Midtown Lunch

After the craziness of opening week, I’ve been terrified to return to UrbanSpace. There are plenty of food vendors I have not yet tried, but I can’t handle the crowds (not to mention the overpriced food).

Yet over the weekend I found myself hungry for a bite nearby and thought I’d check it out again. I can tell you weekends (or perhaps before or after the weekday lunch rush) is the time to visit this food court. I had time to walk around, snap some photos, and order some food rather quickly.

I also noticed some changes since I was here last. Most importantly, Delaney Chicken now only offers fried chicken wings after 4pm. Plus the price has been lowered from $10 to $8 and you get a half dozen as opposed to two big wings. Perhaps they listened to Yvo’s complaints. The focus is now on a fried chicken sandwich for $8. The cashier told me the sandwich is made from thigh meat rather than breast meat. I certainly prefer the tastier thigh meat, but does this mean this will be more of a slider than a sandwich? I’m eager to find out.

The other change I noticed is that AB Biagi is no longer selling gelato (perhaps because of the cold weather?) and has been replaced by Kettle Corn NYC selling bags of sweet and salty popcorn.

As for a snack, I had been meaning to try No. 7′s double decker broccoli tacos and this was a perfect opportunity. I discovered that they too are only a pop-up shop and will be at UrbanSpace temporarily (I was told at least through February). But for that reason they wouldn’t take cash. Seemed very strange and a bit frustrating to HAVE to pay with a credit card.

In the past, I’ve been a fan of No. 7′s wacky sandwiches and so was eager to try this taco which instead of a double wrap of soft corn tortillas, they wrap the filling with a crunchy taco shell and then one soft grilled tortilla. Kind of ingenious since you get both the crunchy and soft experience.

There is no meat inside, but instead roasted broccoli, a layer of black bean hummus, some feta cheese, and a garnish of fried shallots. It’s tasty enough, but to be honest you don’t get much flavor from the broccoli. So I really missed the meat. I liked the beans and the cheese, but it did feel like something was missing. And at $6 for one or $10 for two, I’m not sure it’s worth it unless you’re a vegetarian (or vegan).

There’s still more to explore at UrbanSpace, especially now that I know Delaney has an $8 fried chicken sandwich, but I might have to make this a Midtown Weekend Lunch.