Midtown Lunch

My favorite event of the year has finally arrived!  http://streetvendor.org/vendys/“>The 2008 Vendy Awards are tomorrow from 3-7 p.m. in Dumbo, and it’s no secret who I want to take home the coveted Vendy Cup: Meru and the Biryani Cart on 46th and 6th Ave. I’d be happy with a keep-it-in-midtown Kwik Meal victory as well (they’re on 45th and 6th), but that cart has already gotten their fair share of accolades.  I’d like to see the Biryani Cart get their day in the sun.

Over at Serious Eats: New York we set odds for the event, and put the Biryani Cart’s chances at about the middle of the pack.  If the cart is putting their best food forward, I’d pick his Kati Rolls, biryani, and chicken tikka masala over anything the other four carts are serving.  But as we all know, the cart can be inconsistent- and the event will be packed, so the potential for being overwhelmed is there.

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I’ve gotten a lot of emails over the past few weeks asking what happened to Kwik Meal’s Muhammed Rahman.  The cart is still there (on 45th & 6th), serving up their famous lamb and rice platters, but Muhammed has not been seen for awhile- replaced by a woman who now appears to be running the operation during lunch.  Rahman famously used to work at the Russian Tea Room, before starting up Kwik Meal, where he has become widely known for his lamb, which is considered some of the best street meat in the city.

It turns out Muhammed has gotten back into the restaurant business, in an incredily unlikely location…  Read more »

It’s like all carts, all the time on Midtown Lunch this week.  Fresh off the heels of our massive Street-Meat-Palooza post comes two big pieces of street meat news.  First up:

The Rafiqi’s on 47th & Madison has raised raised the price of their street meat.  A combo platter is now $5.45.  I’m not sure if this is just this cart or all of them, but I do know that we paid $5 for a combo at the Rafiqi’s on 44th and 5th.  It seems weird that different Rafiqi’s carts would have different prices.  Considering they came in 2nd to last, nobody should care too much about this, although sadly it is probably a sign of more price increases to come.  It joins Kwik Meal as just another addition to our ever expanding Price Hike List.

Speaking of Kwik Meal…  Read more »

It’s been a month since I posted the Price Hike list, and not surprisingly a lot more places have raised their prices… but a few haven’t.  Let’s start with some good news…

In a total shock, the 3 rolls for $10 takeout sushi deal is still available at Aoki on 48th btw. 7+8th.  I thought for sure when I wrote about this in April they would pull a Del Frisco’s but, in a delightful surprise, the best sushi deal in Midtown is still available.  Just remember, you have to take it to go.  It’s $11 for 3 rolls if you sit in the restaurant.  2+ months and counting…

Photograph by nycblondieandbrownie

Now the bad… plenty of places have raised their prices recently, but it’s always more upsetting when it happens at a Midtown Lunch standby.  All three Kwik Meal carts have tacked 50 cents on to most of their items.  The falafel on pita is already on the small side, and for $4.50 I’ll have to think twice about buying two (a standard Kwik Meal order.)

The ugly, after the jump… Read more »

At the beginning of the week, I put the question out there:  Where should I take New Orleans Restaraunteur Ralph Brennan for the best sandwich in Midtown.  The owner of Bacco, Red Fish Grille and Ralph’s on the Park, and member of the famous Brennan family- who collectively own some of the best New Orleans food institutions (Commander’s Palace, Brennan’s), was in town promoting his new cookbook, and challenged me to take him out for the best sandwich in Midtown.

I love and revere New Orleans (and the Brennan’s restaurants), and didn’t want to look like an ass, so I took your suggestions and gave Ralph a choice of 5 places that in theory, could serve the best sandwich in Midtown (this way I could blame it on you guys, or even him- since in the end, he chose.)

• Best Quintessential New York Sandwich – When in New Orleans, you eat a Po’boy.  When in New York, you gotta have a gigantic pastrami or corned beef sandwich.  For that, we would go to the newly re-opened 2nd Ave. Deli on 33rd btw. Lex+3rd.
• Best Bread in New York City – For the best sandwich, you’ve got to have the best bread- and although it’s out of bounds to the west (47th btw. 10+11th), Sullivan St. Bakery is arguably the best in town.  And even though their sandwiches are small, they are perfectly crafted.
• Best Burger – Ralph is a burger man, so I had to include the Burger Joint at the Parker Merdien.  He had a car service, so I even suggested we could make the trip down to the Shake Shack if he wanted to see that craziness.
• Best Street Meat – What’s more Midtown than the carts?  And the best street meat sandwich has got to be Kwik Meal’s lamb on pita (45th & 6th), right?
• Best Midtown Lunch – And finally, the place that started it all.  I told him if he wanted the quintessential Midtown Lunch, the place that sums up everything this site stands for (cheap, delicious, unique- and usually ethnic), then we could go to Kati Roll (39th btw. 5+6th).  That counts as a sandwich, right?

Ralph admitted he could definitely go for a big corned beef sandwich- but felt like being taken to the 2nd Ave. Deli was like eating at the Central Grocery.  I assured him that Carnegie Deli was more like the Central Grocery of NYC, but he wanted something a little more unique.  With his Executive Chef Haley Bitterman on hand to consult, they both seemed really interested in seeing what Jim Lahey was doing over at the Sullivan St. Bakery.  So we headed west, for what I billed as “the best bread in New York”.

But in true Midtown Lunch’ing fashion, the eating did not end there… Read more »

While I was away in Chile, I turned the site over to you for the first ever Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll.  All of the nominees had to have lunch for under $10 (except the buffet category, where a $1 exception was made), and they all had to be within the Midtown boundaries (32nd St. to the South, Central Park to the North, 3rd Ave on the East, and 8th Ave. to the West).  Thanks to everyone who participated.  Thousands of votes were cast, and here are the results:

Best Fast Food Indian: Kati Roll

Despite changing locations this year (Kati Roll is now on 39th btw. 5+6th), Indian burritos just barely beat out old steam table standby (and former neighbor) Minar, on 46th btw. 6+7th.  35% to 32%  Editor’s Pick: Man do I miss being 2 blocks away from Kati Roll.  It’s the unanimous winner.

Best Cheap Chinese Food: Hing Won

“Cheap” is code for fast food, take out Chinese, and while Szechuan Gourmet (on 39th btw. 5+6th) may possibly be the best Chinese food in Midtown- Hing Won/Hop Won wins the battle of the steam tables, easily beating out the competition.  Editor’s Pick:  No secret here.  Hing Won was my first Midtown Lunch post, and still remains my favorite Chinese food take out in Midtown.

Best burger, best street carts and a best pizza shocker, after the jump… Read more »

The Dosa Man’s Entry, Posted to Flickr by 52 Projects

The third time was a charm, as Kumar “The Dosa Man” from Washington Sq. Park finally took home the top prize at the Third Annual Vendy Awards this past weekend in Tompkins Sq. Park.  Midtown can still hold it’s head up high as the Kwik Meal Cart not only got judge Ed Levine’s vote (you can read his take on the event here), but also won the People’s Choice voting.

Get a full Vendy’s recap, with photos from 52 Projects.

Related: A Day in the Life: Muhammed “Kwik Meal” Rahman

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.

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