Midtown Lunch

Photo by Dave Cook from Eating in Translation

The Pranzo Pizza Truck, which popped up on 55th btw. Park+Lex last October, and then disappeared, has been found (sort of) by Eating in Translation! This sign was spotted yesterday in Washington Heights. Lesson learned: if you copy a concept from a really popular vendor (in this case the much loved Jiannetto’s Pizza Truck), you may want to park your truck a little more than 6 blocks away from the original. Carribean Spice Cart (on 46th St btw. 6+7th)… you’ve been warned.

Related:
Midtown Links (Pizza Truck is M.I.A. & the Treats Truck is Sick Edition)
The Pranzo Pizza Truck Attempts to Replace Jiannetto’s as Best Grandma Slice

Due to its non-Midtown location, I haven’t been able to use this blog as an excuse to sample the much written about Dessert Truck. (In case you thought this site was started to help you people find lunch, its true purpose was to allow me to eat gross and fattening lunches, and be able to say “It’s for work!”). Well, that is about to change this summer. Right now, the Dessert Truck spends Tuesday-Sunday nights on University Place & 8th St., but once the weather gets warmer, Co-owner Chris Chen told me they are hoping to park the truck during the day in… wait for it… wait for it… Midtown!

They haven’t decided on a location yet (and from the struggle the Treats Truck had, I’m guessing it won’t be easy), but I assured them that no matter where the truck was parked, they would be welcomed with open mouths by the Midtown Lunch’ing faithful. I also used this bit of news as an excuse to sample four of their creations (Gianduja Pot de Creme, Vanilla Creme Brulee, Chocolate Bread Pudding, and the Milk Chocolate w/ Peanut Butter). All were outstanding, and for just $5 a pop, a pretty amazing bargain for desserts that would normally cost $10 in a restaurant. For a really great round-up of the truck’s offerings, check out this post by Robyn Lee on Ed Levine Eats.

The sad thing is, I didn’t have to wait this long for the Midtown Lunch-Dessert Truck connection. The truck rents kitchen space right above Daisy May’s BBQ on 11th Ave. & 46th St., home base of the Daisy May’s BBQ Cart on 50th btw. 6+7th- a bonafied Midtown Lunch!

For those of you keeping score at home:

• Treats Truck – Midtown Lunch’ing favorite! Here at least 3 days a week
• Waffles Truck – Coming soon!
• Dessert Truck – Coming soon as well!

Stay tuned for more details… and if you have any news to report, email it to zach@midtownlunch.com

It turns out the new cart that popped up Monday on 46th btw. 6+7th is from the owners of Caribbean Spice, the now shuttered Hell’s Kitchen restaurant that used to be on 44th btw. 9+10th Ave.  Their hand written signs may be scrawled on posterboard, but the menu is pretty straight forward.  Jerk chicken, stewed chicken, curry chicken or goat, and oxtails, served over rice and peas.  Sound familiar?  You can’t help but think these ladies must have been influenced in some way by the success of the Jamaican Dutchy on 51st & 7th.  Only a 6 or 7 minute walk away, you’ve got to admire the boldness of setting up shop so close to what I consider one of the best carts in Midtown. 

It’s not really fair to judge the food on day 4, but I just can’t resist the exitement of a new cart. Check out the plate of food I got yesterday, after the jump… Read more »

If you love food sold from trucks (and quite frankly, why wouldn’t you?), then you probably have heard of, or seen, the Wafels & Dinges Truck.  Dispensing 2 kind of waffles (brussels & liege), and all sort of toppings (dinges), the bright yellow truck has taken the city by storm, parking in the Flatiron District in the morning (Park btw. 26+27th), and by NYU in the afternoons.  Sadly there has been no waffel action for Midtown, and we have had to look on in jealousy.  But that’s all about to change…  

Midtown Lunch has learned that Augustin’s Waffles, a New Jersey company that specializes in liege waffles from Belgium, will be starting up their own Waffle Truck in the next 4 to 5 weeks.  You may recognize that name from last week’s “Wafflegate”, the scandal that hit the blogs when Eater discovered that pre made Augustin’s Waffles were being passed off as homemade, by Waffles & Dinges, at the Fort Greene Flea Market.

