Midtown Lunch

Like a heroin addict who can’t stay away from the methadone, my addiction to cheap Chinese food often manifests itself in my inability to eat at a mall food court without getting bourbon chicken. Sure, “technically” it’s not Chinese food- but who are they kidding? We all know bourbon chicken (and its many permutations) was invented so all the non-Chinese food spots could lure those with the same affliction as me away from the one Chinese food option in the food court. (Plus, it works as the perfect free sample.)

So you can imagine how excited I was to discover that the people who ran the “Cajun Cafe” in the now closed Manhattan Mall Food Court, have reopened their food court stand as a brick and mortar shop- replacing Pow Wok on 7th Ave. btw. 36+37th.

Read more »

Lunch’er Josh, aka NYC Foodie, tipped me off to a new cart called Aamir Halal Food- which is serving chicken tikka and lamb over rice on the opposite corner diagonally across the street from the Biryani Cart (on 46th and 6th). According to Josh, the new cart is run by Aamir Hussein- who just so happens to be the father-in-law of Meru, the owner/chef of the Biryani Cart. When I stopped by to ask Meru about it yesterday, he called the new cart “competition” and admitted that it was in fact his father-in-law running the cart, and serving very similar food. He stopped short of saying it was causing “a problem in his family” (my words, not his) but I could see he wasn’t too psyched about the whole situation.  If I had to translate the look he gave me into words, I think it would be: “it is what it is”.

Totally in the mood for some street meat (I’ve been on a street cart tear lately) I headed over to this new unauthorized copy of the Biryani cart to see what was going on.

Read more »

I’m always hesitant to check out carts when they first open.  So few know exactly what they are going to do from day one, and their list of offerings ends up morphing multiple times before they settle on a set menu.  (Anybody remember those white bread bulgogi sandwiches?)  So when the Happy Well Being House Cart popped up on 50th btw. 6+7th a few weeks ago, I decided to stand back and wait.  Their unconventional fried fish or grilled chicken with rice or potatoes menu seemed destined to be a flash in the pan.  When they added bulgogi a few weeks later, things started to seem a little more promising.  Once I found out they were related to the Downtown bulgogi cart that has been operating for awhile, I felt these guys were probably here to say.

And now that I’ve tried the food… I *know* they are.

Read more »

I don’t know the exact history of Six-0 Catering on 39th btw. 5+6th, but it has been around for as long as I can recall.  In fact, I still remember the first time I walked by the place, and was intrigued by its sign touting Mexican food- from an American looking catering place.  It was a complete dump, and the day I walked in was practically empty- save for the one guy behind the counter who told me “we have no burritos today.”  Since then, Six-0 has undergone a massive transformation (both physically and existentially.)  Before they seemed like catering company, that happened to serve lunch food if you hit them on the right day.  Now, under their new name Madeline’s, they seem like a Midtown lunch place that also happens to do catering.  And I was kind of surprised at how good and cheap all the food was.

Read more »

It looks like Sahara Grill, the old Turkish take out place on 40th & 7th that closed in January, is being replaced by a branch of Maoz Vegetarian– the European falafel chain. Maoz has locations all over the world, including three in NYC, but this is their first in Midtown; and while I haven’t tried it yet, Serious Eats:New York called it the best falafel in Union Square. The positives: you get your choice of some tasty looking toppings (like eggplant, hard boiled egg, avocado, or feta) and they have Belgian fries (the chain started in Amsterdam).  The negatives: another small, individually owned Midtown Lunch place is being replaced by a chain.

I doubt it will supplant Olympic Pita (on 38th btw. 5+6th) as my favorite falafel in the area- but it does set up the inevitable Maoz vs. Crisp falafel chain showdown.  Crisp’s second location is opening just down the street at the end of the week (on 40th btw. 6+B’way).  No word yet on when Maoz will be opening.

Stopped by Golosi (the new pizza/gelato place on Park Ave. btw. 41+42nd) today and, as promised, my pizza purchase came with a free scoop of gelato. (They didn’t skimp either… there is a lot of room left in the cup because they gave me the larger cup so I could take it to go with a lid.)  The Yolato looking signs are still up, so it probably is the same gelato as before (but I can’t say that for sure).  As for the pizza… well, I’m not good as passing judgement on pizza, so I may leave this one up to you guys.

On the plus side, they only charged me $2.71 for my 3 inches (which made no sense since supposedly it’s 99 cents an inch) and the slice they cut me was actually 4 inches! (I measured)  Tasted pretty good, although I can’t decide if it’s going to be good enough to replace any of the goto pizza spots in the area.  The by the inch thing is fun, but I could see it getting pricey once you start getting the slices with toppings.  My slice was almost big enough to be worth it, but they also gave me 4 inches (I only paid for free three.)  There are certain places where you feel like you are getting a great deal, and others where you never quite feel like the price works out in your favor (regardless of whether it does or doesn’t.)  This probably falls into the latter category.

Speaking of toppings, they had the hot dog topped pizza- and it’s crazier looking than you could imagine.  Check it out after the jump…

Read more »

After settling on my “chicken scampi” lunch the other day from the Magdy’s Cheesesteak cart (on Park and 46th), I stumbled across this random sign on what seemed like an otherwise standard street meat cart.  I was super curious, but already full- and vowed to return in my obligatory roll as Midtown guinea pig.  Luckily Lunch’er “Alan” beat me to the punch, and sent along this mini-review:

This Cart on 53rd & Park has been here for a month or two has recently added burritos to their menu. The cart appears to be run by a Mexican couple. For $3 the decent sized burrito included chicken or ground beef, rice, tomato, onions, cheese, hot sauce and sour cream. It was a pretty good burrito considering the options in the immidiate area. Really a great price for what it is, a nice change from your typical halal cart.

The photo of his burrito is after the jump…

Read more »

Madeleine, the sweet French lady who makes Brittany crepes in the Cyber Cafe (on 49th btw. B’way+8th), posted this comment on Midtown Lunch yesterday:

“Hi this is “Madeleine the crepe lady” I am still at Cyber Cafe. Turns out the cyber cafe will not be turning into a hotel. So come and enjoy my crepes.”

Who said old ladies don’t know how to use the internet! I guess she has learned a thing or two working in the Cyber Cafe. It does seem like a good day for a crepe.

Not in the mood for a crepe, Cyber Cafe has added a new item to the menu.

Read more »

The Moshe’s Falafel truck that has been parked in Union Square for the past 6 months has given up on that spot and moved to 57th and Broadway.  According to the guys running the 2nd truck, business started off ok but has tapered off significantly during the winter.  So this week they decided to try out the NW corner of Midtown.  They haven’t settled on a permanent spot as of yet, but plan on being somewhere near 57th and Broadway every day starting around Noon.  Yesterday they were on Broadway btw. 56+57th on the West side of the street, and have already started to draw a crowd.

It’s been awhile since I’ve eaten at the Moshe’s Cart, so I decided to re-sample the goods…

Read more »