Midtown Lunch

Prowling my way across 33rd en route to scout out something new and exciting on 7th Ave (spoiler alert: nothing yet), there has to be something good where all the union ironworkers and building tradesmen gather on their lunch break. The construction on Penn Station has them congregating on the north side of 33rd for lunches, where no less than five carts – three halal carts, one hot dog cart, and one fresh-squeezed juicery – seek to service the foot traffic on this exit from Penn. All five look like any other carts, but I happen to notice that one of them shows a list of Indian items. Okay, now we’re talking – lamb over rice is one thing and can be had almost anywhere, but if you say you do palak paneer then you have my attention.

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Papa Perrone’s has not made a visit to Midtown in at least a year now. He’s found a bit more success downtown and in Williamsburg over the last few months, but word on the street is that owner JohnPaul has sold his truck and the Papa Perrone truck as we know it is sadly no more. Thankfully, his rice balls live on. You can find them at Jianetto’s Pizza truck daily and at certain days on the Valducci’s Pizza truck. Based on his Twitter feed, JohnPaul is hoping to eventually distribute the rice balls across the country. But the truck itself will surely be missed around these parts…

Taboonette. Photo courtesy of James Boo/The Eaten Path

• Why didn’t Taboon open this place in Midtown!?!?! [The Eaten Path]
• Num Pang is coming to the Flatiron [Grub Street]
• Hooters is taking over the Peep World space near Penn Station [Gothamist]
• Here are two good soba options in Midtown [SENY]
• Watch Josh Ozersky eat a shit-ton of Mr. Softee [Ozersky.TV]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent posts about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

A few weeks back, one of our ML readers graciously compiled a list of suggestions for ML Happy Hour in the comments section of a post on Jimmy’s Grill and Bar. The suggestion that really caught my eye was Barcelona Bar (8th Ave. btw. 54th and 55th). I went to their website, where the 4-7pm happy hour specials: $3 Bud Light drafts, $4 domestic bottles, and $4 wells were clearly advertised. It looked like a decent deal. The site described the bar as “A Barcelona-style shot bar in NYC”. Shots. Not my bag, but that’s fine. They must also have all the wonderful things you would find in actual Barcelona, right? Tapas, cava, tempranillo, maybe a little Ibiza-style trance music… can’t wait.

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On the ML Twitter Tracker today… Okadaman is on 48th btw. Park+Lex, Red Hook Lobster Pound is on 46th & 6th Seoul Food is on 51st & Park, Cinnamon Snail is on 47th & Park, Toum NYC is on  forcing Crisp on Wheels to move to 47th & Park, Luke’s Lobster is on 47th & Madison, Phil’s Steaks is on 51st btw. Park+Mad, Chinese Mirch is on B’way btw. 55+56th, Fun Buns is on 48th btw. 6+7th and Bian Dang is on 47th and Park, Eddie’s Pizza is on 40th & 5th, Wafels & Dinges has a truck on 49th & 3rd and a cart 40th & Park, Uncle Gussy’s is on 51st & Park w/ pork chops, Bob & Jo is on Vanderbilt btw 45+46th, and it sounds like the Treats Truck may or may not be in Midtown for their cryptic tweet.  Get out there and support the truck that are braving the shitty weather today…

And speaking of street food, if you’ve been wanting to try Ma Peche’s street meat inspired large format dinner but didn’t want to shell out the cash, next Friday (8/17) is a pretty good chance to do it.  There are still tickets to the 56th Street Round Table at Ma Peche next week (featuring our very own Zach!) The price includes a ticket to the discussion about the history of street food in New York City, and then you get lunch afterwards that includes a sampling of their street-meat inspired large format dinner!  There are only a few tickets left, so you might want to get on that sooner rather than later.

Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Before Summer Fridays are a distant memory, I wanted to share with you the perfect spot to waste away a Friday afternoon with lunch and drinks. As an additional enticement, Barfly has a small area (about 10 tables) of outdoor seating. So if you are able to find a beautiful, sunny lunch hour, I recommend spending it here.

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• Kim’s Aunt Kitchen Cart hasn’t gone anywhere [Midtown Eating]
• Kwik Gourmet has raised their prices as well [Midtown Eating]
• The puri from the Famous Dal Wagon is great [Midtown Eating]
• A ML Happy Hour meetup is forming around the 28th [Connections]

I never really looked twice at the cart that has been set up for the past several months next to Kwik Meal on 45th & 6th avenue. As a loyal Kwik meal customer for several years and lover of their chicken pitas, I admit it never occurred to me to try whatever carts (and there have been a few over the years) that decided to try their luck nearby. While walking on 45th street the other day, I finally took notice of the Aamir Halah Food cart (sister cart to the one on 46th street), because they were offering Thai sweet chili kati rolls. Yep, like Biryani Cart, they added Kati Rolls to the menu, and not only that, but they’re ripping off Biryani’s popular Chennai rolls.

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