Price: $$

When one of my colleagues came back into the office and handed me a short lunch menu card, looked me directly in the eyes and said in no uncertain terms, “You have to go and eat here,” I thought to myself this is serious; I must try this place. So never being one to keep a good dining experience to myself, I decided to take along a few of my girlfriends. A for company for and B so that I can sample some of what they were eating. On a side note, if you ever take me out to lunch or dinner, just know that I will be in your plate. I like to sample as much as I can, especially if I am visiting a restaurant for the first time.

Located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, I was very curious about what the actual experience would be like. Having heard so much about the owner David Chang & Gang and their restaurant Momofuku, the girls and I were too excited to see what all of the fuss over their latest venture, Ma Peche, was about. French for “my peach”, the actual restaurant itself is not slated to be opened until next year. You know something is hot when the place has not officially opened and people are buzzing about it. So for now, there is a scaled down version located on the mezzanine of the Chambers Hotel. Upon entering, I looked around and notice that everything about this hotel says hot, hip, New York; from the abstract paintings on the walls, to the ooh so sexy fire place in the lobby. It made sense that this would be the location of the new restaurant.

Walking up the stairs to get to the mezzanine where the restaurant is temporarily located, you know right away that this place is on its way to being great! Once we made it up the stairs, we were greeted by a young man in a tee-shirt with his hat on backwards and relaxed pants. We waited maybe 10 minutes if that to be seated on a couch for three. Our waiter greeted us no more than five minutes later and our orders were promptly placed with food arriving shortly after.

We each ordered something different. One of my friends is a vegetarian so she ordered the grilled cheese sandwich with fries, while the other ordered the b’anh mi maison; a succulent three terrine sandwich with pork, daikon and cilantro. I ordered the bun du riz-which is pork ragout with rice noodles tossed with saw leaf herb. Both the three terrine sandwich and the pork ragout came off of the $10.00 lunch special menu which I think is fantastic considering the reputation that they have built for themselves.

I really enjoyed sampling the three terrine sandwich and will be going back to enjoy that a lot more. I found that the pork ragout was flavorful but a bit on the salty side. Even with the tender rice noodles and the saw leaf herb, the pork was still very salty. This was a little disappointing because it was a well orchestrated dish.

The other issue that I had was about the price for the grilled cheese sandwich. Now, I do appreciate the fact that this is Manhattan and things do tend to be a bit more pricy. But I’m sorry, in this economy $12.00 for a grilled cheese sandwich just seemed excessive to us and I was thinking to myself that they have to know that this is overpriced. Since this is just a test run, we gave them the benefit of the doubt for now.

After finishing our meal, we concluded that overall the atmosphere is relaxed, yet professional enough for a power lunch. Even though it appears to be a very hip place, if I showed up in jeans it doesn’t feel like I would be treated any different. And from the managers to the wait staff, everything about this place said come on in… the door is open and all are welcome.