Midtown Lunch

I admit it’s not for everybody, but I love eating food off the street, here and abroad.  Meat on a stick in Bali, everything in Thailand, raw clams in Chile… I could go on and on.  There’s something about eating on the sidewalk that is fun and exciting to me, and here in Midtown we have some amazing food carts.  But there is also that step below food cart that pops up every once awhile- like the lady selling tamales in front of the Mexican Embassy, or the Japanese delivery guys selling bento boxes on 50th St. btw. 6+7th.  These are my favorite discoveries, and last week I finally tried a new one on 46th btw. 5+6th. 

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked by this lady standing on 46th St. with a grocery pushcart filled with styrofoam packages.  Usually out there around 1pm, she sells containers of Ecuadorian food to workers in the area for $6-7.  I don’t know where she comes from, or where she goes when she’s done, but I can tell you this:  if there is a random lady, selling homemade food in styrofoam containers on a random street in Midtown, I want to know about it.  I want to eat her food.  No matter what is…  Read more »

Save Tony Video, courtesy of the Street Vendor Project

The New York Times has an article this morning about Tony “The Dragon” Dragonas, the famous street meat and burger vendor situated just outside the Midtown Lunch boundaries, on 62nd & Madison.  According to the Times, the 2005 Vendy Award winner “has 42 outstanding violations totaling $16,865” and “next month he is scheduled to appear before an administrative law judge, who will determine whether he can continue operating.”

Not mentioned in the newspaper article, but highlighted on the website of the Street Vendor Project, the organization who runs the annual Vendy awards, is Tony’s explanation for the fines:

Last year, the guy in the restaurant down the street started to complain about my smoke. I’ve never really had any problems with the Health Department, but the inspectors started coming every couple of weeks. Every time they came, they would give me 3,4, 5 or 6 tickets. Usually they cited me for the smoke. They also gave me tickets for not wearing my hat, being too close to the crosswalk, and other things. But never for selling bad food — nobody has ever gotten sick or complained about my food.

If “The Dragon” gets shut down, it will be a big blow to the city’s street meat conossieurs.  Get more information, and sign the petition to help save Tony at http://streetvendor.org/

I’m out of town until January 7th, so until then I’m turning over the site to you for the First Annual Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll, to determine the best that Midtown lunch’ing has to offer. You can only vote once, so choose wisely. Links to info about most of the nominees can be found on the “Restaurant Index” page. Feel free to write in votes in the comments section. Official winners will be posted to the site on January 9th.

Park Ave. is quickly becoming the cart/truck capitol of Midtown.  Between Jiannetto’s, Pranzo, The Steak Truck, three Indian Carts, and a number of chicken and rice carts with long lines, you pretty much have everything you could ever want (if only the 2nd Daisy May’s cart would return). Yesterday, on a recommendation from a Midtown Lunch’er, I headed to Park Ave. to partake in a steak & cheese from a cart.

Now, here is the big disclaimer.  If you have ever been to Philadelphia, and had a philly cheesesteak, then you are aware of what a “real” cheesesteak is.  If you have ever lived in New England, you have disputed the Philadelphia claim to having the best steak & cheese (after all, provolone is far superior cheez whiz, right?).  Maybe you have even been to the Tony Luke’s (now Shorty’s) on 9th Ave., and feel like you have had a decent cheesesteak  here in New York City.  Steak & Cheese from a cart in Midtown is not going to live up to any of those standards.  It costs $4.  It’s from a cart.  That being said, the steak & cheese I had yesterday from Magdy’s on Park & 46th was pretty damn tasty.

Continue reading after the jump… Read more »

53rd St. & 6th Ave is the Chicken & Rice Capital of New York City.  There will never be consensus over who makes the best, but there is no question about who is the most popular.  If you’ve passed 53rd St. & 6th Ave. after 8pm on any give night, then you’ve seen the line.  It forms from the time the cart opens, and doesn’t die down until the cart leaves at 4 in the morning.  Late night club goers, bridge and tunnelers, and cab drivers as far as the eye can see- sometimes stretching as far down as 7th Ave.

