Midtown Lunch

Not even open long enough to take down their Grand Opening sign, the newer House of Pita , on 46th btw. 5+6th has closed down. The original House of Pita location, a window on 48th btw. 5+6th, closed down a little over a month ago , 5 months after the owners opened the newer, larger location just two blocks away. I had always assumed that closing the 48th St. window was the plan all along, but now that the larger location has closed, I’m not so sure. One thing is for sure, restaurants looking to expand their already successful Midtown businesses should take notice.

According to Kosher-NY, the owner “hopes to open a new Fleishig restaurant in another location, [but] nothing specific is in the works as of yet”. Need a replacement falafel? Kosher Deluxe , Moshe’s , The Kwik Meal Cart & Bread & Olive are all within walking distance.

Midtown is about to lose an O.G. lunch destination…

House of Pita has lost the lease to their original location– the window space on 48th btw. 5+6th.  You can still enjoy their delicious falafels & burekas (plus more) at the newer full service location on 46th btw. 5+6th,  but today is the last day to get your fix out of the window.  It was one of my first Midtown Lunches, and I will miss it (the window, that is).

The Jamaican Dutchy Cart on 51st & 7th will also be closed starting tomorrow.  More on that, after the jump… Read more »

Ever wondered what the white sauce is made from at your favorite chicken and rice cart?  Or where the cart even comes from?  Where do they prepare the food?  And, of course- is it clean?  Have you ever wondered what it was like to run a street cart?  Here is a glimpse into the life of one person that knows the answers to all those questions…

Much has been written about Muhammed Rahman.  Born in Bangladesh, this chef has become famous for being that street cart guy who used to work at the Russian Tea Room.  Now he owns and operates Kwik Meal, a Lamb & Rice cart on 45th & 6th which opened in 2000.  Since then Rahman has opened two more carts (one on 45th & 5th, and one on 47th & Park) both run by his brothers.  Food costs are high, and profits are low- yet he would never go back to cooking at a restaurant, because he loves the interaction with the customers you only get running a food cart.  This is a day in his life…

Photos & Timeline by Ryan Devlin

6:00am: Muhammed Rahman wakes up in Jackson Heights, Queens. Heads to garage (also in Jackson Heights) to pick up his cart.

6:28am: Arrives at the garage in Jackson Heights, and gets the cart stocked with goods. As is required by law, all the food, drinks and sauces must be prepared and stored in the garage, or other DOH approved facility.  Nothing can be prepared at home. Rahman buys most of his supplies directly from wholesalers and has them delivered directly to the garage.  The cart is stocked up with supplies for the day, including the meat which had been prepared the night before, and left to marinate overnight.

6:55am: The cart is hooked up to the truck, and they leave the garage with cart in tow.

7:25am: The truck arrives at corner of 45th and 6th, at which point the truck tows it into place before the workers straighten it out by hand.  The whole process takes about five minutes.  On this morning, the sidewalk had already been hosed down by the building’s maintenence man… but if they show up to a dirty sidewalk, Rahman will rinse it off himself while the truck waits with the cart. 

7:30am: The cart is secured in its spot.  A worker takes the truck to be parked in a Midtown garage, which costs hundreds of dollars a month.  Everyone else goes to work setting the cart up. The glass windows are put into place, and the inside of the cart is prepared.  First the pans and containers are arranged in their proper place.  Then the sauces.  After that, the propane tank is set up and the surfaces are given another wipe-down just before cooking starts. One guy sets up the beverages, putting ice in the cooler and water, sodas, etc.  After that, the workers pull on their white chef smocks and white hats.

8:07am: Once the cart is prepped and everything is in place, they fire up the grill, oil it down, and the cooking begins. Chicken goes on the grill first, while another worker starts throwing falafel balls into the deep fryer.  The cooking takes about three hours as they work through the chicken, lamb and beef.  During this time they will also cut and prep the vegetables.

11:00am: Cart officially opens for business.

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Another big window sign went up this weekend…

House of Pita, the Kosher Falafel and Bourakas window on 48th btw. 5+6th is opening a new, larger location in the space formerly occupied by Yoshinoya on 46th btw. 5+6th.  Based on the language of the sign (“Another Location”), one could assume that the original 48th St. location will remain open (although grammar is not the strong suit of many Midtown signs).  They will also be adding Panini and Wraps to the menu, and will offer delivery.

