Midtown Lunch

When opening a new business, there are two ways of going about finding a location.  #1.  Find an underserved area, where your presence will fill a niche that is currently not being addressed.  Or there is #2.  Find a successful business that is similar, open up next door, and either benefit from their overflow, or crush them under the weight of your greatness. (Or fail miserably.)  Either way, I’ve seen #2 happen all over Midtown.  Kobe Club & Quality Meats, the M&M store & the Hershey Store… and now- Indian Food Carts!

Last July I wrote about “Indian Fast Food“, a cart on Park Ave. & 53rd St. serving up styrofoam trays of Indian food for $4 and $5 (depending on if you wanted the meat).  The cart is super cheap, and great if you work in the area, but with all the Indian choices in Midtown, the quality is not good enough to go out of your way for. Thanks to a tipster, I was informed that there is now another cart serving Indian food for $4 to $5 in styrofoam containers, and it’s popped up on the same block!!!

What this new cart is serving, how it was, pictures and a +/- after the jump… Read more »

Well, the mystery of the infamous $1 Bulgogi Sandwich has finally been solved.  The Korean Cart on 49th St. btw. 6th & 7th was back this week, and finally had the sandwiches.  Now that I know what it’s made of, it’s hard to understand what took them so long.  My guess is they hadn’t received their “special machine” from Korea.  The pictures on the cart were totally mysterious, but now that I know what it is, it makes a lot more sense.  Here was the picture on the cart:

The sandwich is made up of two pieces of white bread, with bulgogi in the middle.  The whole thing is put into this “Special Korean Machine” that presses the sandwich, and cuts it into the circle you see above.  (Tomatoes not included)

Shots of the actual sandwich, after the jump… Read more »

Who says 4 posts about a mediocre Bulgogi cart is overkill??? (Clearly you didn’t see me the week Chipotle opened in my building) Well, I said on Monday I would post more info about the food- but I promise this is the last one (until the $1 “bulgogi sandwiches” arrive in a few weeks).  I wanted to post some real pictures of the cart, and tell you a little bit about what they’re doing along with a proper +/-.  Despite the $1 Bulgogi Sandwiches not being available, what they are serving is a pretty amazing deal.

They have Bulgogi (Korean BBQ’d beef) or Chicken, served with rice, & salad for $5.  But here’s the real kicker… they throw in a drink for free!  (Soda or water)  It is a pretty amazing deal.  The menu has spicy and non-spicy versions of each of the two dishes posted, but if you order it “spicy” they just give you a cup of red hot sauce to pour over it yourself.  They also give you a very small cup of kimchi (fermented cabbage), which is a real nice touch.

What I ordered, a picture of the not yet available $1 bulgogi sandwiches, and the +/- after the jump…

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That’s right.  The $1 Bulgogi Cart that I was tipped off about a week and a half ago, that then disappeared, has resurfaced on 49th btw. 6th & 7th (in front of Del Friscos).  Apparently they had to fix the cart, and now it’s back for good.  Thanks to Gothamist & Eater for helping in the search, and tipsters Johanna & Lisa for emailing me this morning.

Unfortunately the good news ends there… they aren’t going to have the mysterious $1 Bul Go Gi sandwiches for another two weeks! (Despite being featured on the signage)  Right now it’s just Bul Go Gi & Rice or Chicken & Rice… Full report w/ pictures coming on Wednesday!

In related news, the French Croque Monsiur cart reported on Friday by tipster Teen Wolf was not on 54th & Broadway today.  Anybody seen this one?  Here we go again…

People, I need your help.  And you know I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.  Last Friday I received my favorite kind of email… a tip from a Midtown Lunch’er named Johanna:

“Noticed a new-looking Korean food cart on the south side of 49th west of 6th this morning on my way to work — thought you might want to know.  They seem to offer traditional food (bulgogi) along with more regular-sounding sandwiches……odd.” 

Sounded amazing.  And four of my favorite words… “Korean”, “cart”, “bulgogi” and “odd”.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited for lunch that day.  When 1pm rolled around, I went outside, and the cart was nowhere to be found!  I was sure that Johanna had gotten the street wrong, so I walked up to 50th and down to 48th looking for the cart… but it was useless.  Same crappy soup carts and halal trucks that always line 49th. 

