Back in September, we were dismayed to learn that lamb prices had risen so much that Kwik Meal’s famous lamb on rice could no longer be considered a Midtown Lunch. Thankfully, the price of lamb has gone down, putting Kwik Meal back in the game once again. While the prices aren’t what they were prior to the hike, lamb on rice is now $9 and the lamb on pita is $8.  Thanks to Lunch’er midtownCustomer for tipping us off in the forums!

Kwik Meal, SW Corner of 45th and 6th

A year ago Kwik Meal rolled into 2011 by adding Kati Rolls to their menu, an item I personally support on a regular basis (and may single handedly make worth their while to keep on the menu). And it looks like they have kicked off 2012 in much the same way, by offering a new batch of daily specials. Every day they’ve got something different, sometimes chicken biryani, other times shrimp … and also goat biryani! I guess goat must be a less expensive meat than lamb, with the special coming in just under $10. Of course, their famous lamb over rice exceeded the Midtown Lunch budget last fall, disappointing street meat lovers all over Midtown, so I’m personally looking forward to see how goat measures up in taste and texture. Unfortunately, by the time I saw this, I had already gotten my lunch, but I’d love to know if anyone’s checked it out yet!  Early adopters, let us know what you think in the comments.

Kwik Meal, SW Corner of 45th and 6th

A beef stick goes for $4.00, and they’ll even do beef on rice for you if you like (not sure the price on that). I ordered mine with a little white sauce. Unexpectedly, the stick was wrapped in a hotdog bun, which I found strange and unnecessary. The beef is extremely flavorful, like their lamb, with lots of spices and a nice char on the outside. I know this is street meat, but I prefer my beef medium rare, and because this was cooked through, I wasn’t so into it. So in the battle of new offerings, the chicken breast kabob that Brian enjoyed back in April might be better. Personally, I’m sticking with my (dark meat) chicken kati roll.

Now about the lamb.

Just a couple of months ago, we wrote about Kwik Meal’s price hike for the lamb on rice, which priced them out of ML range. Unfortunately, it looks like there’s been another increase! (And even the cart signs seem a bit confused about it.)

I looked down and saw this sign near the beef stick pictures, which contradicted the above menu, indicating that lamb on rice is up to $12.00. Oof!  So, I asked, and lamb on rice is currently $11.50, up $.50 from September. If the comments from September’s post are any indication, Midtown Lunchers aren’t impressed with the quality anymore and may end up looking elsewhere for their lamb … will you?

Kwik Meal, SW Corner of 45th and 6th

Is Kwik Meal (on 45th and 6th) no longer a “Midtown Lunch”?!  We don’t know much about the price of lamb, but apparently it’s gone up- possibly as much as $3 a pound, if this sign is to be believed.  If the language seems confusing, allow us to break it down for you… Kwik Meal’s famous lamb over rice (one of the only versions in Midtown that uses real lamb and not gyro meat) is now $11, up from $8, and their lamb on pita is a whopping $10, up from $7.  Kwik Meal was always a bit on the pricey side, and we understand that food costs are what they are, but $11 for a plate of street meat seems kind of insane.  Will you pay?  Or has the original Street Meat Palooza champ just priced themselves out of the market?

On Saturday we gathered together at City Winery with a couple hundred of our closest friends to celebrate the 5 year anniversary of Midtown Lunch (yes, we too are surprised this thing has been around for 5 years!)   A great time was had by all thanks to the amazing food (provided graciously by Kwik Meal, The Biryani Cart, Cer Te, Ma Peche, Food Gallery 32, El Rey del Sabor, Tri Tip Grill, Wafels & Dinges, Miss Softee & the Rolling Cones, Kelvin Slush, and Momofuku Milk Bar) and the endless drinks courtesy of Brooklyn Brewery and GuS’s soda.

Check out the highlights, after the jump…

Bian Dang’s colorful truck was there, serving up their tasty, meaty Taiwanese style pork chops with pork gravy and pickled veggies over rice with a smile. It was contributor Donny T’s favorite of the day.

They were parked next to their Food Gallery 32 co-horts, Boon Sik Zip, who served up delicious made to order kimbap featuring your choice of beef, tuna and veggie flavors. So good!

Eddie’s Pizza showed off their brand new cart (the very first of its kind!), serving up a light and shatteringly crisp tomato and basil bar pie.

