Midtown Lunch

When the news first broke that Kwik Meal was going to be opening a pasta cart on 45th and 6th (next to their very famous street meat cart) I think we were all understandably skeptical.  Nevermind the simple fact that pasta from a cart seems like it would be difficult to pull off for anybody, but even if the noodles are cooked right what would pasta even taste like made by a guy known for his lamb over rice platters?  That being said, Muhammed Rahman is a good cook.  He famously spent time cooking at the Russian Tea Room, and he even owns an Italian pizza and pasta joint up in Harlem.  So maybe it’s not far fetched.  And once the positive reviews started pouring in, I had to go check this out for myself.

Smartly the cart has limited the options to one kind of pasta (angel hair), and one kind of sauce (a light marinara), but you get your choice of two proteins (tiger shrimp or chicken) or you can just have mixed vegetables.  Angel hair is a smart choice for a cart.  It’s quick to boil, and harder to overcook.  In fact my pasta spent a lot of time in that closed container before I ate, and shockingly never became mushy.  I went with the chicken, which is the exact same chicken they serve on the Kwik Meal cart.  It’s pre-cooked before going into the pasta (also to save time) so it doesn’t end up getting a bit dry.  But that’s pretty much my only complaint.  The sauce has a decent flavor, and he doesn’t drown the pasta in it.  I asked for mine spicy, so it had this great kick that distinguishes it from most of the other fast food pasta options you’ll find in Midtown (like an arrabiata).  And for $6 it was a ton of food.

Is it the best pasta you’ll ever eat? Of course not. And there are certainly things you could nit-pick about.  But it’s better than the one or two pastas I’ve tried at those crappy, generic Midtown deli “pasta bars”.  And that alone makes it a top notch Midtown Lunch.

Kwik Pastas, SW Corner of 45th and 6th (just West of the Kwik Meal Cart)