Midtown Lunch

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.

When I first spotted Gyro King, I was convinced that it would be legit. I am not sure exactly what that meant, but I vaguely had in mind a sublime doner kebab sandwich from London. Even with the differences in gyros and doner kebabs, I was hopeful for something amazing. I think the fact that Gyro King is set down off the street, but still has the feel of a cart furthered my anticipation. I was excited.

The menu was plentiful in inexpensive dishes, but I had my sights set on the combo platter ($5.99). In fact, nothing else on the menu interested me. Maybe the lamb chop and chicken tikka platter, but not enough to motivate me to order it. This was odd considering I normally want to try everything on the menu. I did add two falafel to round out the combo bringing the cost to $7.00.

To the platter, I added my selection from their varied salad bar – lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, chickpeas, jalapeños, black olives, pickled peppers, and cauliflower. For my own personal preference, I should have skipped the black olives, but I like that you have so many options, and you can make your decision visually. It wasn’t until the people behind me on line ordered a pita with their platter that I realized it wasn’t automatically included with the meal, which was a little disappointing.

I wished they had taken a little more care with carving the gyro. The rotating stick of meat had a nice crisp on it, but instead of carving slivers when ordered (like what was shown on the photos), they carved larger wedges and then chopped it into smaller pieces on flat top. So basically, the whole dish became street meat. Really good street meat.

The white sauce had lots of herbs blended in, and the hot sauce was good, but they also have an amazing green sauce that I highly recommend. Not certain of the ingredients, but it added another layer of flavor. The rice had tons of cumin seeds, which I loved, but might not be for everyone.

The + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• Finally, street meat that can be ordered, prepared and enjoyed indoors.
• Gyro King has a great atmosphere for street meat.
• The full salad bar elevates Gyro King.

The – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• Why would Gyro King not take full advantage of the beautiful roasted gyro meat?
• They have a pretty boring menu without any surprises.
• The 1:1 Cumin:Rice grain ratio is ridiculous.

Gyro King, 203 East 26th Street btwn 3rd and 2nd Aves, (917) 791-5311