Midtown Lunch

The new Kosher Oasis Cart has had an interesting first couple of months. It first appeared on 44th street (btw. 6+7th) at the end of last year, but then like a mirage (or oasis?) it reappeared on 47th, only to disappear and reappear again a few times throughout August. It seems to have settled in over on 47th Street (btw. 6+7th), but it was forced to move somewhere else on Wednesdays (possibly related to the intimidation reported by the local news?)

But what about the food?  I headed over recently to sample a few of their menu items. (And by “sample” I mean stuff my fat face with pretty much everything they make.)

This is actually only half of the sandwich (it’s pretty long)

It seems like schnitzel is everywhere these days… Schnitzel & Things, Schnitzel Express, and now this.  Their version is chicken (obviously), but is pounded far thinner than the version at Schnitzel & Things or even Kosher Deluxe. You don’t get a ton of meat for your money ($7), but they make it seem a little more substantial by slicing your two small pieces of chicken into halves and spreading it out over a huge baguette roll. Their special sauces (garlic mayo, chimichurri, and hot sauce) plus the fairly strong tasting pickles made for a tasty enough sandwich, and by pounding the chicken thin they avoid drying it out in the fryer.

The owners of the Kosher Oasis also own the Brooklyn franchise of Burgers Bar (a Kosher hamburger chain that is incredibly popular in Israel) so I was pretty interested in trying their burger.  The patty was pretty thin, and didn’t seem like the best quality meat (from a burger lovers prospective), but it was seasoned pretty heavily with Middle Eastern spices- making for a pretty interesting burger experience.  Bun to meat ratio was way off as well, but the lettuce and tomato was a nice addition. The combo of the meat with the garlic mayo made for an interesting flavored burger, but for $6 I don’t think I’m going to be rushing back to get this one again and again.

The falafel was a pretty standard Israeli number.  The falafel themselves were good, with a nice crunchy outside and creamy inside, although the bread and everything else made it pretty ho-hum.  I’m not the biggest fan of Moshe’s on 46th and 6th (they have a serious ingredient distribution problem) but I doubt many die-hard Moshe’s fans will find this falafel significantly better.  The line is shorter at Kosher Oasis though, and it’s a perfectly decent sandwich ($4.75).

How can shoestring french fries ($2) be bad, right? Actually if you don’t add salt, they are. They didn’t, and I didn’t notice the little salt packets in the bag until after I finished them (well I wasn’t going to *not* eat them.) Make sure to look for the salt and ketchup in the bag, and problem solved!

And finally… I couldn’t leave without trying the Moroccan cigars ($3), right? If the thought of eating an egg roll stuffed with ground beef and middle eastern spices sounds delicious to you, you find these delicious. They are egg rolls stuffed with ground beef and middle eastern spices. Huzzah!

In the end, if you keep Kosher, you’ll be pretty excited to have another lunchtime option in Midtown. If you’re just looking for the best burger, best falafel, or best schnitzel in Midtown- and don’t care about the Kosher thing, this cart doesn’t really qualify for any of those titles. It’s just another decent cart, amongst a lot of decent carts.

Kosher Oasis, 47th btw. 6+7 on M-T, Th-Fri; 49th btw. 6+7th on Wednesdays