No. 7 Veggie’s Broccoli Tacos and Some Changes at UrbanSpace

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 and has been replaced by Kettle Corn NYC selling bags of sweet and salty popcorn.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.

UrbanSpace Vanderbilt, 230 Park Avenue (at 45th Street), (212) 529-9262

4 Comments

  • FREAK OF THE WEEK

  • Brian, you rock

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    I had the chicken sandwich last week at about 7ish… It’s two AMPLE pieces of fried chicken between two flimsy buns. I saw them assemble my friends and when they put the first piece I was like wow that’s a big piece worthy of an $8 sandwich… and then I saw her put another large piece and thought, jesus that’s ALOT. Personally, I took one piece off to eat it plain and the other piece I had with the sandwich. It was a good sandwich, but I wasn’t blown away by any means.

  • I wandered in yesterday after work expecting less of a crowd. No line at Delaney’s, but nowhere to sit, either. So I got the wings and a sandwich to go.

    Those are big wings. Wing pieces now, of course, but they’re big and battered the same as the sandwich, which was altogether too much food for one meal. I liked the size of the sandwich, even leaving both pieces in; not too much flavor once you get past the sweet-ish coating. Fuku gets the nod in my book for better chicken sandwich, but this one I can get in Midtown.

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