No word on when it will be open, but as soon as I know, you’ll know.  Thanks to smgard for the tip.  If you have any news or tips, email me at zach@midtownlunch.com  

A little over a month ago, this photo was posted to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Group by joshbousel:

For un-fat people not looking to stuff various foods with french fries, a picture like this might be hard to decipher.  I am not one of those people.  Thanks to Josh, I became aware of the very exciting information that Pick a Pita (on 38th btw. 7+8th) will stuff your falafel or shwarma sandwich with french fries.  Immediately this place went from “that shwarma place I heard was good and should probably try out” to “Pick a Pita.  The greatest place ever invented in the history of mankind”.

Apparently stuffing your shwarma sandwich or falafel in pita is commonplace in many countries in the Middle East… but for some reason I have not seen it done at any of the places in Midtown.  I’m sure there are places I have been to that will put french fries in your sandwich if you ask, but Pick a Pita doesn’t force you to figure this out for yourself.  They suggest it for you:

50 cents is a small price to pay for the greatest sandwich condiment of all time.  Sure, you can order french fries anywhere and put them on top yourself, but then people might think you are fat and disgusting.  Pay someone else to do it, and now it’s not your fault!  “Honey… it wasn’t MY idea.  They put them in the sandwich BEFORE they gave it to me!”  If that doesn’t work, I just go with the more accurate “I’d be crazy NOT to get the fries stuffed into the sandwich!”

More food porn, and the +/- after the jump… Read more »

Everybody loves falafel!  So the second week of Midtown Lunch’s existence was dubbed Falafel Week- and each day I visited and wrote about a different Midtown falafel joint (I was made fun of by Gawker and everything… it was very exciting.)  Well, alot has changed in 8 months.  I still haven’t found Miriam’s Falafel, Aron’s has closed, and months after Falafel week, I found the best falafel deal in Midtown.  All those things aside, one of my favorite discoveries that particular week was Bread & Olive- and I thought it might be time to head back for some non-falafel eating, and a full +/-.

Bread & Olive is a Lebanese take out place on 45th btw. 5th & 6th ave.  They have both beef and chicken shwarma, kafta, delicious homemade breads, and an array of maza (Lebanese salads and dips).  There is a small seating area in the back, but most people take the food to go.  Everything is Lebanese style, so the spices are going to be different than the shwarma at an Israeli place, or the gyro from a Greek place.

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

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With nothing in mind to eat last week, I was wandering down 46h St. (btw. 5th & 6th) when I stumbled upon another one of those Kosher versions of the ubiquitous midtown deli.  Sandwiches, Salad bar, etc… but a quick look at the menu in the window, and I discovered they had Chinese food!  Now, I was brought up Jewish (a reform Jew, so we didn’t keep Kosher at all)- which means I love Chinese food (the goto meal on Sunday nights and Christmas).  But what’s Chinese food without pork (and shrimp for that matter)???  I love pork.  A lot.  As a matter of fact, with all the pork I’ve eaten in my lifetime, I was sort of surprised that an alarm didn’t go off when I walked into Kosher Deluxe.

I bypassed the salad bar and shwarma station on the right, and headed straight to the back, where they serve a variety of sandwiches, dinner type dishes and of course- the Chinese food.  The menu had most typical Americanized Chinese dishes (all served with chicken or beef)- like Lo Mein, General Chow’s, Beef or Chicken and Broccoli, Moo Goo Gai Pan, and my personal favorite- Pastrami Fried Rice, in case you had forgotten where you were.  The big problem was the price.  Almost every Chinese food item was over $12!!!! (And you didn’t even get shrimp!)  I did a quick u-turn, figuring that it wasn’t worth the money- but something caught my eye on the way out.  On the menu above the Shwarma station I saw it…. “Shnitzel in Pita”.  Helllllllo???

Now, I’m a big fan of wiener schnitzel (german fried veal cutlets), so how could Shnitzel be bad???  I spotted some delicious looking fried stuff below the Shwarma, next to the falafel that I was betting was the Shnitzel.  I ordered it- and was not disappointed… (It is actually a misconception that wiener schnitzel is some sort of sausage- despite “wiener” being part of the name.  In German wiener actually means veal.  Serves me right for just assuming crap.  Wiener actually means Viennese… and a traditional cutlet from Vienna is usually Veal.)