Má Pêche Chef, Tien Ho, and his crew brought their A-game, serving a special banh mi that was conceptualized just for this event. This sandwich featured a ridiculously juicy and rich slab of pork belly, paired with crunchy pickled daikon beef,
crab mayo and green papaya, in a good crusty roll. Mamacita was a fan, saying “their pork reminded me the strong richness and fattiness that I would expect from an old school carnitas store in East LA. A heavy squirt of shiracha sauce just put a happy ending to the whole mouthful. I should mention the serving size demanded a two hander, my boyfriend had to hold my beer while I took this thing down.”  And Chris H appreciated how juicy and messy it was. ”I want stuff falling out of it and juice to be running down my wrists when I take a bite – this sandwich did just that, and it was awesome!”

Based on hear-say from the crowd, the Tri-Tip Grill crew earned themselves some new customers, as people buzzed about the lusciously meaty Baby Buck sliders.  Thinly sliced, super tender roast beef dipped in debris and topped with bbq sauce and horseradish… it was perfection on a potato roll.

Our friends over at Cer Te, not to be bested by Má Pêche, also came up with a new menu item for this event. Their contribution was a hearty house made lobster sausage in a snappy natural casing. They paired this ‘haute dog’, with a truffled fingerling potato salad, sprinkled with lobster infused salt. This dish ended up as contributor Brian Hoffman’s favorite dish, as he raved,

“It was so unusual and the flavors worked really well together. The truffle creamed potatoes on the side and a garnish of an inventive and out of control lobster salty put the dish over the edge for me. I don’t see this on their regular menu, but if they ever do add it, I know where I’ll be spending the majority of my summer lunches.”

El Rey Del Sabor showed up with their signature tacos, which were available with pork, beef, or chicken. The folks that opted for spicy were treated to an exhilarating but tongue searing level of spice. Luckily there was plenty of suds by Brooklyn Brewery and GuS soda available to put out the fire.

Muhammed Rahman and the Kwik Meal Cart team stuck with the stuff that made them famous… handing out samples of their pita stuffed with their signature chunks of whole, juicy lamb. A Midtown Lunch classic!

Meru and the Biryani Cart offered samples of another iconic aMidtown lunch, chicken biryani and kati rolls.

The crummy weather didn’t stop people from gulping down cup after cup of refreshing ginger and Arnold Palmer slushes from Kelvin Natural Slush. (And we may or may not have spotted Zach behind the prize table adding something from a flask into his…)

For dessert, attendees were treated to the always scrumptious Wafels and Dinges liegewafels, which were topped with a swipe of nutty spekuloos and a swirl of whipped cream.

And Chrissie (aka Miss Softee), ringleader of The Rolling Cones, was there to hand out her innovative ice cream creations, including the infamous Potato Chip Choco Dip cone and the Watchamacallit cone.

But the “genius of the day” award goes to Blondie, who sandwiched Miss Softee’s soft serve between two cookies from Momofuku Milk Bar!

Although food was the focus of the event, it was also a chance for friends and family of Midtown Lunch to meet, eat, drink, and be happy. And there was probably no one happier in attendance, than little Harry the unofficial Midtown Lunch mascot, who was able to escape the stroller and stretch his legs.

In addition to all the great food and drinks, thanks to all the vendors who donated prizes! Including, Sweetery NYC, Bon Chon, Goodburger, Mooncake Foods, Beacon, BeerParc, Schnitzel & Things, Eddie’s Pizza Truck, Bistro Truck, Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, Yushi, The Counter, Glaze Teriyaki, Taim Mobile, Kimchi Taco Truck, Mai Cuisine, Macaron Cafe, ‘wichcraft, Hertz Connect, Seamless Web, Not For Tourist Guides, and Bouchon Bakery. You didn’t have to be present to win, so we’ll be sending out the rest of the prizes this week!

And finally a big thank you to everybody who came out to the party to support Midtown Lunch and the Street Vendor Project. You guys made this birthday one we’ll always remember!

Kwik Meal has arguably the best (yet priciest) lamb of all the food carts in Midtown. Certainly it’s the highest quality- he uses actual lamb leg meat instead of the processed gyro stuff. It’s tender, flavorful, and delicious, and I always felt like it overshadowed his passable chicken. He uses the dark thigh meat which I sometimes find a bit chewy and fatty.

