Granted, it was more like an early bird special since I didn't leave my desk until 4:00pm to search the Ugly streets of midtown for lunch. But what I did find might just be the my next big thing.

In search of falafel, I followed the suggestion of steadfast Midtown Lunch and checked out the street vendor at 54th and Park (one short block away from the Ugliness). Mind you, the lunch rush was over by now and I was scraping for the literal leftovers. Still at 4pm there I was third in line to order. I went with the falafel platter and I was excited with what I received. Foodie note - this was unreal.

Eight - count them - eight falafel balls. A little dry due to them sitting around for hours but otherwise delicious.

Spicy rice that lived up to its name.

Lettuce and tomato salad.

Some kind of spicy pickle and pepper concoction. Really nice.

Two grape leaves.

A dab of homemade hummus.

Warmed and chopped pita bread on top. ($0.50 extra)

If this was Price is Right, what would you guess? Try $5. Five bucks! Subway, please pack up your virtually meatless subs and scram.

So there you have it. After surviving most of the day on breakfast and probably artificial free coffee I ended the work day on a delicious note. I'll return to 54th/Park again soon with every intention of considering it round two of my "best of" review.