Midtown Lunch

We at Midtown Lunch love our kati rolls, and it’s no secret that we’re huge fans of the Kwik Meal cart (on the SW corner of 45th and 6th). Up until earlier this week, kati rolls and Kwik Meal were mutually exclusive, but no more! Thanks to a tip off from ESNY in the forums, we learned that Kwik Meal recently started carrying these Indian delicacies, so I hurried over to 45th St and 6th Ave to check ‘em out.

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Are You Have Trouble Understanding How This Works?

Judging by all the heated exchanges in the comments section of last week’s visit to Food Gallery 32, it should come as no surprise that the rest of the food folks around the internet are chattering about Koreatown’s food court as well. On Monday, Eater posted a Good News/Bad News roundup of the reviews so far. Predictably, no one is particularly fond of the ordering system. More importantly, they had some comments on the food. Kitchenette of In a Nutshell somehow wasn’t so into Bian Dang’s pork chop; Dave from Eating in Translation backs me up on not liking the jja jang myon at Jin Jja Roo and wishes the jjam ppong was spicier. Fork in the Road reminds us that we’re talking about a simple food court, so our expectations ought to be a little lower while trying out Hamnok’s seafood pancake (a little doughy and mostly octopus, but well flavored) and bi bim bap (would be better from a stone bowl) along with a hot bowl of haemul kal-guksu from Big Bowl (slightly overcooked noodles, but a good broth).

With only a couple weeks under their belts, I’d again suggest we allow them some time to settle in. If the difference between week one and week two alone is anything to go by, I think they’ll be in good shape by the end of the winter.

We somehow missed the opening of a new Thai restaurant, Tom & Toon (241 51st St. between 7th & 8th), which launched with little fanfare in August of 2010. Our oversight may have been appropriate, given the predictable narrative of the restaurant. There’s an un-extraordinary menu akin to its neighboring Thai brethren in the ‘hood, such as Siam Inn two store fronts down, or the overabundance of Thai joints up and down 9th ave. However, Tom & Toon shouldn’t be easily dismissed, for it is the only Thai restaurant that has an all you can eat lunch buffet in Midtown. At $11.95, it’s a bit over our $10 lunch rule, but we’ve always be willing to stretch the price boundaries to $11 for buffets.  So what’s another buck when something as rare as Thai AYCE is involved!?

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Although it looks like Bann Next Door won’t win the category for Best Korean Fast Food, they’ll finish a strong 2nd place, and for good reason – their riff on the Korean taco is still fantastic. Since my original visit over the summer, Bann Next Door’s tacos have made it onto my weekly lunch rotation for a lot of good reasons. The portions are still generous for the $9 price tag, the proteins are capably cooked (the beef bulgogi pictured above is possibly the best rendition of the dish I’ve had north of 35th St.), and they pack a whole hell of a lot of bold flavors onto one disposable plastic tray. Korilla BBQ might be generating all of the Korean taco chatter right now, but as Zagat Buzz succinctly puts it, “this spot is the Korean-taco silent threat”.

You know it’s the holiday season when ginger treats start popping up. The other day, courtesy of the ML Twitter Tracker, I saw that Treats Truck was packing gingerbread men. Given Blondie and my devotion to all things Treats Truck (if you regularly read our blog, you might have noticed that we’ve reviewed just a few of Kim’s treats…) I had to go check it out. Read more »

The Year of the Taco is rolling over into 2011, as another Korean inspired taco truck is set to open sometime in the new year. Back in October Fork in the Road reported that The Kimchi Taco Truck would be launching within 2 or 3 weeks, with Chef Youngsun Lee at the helm (formerly of Annisa, Craftbar, Momofuku, and the BR Guest Group.  That obviously didn’t happen, but we just heard recently (thanks to a tip from Lunch’er Felicia) that they’ve been doing some serious menu testing and are planning on hitting the road in January once everything is perfected.  Youngsun was also the Chef/Owner of Persimmon, a joint that I frequented in the East Village and thoroughly enjoyed (especially their homemade kimchi) before their premature demise. I’m excited to see if their sophisticated, yet authentic Korean flavors carry over to this mobile venture (i.e. will they give the Korilla truck a run for their money!)

We’ll be sure to keep lunchers updated on an exact launch date and menu, but in the meantime you can follow their progress on twitter, facebook or on their website.

When Lunch’er Steve informed us that the Trini Paki Boys Cart (43rd btw. 5+6th) was now serving jerk chicken, I quickly headed over to try it out. I was treated to a delicious mess of a plate, a huge piece of bone-in chicken, covered in gravy served on a bed of rice with a healthy serving of chickpeas and vegetables next to it. When I went back for more jerk chicken, they practically forced me to try some of their new chicken tikka as well (they didn’t have to force hard). Check out the ridiculous plate of food I got for $7 after the jump.
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Despite the terrible name, I’ve become a little hooked on Foodie (44th btw 2nd+3rd). Everything close to my job has gotten a bit stale for me, so when Boi became Foodie earlier this month it allowed me to enjoy the quick lunch again. I have been especially looking forward to their dumplings, which weren’t available until last Friday. And not only do they have dumplings, they have dumpling soup! I know it’s just dumplings in broth, but it’s more than that to me-it’s the first time I’ve gotten respectable dumplings for lunch in Midtown in a long time.

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Taim is a veritable New York institution at this point. The quality of their product has earned them a legion of devoted followers, plenty of superlatives from food media, and recently received the prestigious distinction as the “Best Falafel Sandwich in New York City” by the folks from Serious Eats. On the back of their popularity, they’ve spun off a sister restaurant, the upscale bistro Balaboosta, and they’ve recently hit the streets with a mobile food truck. A few weeks ago, downtown correspondent Andrea got a first look at the Taim Mobile truck, and last Friday, I was lucky enough to nab lunch from the Taim truck in my neighborhood of Midtown West.

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