Midtown Lunch

From Lunch’er Will: “This is next door to me. In a real business. In the real world. A business that accepts money from patrons for food.”

Should we do a caption contest in the comments? I say yes. Winner gets a Midtown Lunch t-shirt.

How lucrative is the $1 slice business? Are we really looking at something that, when monetized and capitalized, revenue-streamed and leveraged, packaged and branded, and delivered as an active service to energized customers, is a profit component well worth integration? Or, to translate from the business buzzword crap, is it worth making a pizza oven and valuable store frontage a $1 slice outpost? NYC Fried Chicken seems to think so, and with their only previous Midtown Lunch mention being a 2008 entry from the Brooks Era giving modest mention to the chicken-to-price ratio, could the $1 slice business give this prime corner a shot? With 2 Bros and the rightfully-panned Roll and Go within a stone’s throw and Port Authority in plain view, our northwesternmost $1 slice outpost now falls into our purview. Time to see if they can stack up – er, slice up – with the big boys or if they’re better known for cheap fried chicken.

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If you were unhappy that the Nameless Empanada Cart disappeared from 34th and 8th, becoming invisible as well as anonymous perhaps through perfection of an optic camouflage empanada that covers the whole cart, rejoice! They have relocated from the southeast corner of 34th and 8th to just a bit west of the southwest corner, between the HSBC Bank and NYC DMV License Express. What better way to get a disappointing but not terrible nosh when you face losing a day to the DMV bureaucracy or if you have to take a break from laundering money to send to Iran?

The menu hasn’t changed but is now better mounted and a little more visible on both sides, and they had some fresh empanadas going into the fryer when I passed by at around 8 AM the other day. Could be a decent breakfast alternative if you don’t feel like going 1/4 block in the other direction – Lunch Box Buffet does their amazing steamed buns for breakfast, too.

Do you wonder what the ML contributors do when they’re not eating lunch in Midtown? (We’re actually pretty easy to stalk!)

Kelvin Slush waiting to be spiked. Photo by Blondie and Brownie.

Blondie and Brownie have been mixing booze with Kelvin Slushes in preparation for Vendy Awards fun… and they wrote a post about the slushes for the Vendy Awards blog. Andrea reports Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream Truck is hitting the streets of Soho, while Brian tried black grape sorbet at Il Laboratorio Del Gelato and sampled fried pig tails at The Brooklyn Star.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… Clay has been taking pictures of Brisketlab’s meat, Zach has been enjoying brisket, steak, and banchan at Man Kang in LA’s K-town, Jamie ate the Blue Belly BBQ Platter in Philly, and Rachel cooked breakfast tacos.

Despite it being a little late in the season to begin selling ice cream sandwiches, Smush “The NY Deli of Desserts” (40th btw 5th+6th) opened its doors late last week. I was just as confused as you about what “deli of desserts” could possibly mean and whether or not it really involved penguins wearing hats, so I did what any rational being would do, I stopped by, hoping to eat ice cream while making penguin friends.

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Finally… truck visits the underappreciated wasteland of the 30s! Even better, a midtown first-timer! As welcoming as I am towards options in this southern tier of midtown, many ML Lunch’ers and contributors have been less than impressed by the steadily-more-frequent visitor, Domo Taco (I for one really liked ’em back when I was just a wee Lunch’er, so long as you order the right things off their admittedly limited menu). Taco Bite, which made mention of coming to Midtown last month, finally made good on their word today. Alas, though, when Taco Bite and Domo Taco literally square off back-to-back against each other – no, really – is this newcomer’s promise of authenticity and options going to help give the truck better midtown roots? Is Domo Taco still the king of the tortillas (but only if you get the chicken tacos)? Dive in to this Jets vs. Sharks-esque taco-off and let’s take a bite.

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The TV show Smash is filming in Midtown today, taking up quite a bit of parking space around 44th and 6th… which could wreak havoc on food truck parking. Show your support! Cinnamon Snail is at 55th and Broadway, and Kimchi Taco 55th St. b/w 6th & 7th. Valduccis is at 52nd and Park, Crisp on Wheels is on 53rd btw Park and Madison, and Comme Ci Comme Ca is at 57th and Park. In the 40s, Okadamon is at 48th and Park, Domo Taco is at 47th and Park, and the Red Hook Lobster Truck is at the New York Public Library on 40th and 5th. Wafels & Dinges is slightly out of bounds at Columbus Circle, 60th & 5th.  As always you’ll want to check the ML Twitter Tracker before heading out.

The Vendys are T-minus four days away. We’re already pumped for the Dessert and Vendy Cup categories and today we have the official announcement of the Rookie of the Year nominees. This year one of these will go down in history with previous winners Korilla BBQ and Souvlaki GR. And three of the five nominated vendors are Midtown regulars.

Phil’s Steaks and Okadaman have found a dedicated following in just the last few months with their philly cheesesteaks and Japanese bar food, respectively. Chinese Mirch has taken Chinese-Indian fusion to the street and scored with their Tibetan momos. The final two nominees hang downtown on a regular basis, but maybe we can soon convince them to re-locate to above 32nd Street. Morocho specializes in Peruvian-fusion food like lomo saltado tacos and Latin American burgers, while Cambobian Cuisine Torsu has appeared in the Flatiron and is rather self-explanatory. UPDATE: We just found out that there was one more nominee!  Congrats to Fun Buns, Bian Dang’s new Asian buns cart.  They too will compete for the Rookie prize this weekend.  So I guess that makes 4 of 6 that spend time in Midtown!

If you haven’t yet purchased your tickets, maybe the promise of tastings from these five vendors will seal the deal. Not to mention special events for Early Entry ticket holders featuring the likes of Zach, Blondie, Brownie, and myself. What are you waiting for? Click here now.

Kabab & Grill, perhaps the best known Spanish/Bengali joint in the Garment District (or anywhere else, correct me if I’m wrong) has closed down. Their storefront shuttered, their sign dark, and according to a helpful superintendent for the building next door, in the process of being gutted.  The Midtown Lunch reader who sent us the tip reported that they were reportedly closed for health violations, but there’s no entry for them in the DoH database. The on-site source we encountered did confirm that a large-scale renovation was in place, although there’s no word on what’s going in. As far as we could tell, no restaurant equipment like stoves, fridges, etc. has been removed – yet.

While they somehow slipped under the Midtown Lunch radar, I do remember them doing decent business whenever I walked past. You can always hit up the not-too-far-off Salt & Pepper for your Hispano-Indian fusion fix if you’re craving chicken tandoor a la plancha or just want to eat excellent cabbie fare.