Midtown Lunch

Since food trucks are still out doing the important work of helping Hurricane Sandy victims, Midtown Lunchers have more limited choices than usual. But it’s a great thing! I love that the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City has embraced our food trucks, and it seems this effort is benefitting everyone involved. Plus, I’m getting a chance to hit up one of my favorite classic carts: El Rey Del Sabor.

El Rey Del Sabor is a Midtown Lunch sweetheart, and it has recently been voted one of the fifteen top places for Mexican food in NYC by Eater’s readers. I’ve been attempting to go through the menu slowly but surely, trying their tamales, pastelillos, and… now their tortas. There are many culinary examples of tortas that vary from country to country, but in Mexico, they are a meat-filled sandwich on a white, crusty roll. Zach put them on his Midtown wish list way back in 2007, and since then they have popped up at Certe and Mexico Blvd. Mamacita also gave a good rec to a torta of the pork variety in a write up about El Rey Del Sabor not long ago. I was really looking forward to giving them a shot.

Well, readers, in a nutshell: I fought the torta, and the torta won. Twice.

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Amid all the buzz about Nuchas Empanadas, I feel compelled to remind you that El Rey Del Sabor, aka The King of Flavor, serves some nice, cheap, and BIG pastelillos, or Puerto Rican style Empanadas. Even before the Nuchas truck opened, I was scoping out the Nuchas scene. I ventured down to Times Square to try an empanada at their kiosk. I’ve been eating empanadas from the delightful Empanadas Cafe in Corona for the past few years, so when I looked in the window at Nuchas and saw the size of those tiny little shits I spun on my heels. No way in hell am I paying $3.00 for something just slightly larger than my big toe.

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Last week El Rey de Sabor let us know that they were thinking about starting rotating specials every few days. First up: Chile Relleno. I hustled over to check it out, and if the chile relleno is anything to go by, these rotating specials are going to be a smash success. What I found after the jump:

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I’m never scared about eating from a food cart. We’ve touted their cleanliness and deliciousness for years, but when I found out that El Rey del Sabor would be serving actual grasshoppers (chapulines) from their three carts this week, I knew I would have to face my first insect lunch. And my heart slowly made its way to my throat.

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Now here’s something completely different! We got word at the end of last week that El Rey del Sabor will be serving chapulines as a special this week from all three of their carts in Midtown. For those of you who don’t speak insect, chapulines are grasshoppers and they’re commonly eaten in many areas of Mexico, including the owner Rosa’s hometown of Puebla. They’ve been imported from Mexico, and you’ll be able to order them in a taco, burrito, quesadilla, or torta- but there is only a limited supply, so if you want a taste you might want to get there early in the week.

El Rey Del Sabor’s carts have long been a mainstay of Mexican Midtown Lunch’ing. Their menu has everything you’d expect: tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos. But did you know that they also serve a Mexified version of classic street meat? I sure didn’t until I saw someone get a plate of it from the cart on 43rd and 6th. The only logical thing for me to do was order one of my own (Street Meat Palooza 4 results might not be out yet, but it’s never too early to start doing research for next year).

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On Saturday we gathered together at City Winery with a couple hundred of our closest friends to celebrate the 5 year anniversary of Midtown Lunch (yes, we too are surprised this thing has been around for 5 years!)   A great time was had by all thanks to the amazing food (provided graciously by Kwik Meal, The Biryani Cart, Cer Te, Ma Peche, Food Gallery 32, El Rey del Sabor, Tri Tip Grill, Wafels & Dinges, Miss Softee & the Rolling Cones, Kelvin Slush, and Momofuku Milk Bar) and the endless drinks courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery and GuS’s soda.

Check out the highlights, after the jump…

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For those of you just north of Grand Central hoping for some Mexican deliciousness from El Rey del Sabor during the middle of this week, you’ll have to wait until at least Friday. The cart they normally have parked on 49th Street and Park will be off the streets from today until at least Thursday for its inspection. Though if you really need your fix there’s always the ERdS carts on 43rd & 6th or the original on 60th & 3rd.

Can I just take a quick minute to get nostalgic about El Rey del Sabor? It was actually two years ago this week that I first tried the original cart on 60th and 3rd.  They had been open for just a month, parked behind Bloomingdales (on 60th and 3rd), and needless to say I was excited.  Back then it was just one cart, run by Vilio (who cooked the food) and his sister Rosa (who made the tortillas by hand.)  This was back before their Mexican cheesesteak, their second cart on 49th and Park, their run in with Rafiqi, the fight their third cart on 43rd had with that halal vendor, and of course plantergate. Rosa no longer makes the tortillas by hand (the 3 carts are way too busy), but they now serve al pastor, and chalupas.  Of course last month they were nominated for the 2010 Vendy Awards, and yesterday they got a full spread in Serious Eats: New York. They’re facing some stiff competition at the Vendy’s this weekend, and I don’t know if they can pull it off (Patacon Pisao and Schnitzel & Things are some fierce competition). But no matter what happens it won’t make us feel any less proud.