Well, earlier this week a sign went up on the cart that lists a new menu item called “Chicken Breast Kabob”. Of course as popular as it is with some people, breast meat has problems of its own… the biggest being that it’s often overcooked, dry and bland. But somehow I knew Kwik Meal wouldn’t disappoint.

I can now safely say that Muhammed has the best lamb and chicken I’ve had from a cart in Midtown. My order came on a bed of rice with a salad and the usual white and green (chili) sauce. The chicken meat had been grilled on a kabob and the stick removed for presentation (and safety?) before being garnished with a handful of sauteed onions

At $7, this is one of the more expensive chicken over rice dishes on the street. But the quality is unbeatable and worth the splurge. The white meat was incredibly tender, literally melting in my mouth. It was slightly charred and had a smoky flavor with hints of cumin and garlic and dots of red pepper flakes gave it some kick. As usual, the green chili sauce was the perfect amount of heat and tang while the yogurt sauce cooled things down a bit.

The only chicken from a cart I’ve had that is on par with this is at Tony “the Dragon” Dragonas, which is just outside the Midtown Lunch precinct and has a totally different flavor profile. But as Halal Carts go, Kwik Meal has now, in my opinion conquered the two major proteins of street meat.

Kwik Meal, SW Corner of 45th and 6th

The fish is cooked to order–I ordered mine medium–and it’s ready quickly. The filet is a good portion size and it comes with mixed veggies and a bit of salad over rice with white sauce and if desired, hot sauce. The fish itself is delicate, moist and mild–definitely not a fishy fish. If you’re a hot sauce fan be sure to ask for extra as the fish isn’t very strongly seasoned. While this plate is on the pricey side at $8.50, it should leave you feeling well sated.

Kwik Meal, 6th Avenue and 45th Street, SW corner

Just last week, I noticed a picture on the cart of three golden eggs over rice. It seemed like a new dish: you’ve heard of chicken over rice, I was thinking “yolk over rice”. But upon inquiry, Chef Muhammed told me the eggs are meant to be an add-on option. Like a Bengali Super Size Meal, you can add one of these orbs of flavor to your lunch for just 50 cents. Want two eggs? Well, you do the math.

The egg is spiced with paprika, turmeric, cumin, salt and pepper. Then, when it’s hard boiled to the proper firmness, Mohammed fries the egg on the grill. It’s left whole for you to break open. This was the most difficult part since it was slightly rubbery and required two hands on my plastic fork. Maybe this is a sign I need to get back to the gym.

But once I broke into the egg, it began to separate into little flecks and mixed in with the rice adding an extra richness and spice. I also really enjoyed that the bottom of the egg had been cooked to the point of crispness which gave it a firm, fried egg texture.

This is a tasty way to get an additional protein fix. It goes nicely with the famous green chile sauce and adds some richness to your chicken or lamb over rice. And it’s only fifty cents egg-stra!

Kwik Meal, SW Corner of 45th and 6th

Posted by our newest contributor: Brian Hoffman

When you’re the food blogger in the family you often get co-opted into the food decider role–the person in charge of picking the food outing that the whole family will enjoy. I love introducing people to new foods, but still it comes with a good bit of pressure. Months ago I introduced my husband’s aunt to kati rolls and she’s been raving about them ever since. With my husband’s mother, brother and sister in town it was clear that kati rolls would be on tap and with so many eager eaters it seemed an apt opportunity to embark on a kati krawl.

The rules of the krawl were this–carts and trucks only. Sorry Kati Roll Co, but this was an all mobile food adventure. Here’s where we hit and what we had:

We began our krawl at Sami’s Dosa Cart where I had noticed that they were selling vegetarian kati rolls. As I mentioned in my Sami’s review: “The kati rolls from the cart are vegetables only and pre-rolled and reheated (most places heat the paratha then add the filling). They seemed to be filled with carrot and onion, almost like an Indian spiced egg roll.” There weren’t many fans in the group for this kati roll, so I would suggest sticking with the delicious dosas here.

Next up we headed to the Desi Food truck on 50th between 6th and 7th. We tried to hit the 39th street Desi Food Truck but they weren’t out that day. Since I’ve never tried the kati rolls from the Desi Food Truck we ordered one of each. The Aloo Masala and Chicken Rolls were each $4.50 and the Paneer Masala and Chicken Anda Rolls were $5.50.

