Midtown Lunch

Passing by the bustling 49th & 6th street corner today, I was somewhat shocked to see that the Bulgogi & Kimchi cart (on 49th btw. 6+7th), an old favorite of mine, had undergone a trio of changes. It’s no secret that Koreans are enamored by the idea of cosmetic surgery and fittingly this week, the Bulgogi & Kimchi cart, perhaps channeling their inner K-pop star, seriously upgraded its façade. At the same time, they’ve decided to change their name to “Bapcha”, which literally translates to “Food Cart” in Korean, and is now boldly displayed in an unmistakable medium weight Helvetica.

But the most relevant change for lunch’ers, is a $1 bump in some of the prices, as well as a small menu shuffle. Check out the new menu prices after the jump.

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A couple of weeks ago, when QBA announced they’d be altering their menu to include some new specials, I hoped that this would change a pretty good cart into a great, must-visit cart. After all, there is no shortage of good Cuban options in Midtown- and as much as we love food trucks, isn’t it really all about the food?  I’ve already written about the pork meal and the cuban sandwich and our Downtown editor Andrea tried the chicken meal. I think the consensus is pretty clear; the QBA meals with meat and rice and beans are good, and a solid lunch option, but not spectacular. According to their website, today the truck will introduce ensalada batabano, a salad with tomatoes, feta and scallions.  And earlier this week they had ropa vieja, which we (naturally) had to go try.
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The opening of the new Koreatown Bon Chon has been much more subdued than when neighboring Kyochon opened the door on its spaceship themed chicken shack. While the lines haven’t been particularly long, the wait is still classic Bon Chon. The new, faster frying process owner Simon Lee told us about last week doesn’t seem to have been implemented yet. As of 1:30pm, customers were being told that any order would take at least 20 minutes. My small, mixed order took half an hour to show up.

Also note that the entree options, which include tonkatsu and bulgogi tacos(!) are not available yet, but hopefully will be in the next day or two. With less than a week under their belt, clearly, this is all still a work in progress, so have patience and, if you’ve got the time, enjoy the leisurely pace by watching the Yankees game playing on one of the projectors.

Related:
Let the Fried Chicken Wars Begin: New Bon Chon Opens Today

Since my initial write-up of Totto Ramen, I’ve become somewhat of a regular customer. Customer may be too light of a word – ‘devotee’ is more like it. At the ever so slightly out-of-ML price range, this ever so slightly out-of-bounds restaurant has enraptured me, besting my former #2 ranked ramen shop, Minca in the East Village (Ippudo remains steadfast at #1… for now).

While I was previously constrained to the plain bowl of chicken paitan ramen ($9.25), in keeping with ML cost guidelines, I found true love in the spicy chicken ramen ($10.25), made even more tasty with the added crunch of kikurage mushrooms (+$1), and the opulence of a seasoned hardboiled egg (+$1). Impossibly decadent and deliriously spicy, this nearly perfect bowl of chicken noodle soup is worth the >$10 splurge. They say that perfection has a price, but for $12 and change, I’ll buck the trend of being a lunchtime cheapass and indulge.

Related:
Totto Ramen Is the Closest Thing We’ve Got to the East Village

A couple weeks ago, Luncher Robert put us on the alert that Joyride the new coffee and fro-yo truck was making the rounds in midtown. Being a lover of both coffee and fro-yo I had to check it out. Their menu after the jump.
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Today’s the big day – the ‘new concept’ Bon Chon Chicken is opening on 5th btw. 32+33rd Street and we’ve got a few more details on exactly how different it’s all going to be. According to Simon Lee, the owner and manager of the new location (as well as an employee of Bon Chon the corporation), the idea was to move beyond the fast food model that most of the Korean fried chicken shops have followed. Instead, it’s going to juggle fast food and bar duties in a way that might lead to a few tipsy lunches.

Details on the new Bon Chon and photos of the space after the jump.

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Two bits of Midtown food news from the website Koshertopia today. First the bad(?) news. Aroma, the Kosher pizza spot on 36th btw. 5+6th, has closed. I guess people weren’t down with the pepperoni fake out? And now the good (also ?) Kolette’s Kitchen will be opening soon on Lex btw. 55+56th serving up “Middle Eastern Mezze, Deli Sandwiches & Vietnamese Sandwiches”. No word on when that will open, but we’re super curious to try Kosher Vietnamese pate.

Have any tips, recommendations or news to share? Send it to editor@midtownlunch.com

I love seeing scrappy underdog restaurants pop up out of nowhere. Word-of-mouth publicity from readers of Midtown Lunch carries a lot more weight with me than slick advertising campaigns. So, yesterday, when we heard through the grapevine about a new (but slightly-out-of-bounds) restaurant that serves Southeast Asian street food, our interest was piqued. On paper and in concept, I was instantly sold – Thai inspired papaya salads, Malaysian satay skewers and roti’s and what’s that… a BANH MI? To borrow a quote from Anthony Bourdain, I would cheerfully “crawl naked across broken glass” for a good banh mi. It’s my absolute favorite food, ever.

I was so excited for the prospect of good Malay and Viet food, that I skipped a work happy hour (sorry co-workers that may be reading this) and voyaged over to 9th ave to get my banh mi fix. So do we finally have a bonafide banh mi in Midtown West?
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A few weeks ago Lunch’er “Emily” (not today’s profiled lunch’er, but a different Emily) told us about Bai Cha, a self proclaimed South East Asian street food & market (on 9th Ave. btw. 49+50th) and today Life With Food and Drink confirms that it’s open and has posted a copy of the menu. Satay, salads, banh mi, roti and dumplings… It’s slightly out of bounds, but with a Vietnamese street food line-up like that I think we can walk the extra avenue to check it out. Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.