Midtown Lunch

Last week a lunch’er sent word that a Kati Roll cart had popped up on the NE corner of 45th and 2nd Ave. It has since disappeared and there has been no further word.  At first I thought it may be the Biriyani/Chapati Roll Cart (on 46th btw. 6+7th), which has plans to roll out their second cart on the East side in the next few weeks. But a quick check revealed that it’s not them… this is a another deal altogether. Last june a mysterious Kati Roll cart popped up on 46th btw. 6+7th (next to the Chapati Roll cart) but quickly disappeared as well.  I wonder if it has returned? 

Have you seen this cart? Email any info to zach@midtownlunch.com

For years the chicken and rice cart on 43rd just East of 6th Avenue has towed the line of relative annoynymity and street meat fame. Often referred to as the “Trini Pak Boys” the cart has always served up a popular Indian/Pakistani tasting version of chicken over rice, but their sign has always been pretty crap-tastic. Hand scrawled, with no real indication of what they wanted to be called, the original sign has finally been replaced. The cart is now officially known as the Trini Paki Boys Halal Food, and the full menu is layed out in an easy to read format.

In our Street Meat Palooza post, the cart scored surprisingly low- but we were criticized for getting the yellow rice instead of the white basmati rice. I’ll make sure they get their fair shake in Street Meat Palooza 2!

I have never met a piece of fried chicken I didn’t like. Sure, there have been some transcendent fried chicken moments. My first visit to Roscoe’s Fried Chicken and Waffles in L.A. comes to mind (although you may say the waffle had a little something to do with that.) And of course there was Dunbar’s in New Orleans, which is still the best fried chicken I’ve ever eaten. Hopefully the rumors of its return are not exaggerated. But I don’t mind slumming it either, and it doesn’t take much to please me. Hot Oil + Chicken (+ Salt & Pepper) = Good.

There is some damn good fried chicken in Midtown. I’ve mentioned Cafe Cello as one of my favorites (on 46th btw. 5+6th) and even KFC has gotten the obligatory mention on the site. But if you want to be at ground zero for NYC fried chicken there is only one place to go. Eighth Avenue. The stretch of that road between the Mid 30’s and Mid 40’s is jammed packed with fried chicken goodness. Here is your guide to navigating the corridor. (A Fried-Chicken-Palooza if you will)

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Popeye’s is freaking good. Anybody who has ever lived in New Orleans will tell you that, and it appears as if New Yorkers are privvy as well. I stopped by the Popeye’s on 40th btw. 7+8th (the only one in Midtown Lunch’ing range) and couldn’t believe the madhouse (despite other fried chicken options in pretty close proximity.) People love Popeye’s.

Bonus Reveal:  Why was I at Popeye’s?  All will be revealed in a post next week that Midtown fried chicken lovers won’t want to miss…

Well that answers that question.  Pick A Pita, a tiny but righteous falafel and shawarma spot on 38th btw. 7+8th, will be opening a second outpost in the now closed House of Pita space on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th.  The tiny closet they currently operate will remain open, meaning you will now have two Pick-a-Pita options right around the corner from each other.  HOP fans could do a lot worse; I have a special place in my heart for Pick-a-Pita since it was where I discovered the beauty of french fries in a shawarma sandwich.  They say the new location will be open on October 1st.

I know I’ve mentioned it before, and it’s way out of bounds (47th btw. 10+11th) but if you really love bread, Sullivan St. Bakery makes the best in New York City. They also have great (albiet slightly expensive for the size) sandwiches, and I just wrote about their latest creation-the panino de tortilla espanola-on Serious Eats: New York.

This just into the Midtown Lunch Inbox: The “imposter waffle truck” is parked on “Lexington between 58th and 59th” right now “handing out bite sized free samples.”  This is the truck that will eventually be serving pomme frites (they don’t have them today) and different from the Wafels and Dinges Truck, which was planning on parking at 51st & Park today, but was forced to move to 23rd St. & 5th Ave. because there is a movie being filmed on Park Ave.  The Dessert Truck lucked out and got their normal space near Park & 52nd St.  The Treats Truck is closed this week, so conecakes fans are SOL.

I love it when expensive restaurants slum with the Midtown Lunch’ers. Toloache, the expensive but inventive Mexican restaurant on 50th btw. Bway+8th, will be celebrating its one year anniversary tomorrow by selling $1 tacos all day long. They have an extensive menu of tacos (including grasshoppers), but only these 3 will be available for $1:

Pollo (chicken breast adobado, pico de gallo, manchego cheese)
Suadero (Negra Modelo-braised brisket, tomatillo salsa, horseradish crema)
Hongos y Nopales (Maitake & huitlacoche mushrooms, cactus, doble crema cheese)

There is a limit of 7 tacos per person (clearly they were afraid of the Midtown Lunch’ers) but they allow you to eat in, or take your order to go. For a place as good as Toloache, selling their tacos at $2 would be a lunchtime bargain. For $1, they’re literally giving them away. Don’t miss out. 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Toloache, 251 W. 50th St. (btw. B’way+8th) 212-581-1818

Life is all about expectations. Go into a meal expecting greatness, and 9 times out of 10 you’ll probably leave disappointed.  Go into a meal expecting to die, and you’ve got a good chance of walking out feeling like a winner. In those special cases, leaving without feeling sick is a pleasant accomplishment in and of itself. And that is how I felt walking into Tad’s Steaks on Thursday. I was scared. Real scared.

I would call Tad’s a fast food steak place, but that doesn’t really do it justice. It is a Midtown institution- if by institution you mean place everyone knows about.  If a restaurant has to be eaten in to qualify, than maybe institution isn’t the proper term.  In fact, while most people have a very strong (negative) opinion about Tad’s, few people have actually eaten there. See, there are three kinds of people who lunch in Midtown:

1. Those who have braved a meal at Tad’s, and come away sick or disgusted (a few people I know.)
2. Those who have braved a meal at Tad’s, and thought it was good enough to return (uh, only one person I know, and he accompanied me on this trip.) 
3. And everyone else.  The haters who have never been, but will not hesitate to tell you how terrible Tad’s must be.

I’ve always been a card carrying member of that last group. I didn’t need to eat at Tad’s to know it was terrible. Whether it’s the already poured glasses of wine, stacked on the counter, covered in saran wrap; or the interior that hasn’t been changed (or probably cleaned) since 1974, Tad’s is not very welcoming.  Even the $7 steak lunch special, which should be selling point enough (for its cheapness), ends up doing the opposite. Why is this so cheap? How can they make a steak so cheap?  You know what?  Scratch that. I don’t want to know.

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People like sending me photos of lunches they’ve had, and some of them are from places I’ve never been.  So as part of a new feature, I’m going to start posting some of these lunches.  After all, as much as I try, I can’t eat everything.  Been to this place?  Feel free to post a comment below. Want to share one of your own lunches?  Email your photo(s) to zach@midtownlunch.com or post them to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Pool with a description.

From Lunch’er Nicholas: “Stumbled on this place…daily lunch specials for $9.75. The pic is of today’s special: chicken teriyaki, fried salmon fillet, miso soup, salad and eight pieces of California roll.  The roll was not great but everything else was very good. Different offerings every day of the week.  Enjoy before they raise the prices. Azusa of Japan, 3 East 44th st (btw. 5+Madison), 212-681-0001.