The pics, +/- and the Midtown deal of the century… after the jump.

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Day 5 of Falafel Week

Well, falafel week ended with a whimper this week.  I was unable to find Miriam's Falafel Cart on 46th & 6th, which has disappeared into some sort of falafel netherworld… and with no other suggestions from friends or message boards- I was forced to go to a place that I don't think is known for it's falafel, but I've alway been curious about… Aaron's Restaurant.

Because Aaron's Restaurant is on 46th between 5th & 6th avenue, I walk by it all the time (on my way to Hing Won, Variety Cafe or House of Pita).  Their sign hangs right over the sidewalk, but the place itself is on the second floor, so you can't see in.  Only a staircase leading up to god knows where.  And when I say "god knows where", I mean that literally, because Aaron's is a Glatt Kosher restaurant, which I think is loosely translated to mean "extra" kosher.

After climbing the stairs you find yourself in the front of a bare bones restaurant, with a buffet style counter where you can order things to go, or a seating area where you can order off the menu from a waiter or waitress.  The food behind the glass counter looked pretty good… but once again- it's falafel week, so I ordered a falafel with everything to go.

I'll try not to spend too much time on this falafel, because to be honest with you, it was pretty bad.  It was edible… and I finished it (after all I'm a fat man who loves to eat)- but every other place this week was better.  The first sign of trouble… after stuffing the pita with hummos and falafel he then put it in a microwave.  Once that happened, I had pretty much given up any hope of this place earning a second visit (for the falafel that is… I will be back but more on that later).

The pictures and +/- after the jump…. Read more »

DAY 4 of Falafel Week

It’s day 4 of Falafel Week and I was supposed to go to Miriam’s, which I have never seen but was told is on the SW corner of 46th & 6th.  It was recommended on Chowhound… but when I walked by on Wednesday it was not there- so for today I decided to go to Bread & Olive (also recommended to me on Chowhound), and find another place for tomorrow.

Bread & Olive has falafel, along with a ton of other options, including chicken and beef schawarma, numerous pastries, vegetable entrees, and what looked like lebanese style flat bread pizza.  All of it looked delicious… but alas, this is falafel week, so falafel is what I got.

This is a lebanese place, so a beet juice pickled vegetable made it’s first appearance of the week (I’m pretty sure it was turnip, but not positive).  It was one of the first layers to go down on top of the fresh baked flat bread- that I believe they make on site (another first for the week).  It also had lettuce and slices of tomatos, and then the falafel and tahini, all rolled up burrito style in the flat bread.

A picture of the sandwich, and the +/-, after the jump… Read more »

DAY 3 of FALAFEL WEEK 

Finally, after two days of mediocrity- I finally hit the goldmine.  A fresh, hot falafel- that isn’t dry in the middle, or messy.  Happy times.

Definitely the tastiest falafel so far this week.  The pita is that pillowy soft kind of pita, so they have to roll it up with the falafel inside, rather then cut a hole in it and stuff the falafel inside.  They also brush it with butter and stick it on the skillet- so it’s hot and delicious.  The falafel is made fresh right in the cart, so it’s still hot when you eat it and the balls are small so it’s not dry.  They are served on top of a little bit of lettuce and tomato, and some yogurt sauce, which is a really refreshing change from some of the tahini heavy falafel in Midtown.  The only downside is the size… definetely the smallest, but at only $3.75 you can afford to get two (if you’re super hungry), or a bag of chips!

All in all, the butter grilled pita, and the lack of veggies make this the least healthy of the falafel I’ve had this week… but sometimes, least healthy translates to tastiest.

THE +

• Fresh falafel that are not dry in the middle
• Pillowy pita bread, that is brushed with butter and grilled
• If you like yogurt sauce instead of tahini, this is the place for you

THE –

• The size
• If you’re into veggies, this place isn’t for you.  There’s only a little lettuce and tomato on the falafel
• If you’re not into carts… it’s a cart

Kwik Meal, Cart on the SW Corner of 45th and 6th

• Day 2 of Falafel Week: Moshe’s Falafel
• Day 1 of Falafel Week: House of Pita