A lot of people see this line, and wonder “How could this chicken and rice be so good?”  Not me.  If somebody gets killed just for cutting in line, then I don’t question how good the food is at the front of the line.  I just wonder, where can I get Chicken & Rice worth killing for, in Midtown, during lunchtime!?!   The answer led me back to 53rd St. & 6th Ave., but not necessarily the corner you may think.

The definitive answers to all your chicken and rice questions, after the jump… Read more »

Words can’t even begin to describe the monstrosity that showed up on the NE corner of 47th St. & Park this week.  Ladies and gentleman, I’m proud to introduce, “The Steak Truck”

Oh my lord.  This could be a keeper.  The Lunch Menu, 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.

Read more »

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  I don’t know who Kim is, or his Aunt, but they have a pretty awesome cart.  I first wrote about this place months ago, when the Bulgogi Cart first appeared on 49th St.  Brand new, and so full of promise, I was excited for Bulgogi Sandwich, and cheap Korean food from a cart.  And then, it disappeared.  Frantic, I found myself wandering the streets in search of something… and by coincidence, Kim’s Aunt Kitchen Cart had just hung a handmade sign, touting their very own bulgogi.

I tried it, and remembered thinking it was good, but not as good as it could be.  It turned out to be better than the actual Bulgogi Cart on 49th, but not as good as the version Cafe Duke serves on 51st.  Even so, it was from a cart- and Kim’s Aunt Kitchen earned a place on my list of return lunches.  They had a pretty extensive menu of fried seafood, and random Chinese dishes like Lo Mein, but the draw for me was definitely the Bulgogi.

Flash forward a few months, and the cart gets picked by NY Mag as one of the best carts in NYC… for their Fried Fish Sandwich.  Fried Fish Sandwich you say?  Methinks it’s time to revisit Kim’s Aunt.  So back I went for the $3.50 fried whiting sandwich… or what I now come to think of as “The Best Bargain in Midtown”.

Fishy sandwich porn and a +/- after the jump… Read more »

A few months ago I got an email tip about a Halal cart that also served fried shrimp.  It didn’t occur to me how weird that was until I finally got around to checking out the cart and saw their sign for “Halal & Seafood”, which if you believe some interpretations of the Koran, would essentially be the same as a cart putting up a sign that says “Kosher & Pork”. 

While some might think Halal means “Chicken & Rice from a cart”, the actual translation just means permissible under Islamic law.  While it is usually used to describe food, the word can actually be applied to anything.  Haraam is the term used to describe things that are forbidden under Islamic law.  Certifying meat Halal has to do with how the animal is slaughtered, with blood and pork being 100% forbidden.  The rules dictating what is halal are very similar to the Kosher laws, although the two terms are definitely not interchangeable.  Seafood is up for debate as different sects interpret the Koran differently.  While most agree that fish is halal, some Muslims feel that shellfish is haraam, because they are bottom feeders, and the Koran strictly forbids eating predatory animals. 

That being said, I am not Muslim, and if a cart wants to throw some fried shrimp on top of that plate of chicken and rice, I’m all for it!  What I got, a +/- and cart porn after the jump…  Read more »

Well, the line at Carnegie John’s has finally died down enough for me to try it.  NY Mag wreaked havoc on the Midtown cart scene last month when they released their street cart issue.  It spotlighted some Midtown Lunch favorites (The Jamaican Dutchy, Hallo Berlin, Kim’s Aunt Kitchen & Kwik Meal), but also opened my eyes to a cart I had never heard of.  The legend that is Carnegie John’s.

The cart is named for its location, right next to Carnegie Hall, where John serves up Hamburgers, Chicken, Gyro, Steak & Shish Kebab, all cooked to order.  Which partially explains the line.  Ever since the NY Mag issue came out, the line at this cart has been out of control- and if you want a burger, you’ve got to go on the early side.  He usually runs out by 1:30.

What I got, food cart porn and a +/- after the jump… Read more »