Cafe Manhattan

Went for lunch during work, major scam!
$ 16.50 for a plate with ONE chicken cutlet and a TINY side of pasta + a Snapple.
The chicken cutlet tasted like wood and the pasta was so mushy it was probably sitting there since breakfast.
The staff were all rude, I asked why such a small amount for the price and the server responded a simple «I don’t know.» At checkout, I was scolded in a language that seemed like a combination of English and Chinese because I tried to pay with a credit card in the «cash only lane.»
Cash only lane??? What is this, a toll booth on the Jersey Turnpike? Next time I’ll drive my car through the front window, it would be a better experience than eating here.

How is this not a full 5-​star average? They have endless fresh juice options, a killer buffet with eggs, hash browns, and tons of fresh fruit. Add coffee and you’re ready to go. Yes it’s NYC so the prices are up there and there’s nowhere to sit. But that’s par for the course.

I finally found a deli near my job with staff who actually know how to make a proper latte! Their food is good and have lots of healthy options! Their prices are pretty reasonable for a NYC price. The service is really fast and staff are all friendly! Worth coming back to again.

Their buffet/​salad bar thing is pretty good. Load up on meat and veggies and pay by the pound.

After being in 10 022 for over 10 years, my office moved down the block from this dump. I gave it a shot when I first arrived in Sept 2015 but at 3:30PM nothing was available except for half of the salad bar. it was «MEH». mediocre-​ish.
Gave it another chance today at 2:00PM. The ramen bar, sandwich and hot plate bar and pizza bar was open. I went to the sandwich bar and asked for gyro combo which was suppose to come with waffle fries. The guy acknowledges me with his eyes and just walked away. He plated my food and I said I thought it comes with waffle fries? he said «we ran out. You don’t have to take it if you don’t want to». I mean seriously WHAT THE FLYING FUCK was that!!! I don’t know why I took it and paid $ 15 for it! Granted everything in this area is SUPER tourist expensive, it was my stupid move for even taking it.
I for sure will NEVER EVER go back there and tell my whole office of 800 employees to NEVER EVER go there. Go to the other spot across the street and further east a little called Ambrosia. Same stuff better staff.
COMPLETE BULLSHIT SERVICE and no it wasn’t good.

This is the worst place to sit down an order anything. I work down the street and everyday I would order and sit upstairs.
I brought my own food and they had one of the bus boys kick me out. I haven’t been in there since and that was 3 years ago.

Wir haben hier gefrühstückt und es für gut befunden. Große Auswahl uns alles wird frisch zubereitet oder vom großen Buffet genommen. Preise für Manhattan eher moderat. Nur Wegwerfgeschirr und –besteck.

One of the more spacious buffet delis around. Also, one of the few that has Korean food items such as kimchi and japchae (clear noodles) at the buffet. Pretty tasty, I would say. Decent choices of vegetables and meats as well like various styles of chicken. Grilled chicken has that grill charred taste which I like.
There is also a sushi, sandwich, and a toss salad bar. Many different choices for lunch depending on what you are craving for.
Overall, it is alright. This is not a place I would come back often unless I’m really craving that japchae.

Great place to run in and grab a quick bite. Stopped in for a toasted everything bagel with lox cream cheese before an exhibition and it was ready really quickly and was good. Large selection of grab and go or quick fix items.

Yes! They do carry a lot of items that most cafés don’t have a very big variety of fruits and vegetarian items on their buffet but unfortunately the price does not match up to the quality although it is Midtown Manhattan the prices are little bit higher than the other buffet style serving cafes in the area.
They should add a special rate between the off-​hours like 2 to 6 PM. Also the food should be labeled not everyone knows what’s what.

This is a great place with good food and good people. The only problem is not realizing their are many vegans who frequent the place. Love their miso soup but hate when they touch the meat for non vegans but proceed to put vegetables in the vegans soup without changing their gloves. Maybe a spoon for each food item going into the soup would be the perfect solution.

Hot Bar has pretty good food for $ 8.50 a lb. Pretty much in line with every other hot bar around this area.
Highly recommend the brisket and teriyaki chicken

Typical hot bar in Manhattan. Place is fairly clean and food is decent. Issues I have are that there is a $ 10 minimum for cc or debit and that food is a bit pricey.

Great selection of quality ingredients and choices in the buffet bar. Everything is fresh. Expect to pay around 12 – 15 $ for a reasonable lunch.
Other options available such as salad bar, fire oven flat bread sandwiches and noodle bar.
Slightly on the expensive side but you get what you pay for.

Great selection.
Put the pizza is okay.
Great selection on drinks
Wine
Bakery
Okay place not to bad

Are you looking at me? I say this as during lunch– I was observed by the older Asian fellow who followed meas I looked at each section to see what I wanted. I was here during a break from a training I was attending and decided to go here for lunch.
A mistake.
I noticed from the corner of my eye there was one person not moving and he was watching me.
Trying not to be paranoid or use the race card i moved to another area and low and behold, guess who standing there watching.
I had a tie on and looked professional so couldn’t understand so when I decided to get something from the hot section-​yep there he was again.
So Manhattan Café you lost a customer as I don’t want to patronize any place where I’m suspected of stealing food.

Das Café lädt zum Verweilen ein. Alles da. Alles frisch. Sehr gutes Frühstück möglich.

