Midtown Lunch

Despite the crowds, Village Voice’s Choice Streets last night was a huge success. 23 food trucks from across the city served samples from their vehicle and made the lines worth the wait.

This year, a new system was implemented – a passport. Everybody got a stamp at each truck, which helped with food control (previous years saw lots of trucks run out of food early in the night) and gave me a fun conquest to get as many stamps as possible. It also made the lines move a little quicker.

The roster of trucks was made up of plenty of old favorites, like The Treats Truck which featured Kim Ima’s smiling face handing out Mexican chocolate brownies and rice crispie treats, Uncle Gussy’s serving up their signature souvlaki and gyros, and Vendy Award winners Solber Pupusa, who don’t make nearly enough visits to Midtown.

Of course, this is also an opportunity to try out some brand new food trucks. Taipan Fusion, which is affiliated with a restaurant in Queens and has been making the rounds in Midtown for a few weeks, fuses Chinese, Thai, and Indian cuisines. They served up fried rice with chunks of chicken and spices. There was a bit of a sweet, coconut flavor and a hint of aromatic spice. Would like to see some of their other dishes.

The previously announced Dub Pies was absent, but in its place was Yankee Doodle Dandy, an all-American truck whose owners hail from Tennessee

and their plate of breaded chicken tenders, fries, and toast with a secret sauce hints at typical mid-American fast food.

Shanghai Sogo’s chive and pork dumpling was complemented nicely with a homemade soy sauce and a deeply flavorful five-spiced egg. This is another new truck that we’ve somehow not yet reviewed in Midtown and one I will be hunting down in the coming weeks.

Choice Streets was also another opportunity to taste the coconut-laced chicken rendang from Love Mamk & Luky Yim, two connected businesses that mostly operate downtown. We’re good on Thai, but we need more Malaysian in Midtown!

But the winner of the night for me, aside from a boozy Kelvin Slush, was Moo Shu Grill. This new truck continues to put out tender and perfectly spiced meat (we got their Taiwanese basil chicken) wrapped in a toasted moo shu wrap. If you haven’t tried them yet, I recommend a visit. And thanks to Choice Streets for letting me taste them (and all these other food truck offerings) aboard the Intrepid.

See you next year!