When I got back to work, I emailed Tipster Johanna and confirmed the exact location of the cart (which was definitely not there at lunch time).  I was very disheartened, and wondered why a reader would play such a dirty trick on me.  It’s not right to lie about Korean food from a cart, and get me all worked up into a frenzy.  But, later on that night my wife confirmed Johanna’s story.  She too had seen the cart setting up that morning!  And the story gets worse.  My wife said it had a sign saying “Bulgogi Sandwich $1” and it even had pictures of these little pork bun looking things.  Now I was in total shock.  Not only did this magical disappearing cart have bulgogi, but it had it in sandwich form.  Ridiculous.  I have to find this cart.

Monday was a holiday, so Tuesday I went out to 49th St. (knowing the cart wouldn’t be there) and asked one of the halal guys if they had seen the cart.  He confirmed the existence of the cart and said that it had set up on Friday only to leave a few hours later when there was no business.  If you have seen this cart- or know of it’s whereabouts, please contact me immediately by posting a comment to this piece or emailing me at zach@midtownlunch.com  I don’t think I have to stress how important this is to me.  Odd Korean Cart shows up selling $1 “Bulgogi Sandwiches” (whatever the hell that is) in front of my office building only to disappear two hours later.  It’s like the Kaiser Soze of lunch carts.  This cart must be found.

Also, don’t confuse this missing cart with Kim’s Aunt Kitchen cart on 46th, which just started serving Bul Go Gi (but not in sandwich form).  Pictures of that cart (and the bulgogi I settled for on Friday, after I couldn’t find the new korean cart) after the jump…

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This Sunday is the Vendy Awards, and in light of that fact, here’s some news about Midtown Carts that you might be interested in:

1.  The guy in the Jiannetto’s Pizza Truckon 47th btw. Park & Madison told me on Tuesday that the truck that used to be on Park and  51st will be returning in the next week and a half.  Look for it next Friday or Monday to be back… no word on the whether the truck that crashed was fixed, or they bought a new one.

2.  For those of you looking for your BBQ fix at one of the three Midtown Daisy May’s BBQ carts, you may have been very disappointed this week.  Two of the three Midtown carts have been packed up and stored away for the winter (the one on Park & 47th and the one on 55th btw. 6+7th).  The one on 49th btw. 6+7th will remain open… (thankfully it’s the one outside my building!).  Look for more carts to pop up in the spring.  (For those of you Downtown, the Wall St. cart is still open as well.)

Finally, we saved the most shocking news for after the jump… best not to scare the young children.  It’s terrible, and it involves last year’s Vendy Award winner for best cart…

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Food carts are a funny thing.  Some people love them, some people hate them.  They are universally accepted for some things, like hot dogs, or pretzels but seem mysterious for other things (the term “street meat” comes to mind).  I’ve seen very few restaurants that specialize in the “Halal Food” you get at a cart, and there are not many carts that stray from serving some form of Gyro, Falafel, Hot Dog or Pretzels.  You’ve got your breakfast carts (bagels, donuts and coffee) which are popular for their price, and the fruit carts, which offer people who love to be healthy a chance to eat at a cart.  (Those people don’t tend to enjoy skillet fried lamb, covered in white sauce.)

Some carts are destinations (Hello Berlin Cart, Daisy May’s BBQ Cart, The Arepa Lady in Queens, or the Carts at the Ballfields in Red Hook), while others remain nameless, taking advantage of a highly populated corner of the city.  I love eating at carts.  It’s not because the food is so great, but it just seems like more fun.  There something about the immediate gratification, the fact that their kitchen is on the side of the road, and of course- weird meat sort of excites me (that didn’t come out right).  (My favorite street meat ever… the lady on the right selling street meat on a stick- in Bali)

A little over a month ago, I walked by a new cart near my office… Happy Teriyaki BBQ on 50th between 6+7th.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Teriyaki Cart before in Midtown… and because of my love of Asian food I was immediately interested.  Shortly after, I started to receive the emails… the first one said it was terrible.  Worst food ever.  But then I got two more, one that recommended the spicy pork and another that swore by the BBQ Tofu.  I’m always up for trying a new cart… so yesterday I headed over with my reluctant wife to check out this new cart.