My mother (and NYC dining companion) inexplicably was fascinated by New York’s business buffet lunch scene and frequently mentioned we should pop into one of the cafés sporting this culinary dynamic. I wasn’t nearly as enthused (Pret A Manger will always be my grab and go lunch of choice in NYC) but I finally broke down and stopped making excuses to procrastinate the inevitable. Café Manhattan looked harmless enough, I thought. Wrong. I was so completely wrong.
As other reviews pointed out, the place is nicely organized and clean. The employees were super friendly (the only reason I’m giving it an extra star). One even gave my mom a sample despite the yellow labels declaring samples weren’t allowed, which was really sweet of her. The issue, of course, was the food. I can’t remember the last time I actually spat out food — I must’ve been in single digits. But I did with their «shrimp», right into my napkin. It wasn’t even real shrimp — it was some kind of sickeningly sweet «grilled» tofu shaped like shrimp. Why? Why would anyone bastardize shrimp like that? It actually made me sad (and a bit nauseated). The asparagus had that old fridge taste and everything else was old. The Brussels sprouts and penne pasta were decent, though. I only took a sliver of each.
My mother actually apologized for making us go there after the meal, and since we ate so little (despite having nearly full plates), we just finished the rest of our lunch at Pret. I always feel bad writing negative reviews like this, but I just feel restaurant food should be fresh… and real. I will not return and truly hope this café will improve their freshness factor.

buffet is $ 8.50/lb. the chicken with portabello mushrooms dish is pretty good. there is also giant fried calamari with marinara sauce. the roasted beef is decent. the pseudo general tso’s is not that good though. not crispy at all and breading fell apart in the sauce.

Do NOT get a turkey burger here. The turkey patty looked like a brick of rubbery meat pâté. It did not smell good, but I took a bite since I paid $ 8.45 for it. Horrible. I took it back downstairs and was helped by a worker. He escorted me to another person, couldn’t tell if he was a cook, owner, or manager. He cut a piece of the turkey patty off and ate it. He exclaimed that’s what a turkey burger should look and taste like. Dude… that’s some serious denial. The thing looked like a rubber dog chew that was as dense as the meat inside a can of Fancy Feast. I’m grossed out just by thinking about it.
Luckily, they allowed me to «exchange» it with another lunch item, but sheesh, that guy was pretty rude.

Mein Mann und ich waren Richtung Times Square unterwegs und wollten einen schnellen Lunch für unterwegs. Das Café Manhattan hatten wir öfters beim vorbeilaufen gesehen. An der Sandwichbar haben wir uns dann sandwiches machen lassen. Die Auswahl war groß und die Zutaten sahen frisch aus. Nur leider hat der Koch nicht das gemacht was man wollte und die Preise waren halt Manhatten Preise. Das Sandwich war trotzdem ganz ok. Vom Buffet hatten wir nichts aber das Angebot ist riesig. Der frischgepresste Osaft war herrlich aber 7 US Dollar für 0,3 l ist schon happig.

I was super thrilled when I discovered Café Manhattan a mere 5 minute walk from my office — as it’s a much better alternative to the adjacent «C» related Italian place that seems to be popular among the lunch crowd.
Here’s what I like about Café Manhattan:
* Seems to be very clean
* Buffet is presented very nicely
* Lots of selection and some really good things like the salmon, the avocado, the brussels sprouts and cauliflower.
Here is what I HATE about Café Manhattan:
* Cashier’s are SO UTTERLY RUDE. I mean it’s NYC, I get it. But seriously? Can you not wait one second without huffing and puffing so I can count out what I owe you?
* Which brings me to the second thing I dislike about this place: if your minimum isn’t $ 10 you can’t use a credit card. This is a problem for me on like 10 different levels, most of which is that I can’t eat $ 10 worth of a buffet (it’s by weight FYI). I just can’t. So if you won’t let me use my credit card then you probably need to exercise some patience as I count out my money. Yes?
* Certain buffet items scare me a little, for example, the «shrimp.» Not sure what this is but I am 99% sure it’s not shrimp. My co-​worker and I are intrigued. But not in a good way.
Overall I try to avoid this place because I don’t like to give people my hard earned CASH when they are so rude and unfriendly. But my options are limited so until I grow a brain in my own kitchen I guess I have to deal with Café Manhattan at least once a week.

I adore this café. Large selection of gourmet style food from udon & sushi to brick oven pizzas &focaccia. The pre made meals are prepared right before the lunch rush so it’s all super fresh, you can see the steam form on the to-​go ware. The buffet style lunch… Where do I start? They have the best most freshest myriad of unexpected choices.
My company has ordered catering from Café Manhattan and it has hands down the best presentation. The catering workers take a long time making sure they make a statement. The continental breakfast with the fruit bowl. I’ve never seen fresher fruit. The fresh squeezed orange juice. The fresh baked danishes. Did I mention this was all fresh?
Try and out and thank me later.

Das Café Manhattan sieht für einen schnellen Snack einladend aus. Das große Buffetangebot sticht einem sofort ins Auge, da muss doch für jeden etwas dabei sein, denkt man sich. Allerdings sieht das Essen besser aus als es schmeckt und leider gab es nur Kunststoff-​Teller sowie Kunststoff-​Besteck… ;-)