New Cart Alert: Happy Well Being House

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To me there is nothing more exciting than the arrival of a brand new cart… especially when it’s as weird as this one! Meet the “Happy Well Being House” cart, which popped up on 50th street btw. 6+7th for the first time yesterday. Started by a Korean lady, and another girl (who I’m guessing is her daughter), the cart is serving up fried fish and grilled chicken, over rice or home fries for $6. They used to own an “American food” restaurant in Long Island. I don’t know what is “well being” about fried fish and hash browns but this cart is in the early lead for strangest cart of 2009.

I was already on my way to a different lunch destination, but thankfully they offered me a taste!

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The chicken was pretty good for a cart (just plain white meat chicken with a really good char) but the fish was surprisingly even better. Crunchy on the outside, and not fishy tasting at all. I had it topped with teriyaki sauce (standard/sweet) and hot sauce (standard vinegary hot sauce, not that spicy) but you can also get it with white sauce or bbq sauce. I didn’t get to try the rice or the potatoes.

As fun as it is to see new carts, I can’t imagine this one will last too long… it’s probably a little too strange for the standard person in Midtown, and the menu is really limited (it’s literally just two things). But if you like fried fish (or home fries for lunch) and work in the area, I’d give it a try before it disappears!  It does say breakfast on the cart also… I wonder if they serve eggs and homefries in the morning. That would be awesome! Early adopters, let us know what you think the comments…

25 Comments

  • that’s awesome. you can get #1 or #2. haha

  • Ha, finally someone brought up this cart! I was staring at it yesterday wondering where that popped up from (I can see it from my office window, it’s parked right under where I sit in the T&L Building). Maybe I’ll swing by and give it a try… but fish out of a cart??

  • @ Joanna- if you can see that cart from your office window then you are officially nominated to update us if it goes away! :-)

  • midtown east sucks. we never get anything as cool as this and when we do they go away in a heartbeat because there’s no local support. Boringest lunch area ever.

    I might catch a ride on the train today to check this out (even in this weather). I hope they have dark meat.

  • @DeanLo – I’m pretty sure they don’t have dark meat (but not positive…)

  • i work right outside this cart as well – i’ll have to check it out

  • Well 2 items aren’t bad as long as they rock. I’ll have to check them out. BTW, “well-being” is a catchphrase Koreans love; it usually refers to anything supposedly good for you. Perhaps that explains the grilled chicken, but the fried fish, probably not so much.

  • is the daughter cute?

  • They’re still giving free samples for those that want to try. I got both chicken and fish for $8, and this thing is huge. Got it with the rice (some form of vegetable fried rice with peas and carrots) and home fries (standard). You can also get w/ bread. Comes with a standard street cart salad w/ lettuce and tomatoes. Always good to have extra carts!

  • it’s good. I’m eating the fish and hash browns with white sauce. The white sauce, as one couple in front of me pried out of the daughter, is a “sour cream and … (makes squishy hands in front of her mouth) garlic… taste.”

    fish is panko crusted. potatoes have paprika and garlic and a pinch of salt. nice and browned with some crispy parts. 12 minute wait with 2 people ahead of me. i forgot to ask about dark meat but my guess is also no. oh well.

    @CH, the ‘daughter’ is the one you see in the picture above with the yellow hoodie. she’s cute-ish but not something to drool over.

    @ richard, i didn’t know you could get both and with two carbs for only 2 more dollars?!

  • oh i forgot to mention the green bell peppers in the hash. and the salad is just two triangles of tomato and some iceberg.

  • I just went and got the chick and rice very reminiscent of carnegie johns chick platter but with fried rice and I had no wait which is a huge plus and 7 with a bottle water I hope Zach is wrong and this place lasts.

  • @CH, I agree with DeanLo – cute-ish is the right word. I don’t think she’s used to the cart, because while I was waiting for my food, she reached over once and banged her head on a napkin container (small metal box) pretty hard. She just moved on and placed the container behind her.

    @DeanLo – yea, i just asked for both rice and potatoes. They seemed surprise that someone would want both, but the older lady offered to give a bit of each (still amounted to a lot). I also speak Korean, so that might’ve helped my cause.

  • cutish? she looks cute to me. and the food looks great. i’m there!

  • are you guys really going up to two inches to the screen and checking out a dim image of the daughter? because that’s what i just did to see what the fuss is about; i saw the security guard before i saw her

  • Just the name of this cart makes me want to try it just once before it closes.

    It’s sounds like the lyrics to a Korean karaoke love ballad that doesn’t translate well into English, re: Brett karaoking “Happy Dance” on an episode of Flight of the Conchords.

  • “Cutish?” You crazy-asses sound like you’re about to go bukkake all over your monitors

  • I had the fish w/rice and salad w/white and hot sauce.

    The portion was plentiful and the food wasn’t half bad. No tomatoes in my salad. Like Zach said, fish was fried niceless and didn’t taste fishy.

    I’ll go back to try the chicken and home fries to see if it can really compare to Carnegie John.

    I also agree that the daughter is a cart newbie.

  • niceless s/b nicely

  • “Well-being” or as Koreans pronunce it “well bing” is nothing more than the concept of taking things naturally, cooking naturally, and using fresh ingredients (i.e. “holistic”). I frankly hate the term.

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