The Desi Food Truck had thicker paratha than I’m used to so it was a little more dense and chewy. The rolls themselves were larger than at Biryani Cart, but if you have a larger appetite I would venture that you’d probably want more than one for lunch. The chicken roll had a nice after kick of spice. The majority of the group preferred the chicken roll to the Chicken Anda roll- the consensus was that the “egg muted the flavor.” My family tends to be intensely pro-spice, so you can take that for what it’s worth.

The tender aloo filling was topped with cilantro sauce. We didn’t find this to be overwhelmingly hot, but it was very pleasant.

The Paneer roll drew mixed reviews from the group. I love a good paneer roll, so I was pretty excited. Unfortunately the cilantro sauce was unevenly distributed so some of the bites were on the bland side. If you like hot sauce I would recommend asking for extra here.

Next up was the Biryani Cart (on 46th and 6th) where the Kati Rolls are 2 for $6. I ordered a Pune Roll (chaat masala chicken), a King Koti Roll (Tikka Glazed Chicken), a Chennai Roll (Sweet Chili Chicken) and the Spicy Buradi (chicken with mint habanero sauce). At this time they had not debuted their Paneer Roll yet, so I wasn’t able to order it. We were already pretty loaded up on rolls so we didn’t order the two vegetarian rolls from the Biryani Cart.

All of the rolls from the Biryani Cart vanished quickly with the spicy/sweet/sour Chennai and the extra spicy Buradi rolls were the hands down favorite of the group. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law couldn’t stop raving about how good they were. Biryani Cart is my go to kati purveyor, so over time I’d lost an appreciation for how tender and lightly buttery their paratha are. Having a slew of different kati rolls in a row renewed my appreciation for their paratha.

The last addition to our krawl were the relatively new kati rolls from Kwik Meal (on 45th and 6th), $3.50 each or 2 for $6 that Chris first reviewed in January. The vegetable roll was stuffed with an assortment of veggies: broccoli, corn, onion, pepper, and if I’m not mistaken, water chestnut. The chicken was rich and flavorful and both rolls were dressed with Kwik Meal’s famous white and hot sauce. The paratha was thinner, less buttery and a bit crispier than at any of the other carts. It also was the messiest and readily fell apart.

To recap our highly unscientific taste taste/food crawl. Sami’s rolls get a skip, Desi Food Truck on 50th were okay but didn’t overwhelm the group, Kwik Meal’s rolls showed great promise and got the thumbs up from my brother-in-law’s girlfriend who favored their thinner wrapper, but overall, Biryani Cart by a large margin won the day with their Spicy Buradi and Chennai rolls.

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.

That photo looks really familiar…

At long last, what is easily my favorite street cart (Kwik Meal), and what is easily my favorite street food item (kati rolls) are finally together, like a Double Rainbow of awesome things. The new kati rolls, which come in chicken or vegetable flavors, are $3.50 each or can be purchased as a pair for $6. Not only is the price the same as Biryani Cart’s, but the size is roughly the same as well. And they even used Zach’s photo of the Biryani Cart’s kati rolls on their sign (no photo credit, but it’s OK, we still love them). Interesting choice of signage aside, flavor was clearly going to be the only way to differentiate between the two.

I dug both rolls equally as much – the vegetarian version was brimming with al dente bits of broccoli, green bean, peas, onions, tomatoes and other vegetable strata, slathered in Kwik Meal’s tasty white sauce, and tightly bundled into a buttery paratha. The richness of the paratha and the crunch of the vegetables make this a hearty and like-able handful of food, despite the lack of animal protein. The chicken roll was plump with tender cubes of peppery smoky chicken, peppy from the white sauce, and opulent from the well lubricated paratha. Though in hind sight I wish I had asked for a touch more of their acclaimed spicy green sauce.

It’s tough to claim allegiance to one roll over the other, but as much as I enjoyed Kwik Meal’s kati rolls I still found myself yearning for Biryani Cart’s version and their craveable je ne sais quoi of secret sauces and spices. I still love the lamb over rice at Kwik Meal, but Biryani Cart’s kati rolls are the still the best (for now). Has anybody else tried the new Kwik Meal kati rolls? Let us know what you think in the comments.