What we ordered, the pictures and the +/- after the jump…

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So, Fashion Week is almost over, and despite it being only one block away from Bryant Park, I didn’t get my picture of a model eating at the Chicken & Rice Cart on 43rd and 6th ave.  But it didn’t stop me from enjoying a medium order of delicious chicken, served over rice, at this Midtown street meat institution.

There are many halal carts, serving many things in Midtown.  And if you are one of the adventurous lunch eaters willing to eat at the Midtown carts, you know that they are not all created equal.  Not only do they all serve their own “type” of halal food, the quality can vary immensely depending on what cart you decide to get your street meat from.  The undisputed “Chicken & Rice” king, seems to be the cart on 53rd and 6th (it was a Vendy Award runner up for best cart last year).  But unfortunately, that cart doesn’t open up until 7pm.  So for lunch, the cart that comes up the most is the Chicken & Rice cart on the SE corner of 43rd & 6th.

Pictures and the +/- after the jump…

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Two months from today, a bizarre and amazing event will be happening for the second straight year.  The Vendy Awards!  That’s right.  An award ceremony that singles out the best street vendors in New York City.  Last year our good friends Rolf & Wolfgang from the Hallo Berlin Cart beat out the halal cart on 53rd and 6th to take first prize.  This year should be even bigger- and we’re hoping that Midtown can take home the top prize again!

You can nominate your favorite cart for the Vendy Awards by going to http://www.streetvendor.org.  The Street Vendor Project is a non-profit that helps to protect street vendors’ legal rights, and educate vendors on how to start and maintain their businesses legally.

You can complain all you want about the food in Midtown, but if you like food carts, Midtown is a pretty sweet place to work and eat.  We’ve got some of the best (including two of the three finalists in last year’s Vendy awards!).  Check out some of the carts we’ve reviewed, plus some we’re planning on hitting up soon- after the jump…. Read more »

New Yorkers love their BBQ.  If you doubt that, try going to the Big Apple BBQ Fest at the beginning of the summer in Bryant Park Madison Sq. Park (I’m retarded).  I had read tons about it- but couldn’t believe what I saw when I actually went.  People waiting hours in line to buy these tiny $7 plates of BBQ from different vendors from across the country.  And if you want to try all the different choices, you’ve got to go with an entourage of friends, each waiting in a separate line.  Go alone and you have to sit in 3 different one hour lines to get what would be considered a meals worth of food.  And worst of all- what does it say about the BBQ places in New York City?  Are they so bad that you’d be willing to wait an hour for four baby back ribs from Illinois.

Well, despite people’s willingness to wait hours in line every June in Madison Sq. Park, there are *some* decent BBQ places in NYC.  Which one is the “best” is always up for debate- you know, when people aren’t arguing about where to get the “best” burger in town.  (Actually the irony of the BBQ fest being in Madison Sq. Park was not lost on me.  It is also home to the longest burger line in New York City.)

Lucky for us in Midtown there is no real dispute as to where the best BBQ is.  Seeing that Dinosaur, R.U.B., and Blue Smoke are all outside of Midtown- it leaves only one true choice for the best BBQ (for the purposes of this blog of course).  Daisy May’s BBQ.  (Beware those of you who feel the need to speak up for Virgil’s on 44th… unless you want to be accused of being a tourist who knows nothing of good BBQ). 

The actual Daisy May’s restaurant is on 11th Ave. & 46th St., but they have graced Midtown with the presence of THREE carts serving BBQ sandwiches and chili during lunchtime.  I thought everyone knew about Daisy May’s…  but once again, I brought my sandwich back to my desk, and the guy next to me asked where I got it.  I had to answer “The BBQ cart.  You know… the one that is right outside the entrance of our building”.  Of course, this is the same guy who asked if my sandwich from Cosi was a falafel…  (If you work next to someone like this- and I know you do, please forward them a link to this blog.  They need our help the most…)

Pictures, where you can find the three different carts,  and the +/- after the jump… Read more »