Midtown Lunch

I have to give Danny from Food in Mouth full and complete credit for this one. On Friday he posted about the newest truck to hit the mobile food scene here in New York City: NYC Cravings. Terrible name… but the food sounded intriguing.  At the end of his post he begged them to come to Midtown for lunch, and yesterday they obliged- parking on 45th btw. 6+7th. Huge crowds turned out for their Taiwanese style fried chicken, served over rice with “a secret pork sauce” and by 1:15 they were out of food.

I was lucky enough to be there on the early side, and got to try what could be my new favorite truck in New York City.

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I’ve been wanting to try the “100% Halal Food” cart (on the SW corner of 54th & Park Ave.) for awhile now. Obviously it was the assortment of fried goods hovering above the standard halal chicken and lamb covered griddle that intrigued me, and after reading on Wined and Dined that it was owned by the same guy that runs 100% Halal & Healthy (on 55th btw. Park+Mad) I was sold.

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Lunch’er Josh, aka NYC Foodie, tipped me off to a new cart called Aamir Halal Food- which is serving chicken tikka and lamb over rice on the opposite corner diagonally across the street from the Biryani Cart (on 46th and 6th). According to Josh, the new cart is run by Aamir Hussein- who just so happens to be the father-in-law of Meru, the owner/chef of the Biryani Cart. When I stopped by to ask Meru about it yesterday, he called the new cart “competition” and admitted that it was in fact his father-in-law running the cart, and serving very similar food. He stopped short of saying it was causing “a problem in his family” (my words, not his) but I could see he wasn’t too psyched about the whole situation.  If I had to translate the look he gave me into words, I think it would be: “it is what it is”.

Totally in the mood for some street meat (I’ve been on a street cart tear lately) I headed over to this new unauthorized copy of the Biryani cart to see what was going on.

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I’m always hesitant to check out carts when they first open.  So few know exactly what they are going to do from day one, and their list of offerings ends up morphing multiple times before they settle on a set menu.  (Anybody remember those white bread bulgogi sandwiches?)  So when the Happy Well Being House Cart popped up on 50th btw. 6+7th a few weeks ago, I decided to stand back and wait.  Their unconventional fried fish or grilled chicken with rice or potatoes menu seemed destined to be a flash in the pan.  When they added bulgogi a few weeks later, things started to seem a little more promising.  Once I found out they were related to the Downtown bulgogi cart that has been operating for awhile, I felt these guys were probably here to say.

And now that I’ve tried the food… I *know* they are.

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XPL, the street meat cart that surprised everybody by coming in 2nd place at last year’s Street Meat Palooza, might have raised their prices recently: “Hey Zach, Went down to the 3rd Ave. outpost of the XPL Halal food cart at 48th St. for lunch today. They charged $5 for a platter (chicken or lamb over rice) and included in that price was a free drink. Great deal, and pretty good street meat for us eastsiders not a quick walk from the Halal Guys on 53rd and 6th. Anyway, I got my food and my normal drink and instead of receiving a $5 bill as change for my $10, I got four singles. So just like that, I guess they’re now charging $1 for drinks. Not a huge deal, as $6 for meal and drink is still good. I just won’t be getting drinks from there any more so that I can keep my costs steady at $5. P.S. – The rice today, usually a standout, was bland and flavorless. I’m hoping it was just a bad batch… Edward”

Sounds like they either started charging for drinks… or maybe they are now charging $6 (and you still get the free soda.) Anybody else experience this? (Or bad rice?) XPL has locations on 3rd & 48th, Park Ave. & 48th, and Broadway btw. 53+54th.

Yesterday I made it back to that Halal cart on 53rd & Park that is now serving tacos and burritos (not to be confused with the new El Rey del Sabor cart on 49th btw. Lex+3rd).  The cart has been around for a few months, but they only started serving the Mexican food a month ago.  I tried the $3 chicken burrito with everything (rice, beans, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, jalapenos) as recommended by Lunch’er “Alan”, and was pleasantly surprised with how tasty it was.

The innards are after the jump…

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I stopped by the new, second location, of the El Rey del Sabor cart yesterday (on 49th btw. Lex+3rd) and discovered a few little tidbits.  First, for those of you wondering what happened to the teriyaki/udon cart that popped up in that same spot a month ago… the new Mexican cart is the ramen cart.  The El Rey del Sabor people bought the udon cart (and the spot, in theory) and converted it into a second branch of their popular Mexican food cart (the first one is on 60th and 3rd).  The teriyaki guys gave no reason for wanting to sell their cart after only a month and a half, but the El Rey del Sabor people suspect it might be because they were intimidated by the street meat vendors in the area.

The same intimidation El Rey del Sabor has been feeling since setting up shop two days ago on that corner.

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If you were bummed out about the Pinche Taqueria news from earlier today, this should immediately cheer you up:  There were a lot of comments and emails yesterday asking what happened to the El Rey del Sabor cart (on 60th & 3rd).  Apparently they were missing from their usual spot yesterday because they were… wait for it… wait for it… setting up a second cart on 49th & 3rd!!!  That’s right- El Rey del Sabor now has a second cart on 49th Street and 3rd Ave. So if you’ve been meaning to try what I think is the best Mexican food in Midtown, but couldn’t make it all the way up to 60th street and back to work in an hour, now you have no excuse.  And for those who were missing the original cart yesterday, fear not- it will be back in its normal spot today.

Related:
The New El Rey del Sabor is Serving Authentic Mexican Food from a Cart
El Rey Del Sabor Round Two: Mole, Tamales, and a Spicy New Creation You Won’t Want to Miss

After settling on my “chicken scampi” lunch the other day from the Magdy’s Cheesesteak cart (on Park and 46th), I stumbled across this random sign on what seemed like an otherwise standard street meat cart.  I was super curious, but already full- and vowed to return in my obligatory roll as Midtown guinea pig.  Luckily Lunch’er “Alan” beat me to the punch, and sent along this mini-review:

This Cart on 53rd & Park has been here for a month or two has recently added burritos to their menu. The cart appears to be run by a Mexican couple. For $3 the decent sized burrito included chicken or ground beef, rice, tomato, onions, cheese, hot sauce and sour cream. It was a pretty good burrito considering the options in the immidiate area. Really a great price for what it is, a nice change from your typical halal cart.

The photo of his burrito is after the jump…

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