As they make the transition from supplier to competitor, Augustin’s Waffles are actually already available in Midtown… Read more »

I had mentioned this a few weeks ago, but I know a lot of you don’t pay attention so here it is again, just in case (because lord knows I don’t want anybody to miss out on this).  In honor of Scotland Week there will be a cart giving away free haggis hot dogs on the corner of 52nd & Broadway, today and tomorrow from 11am to 5pm.  According to the NYDN Blog it will be at the Continental Airlines Billboard.  Free sheep’s innards for all!!!  This should be good.  See you there…

Photo Courtesy of NY Daily News

According to the Citysearch Blog there will be:

free haggis “hot dogs” from a temporary street cart near Times Square [as part of] Scotland Week… at the corner of 52nd Street and Broadway (near the Continental Airlines billboard), April 4th and 5th, 11am to 5pm.

Mark it on your calendars kids… stuffed intestines = good.  Free stuffed intestines = Midtown Lunch pandemonium!  [Scotland Week via Citysearch Blog]

The new location of Golden Krust on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th. has finally opened.  The Caribbean chain (which has multiple locations in NYC) will be offering a special grand opening lunch special price of $5.99 for fried chicken, stewed chicken or curry chicken served with rice & vegetables.  They have 3 other locations in Midtown…

• 33rd St. btw. 5th+Mad
• 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th
• A kiosk in Grand Central Terminal food court 

Golden Krust too much of a trek from your office?  Or maybe you’re just feeling lazy, but still want some jerk chicken?  The Jamaican Dutchy cart on 51st & 7th now offers delivery.  It’s a $15 minimum order, so you’ll need to get at least one other person in on the plan before calling (646-287-5004 or 347-213-2851).  Actually an afternoon office Jamaican beef patty party doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

Cupcake question, and El Sabroso hits the blogs, after the jump… Read more »

I guess it’s an Indian food kind of day… first Indus Express and now this.  The “Chef” (on the right) of the Chapati Roll/Biriyani Cart (46th & 6th Ave.), has returned after two and a half months in Bangladesh, and as promised there’s some new stuff to talk about.  Let’s get the bad news out of the way first… two Kati Rolls/Chapati rolls are now $5 ($6 for lamb).  $4 was a ridiculously low price, so I don’t begrudge the cart a little price increase…

Now on to the good news… they’ve added a fifth kind of Chapati Roll to their menu- the vegetarian Aloo Gobi roll (curried potatoes and cauliflower).  I’ve been on a big cauliflower kick since having this sandwich 6 months ago, so I’m excited to try this.   They’ve also added the chicken tikka masala and biriyani to the permanent menu, items previously only available as specials on certain days.

On the seafood front, there is now a salmon dish (presumably to compete with the Kwik Meal Cart’s fish platter).  And even more items are in the works, including shami kebabs (made from ground up lamb or chicken), and chapli kebabs (made from ground up beef).

A shot of the menu, plus the big news for Chapati Roll lovers on the East side, after the jump… Read more »

For anybody who has ever been to England, it isn’t that hard to imagine baked potatoes being sold from a cart.  Jacket potatoes, as they’re known there, are pretty commonplace in the UK- but who knew we had one right here in Midtown?   The “Baked Potato King” has been on the corner of 39th & Broadway forever, and it felt like quite the coincidence that I saw it for the first time the week after I got back from London.  I’m not a huge baked potato fan (sliced and fried is my preferred method of eating spuds), so I haven’t rushed over to try it- but luckily for those who are, Midtown Lunch’er Jasmine filed this report, complete with photos:

The Potato King sits on 39th St just west of Broadway, and the guy manning it is nice.  You could tell he had a lot of regulars, as he seemed to know everyone in front of and behind me in line.  All of the potatoes are $4.00 except for the two at the bottom of the menu which are listed at $3.99.  I’m not sue what that’s about.

The potatoes are kept in a stand up oven with several shelves, sans foil or anything to keep moisture in, which left them a tad dry.  You can pick regular or sweet potato and he’ll poke at them first to find the softest one.  He doesn’t use gloves to pick them up so caution if you’re an “eat the skin” type of person.  It gets thrown into a little styrofoam container, sliced down the center and smushed to make a pit in the middle.  The “mixed vegetables” were the frozen green bean/corn/lima bean mix that is common at the supermarket.  The mushrooms are canned, and the broccoli is also frozen. 

The lowdown on the cheese (clearly the most important ingredient), plus the bad news about Jasmine’s potato… after the jump. 

Read more »