Midtown Lunch

“Imposter” Waffle Truck Spotted Near the West Side Highway

Been getting tons of waffle truck sightings in the inbox lately, and Blondie & Brownie confirm. The OG Waffels & Dinges truck has been parked on 46th btw. 5+6th the past two days, and plans on being there again today (and probably tomorrow) until 3:30-4 pm. The rain looks like it may keep them off the street today, but one thing is clear- W&D appears here to stay. You can check their twitter page for updates.

I also spotted the “Imposter” Waffle Truck parked in Midtown West the past two nights. Many carts and trucks have parking spaces near the West Side Highway, and it doesn’t necessarily mean they are setting up shop in Midtown, but it would seem like a convenient option. We may even end up with our own Truck War, like the one brewing in Union Square.

Waffle truck sightings are totally welcome in the comments…

In the past two months alone, the New York Times has discovered numerous Midtown Lunch’ing favorites.  There was the Treats Truck piece, and the mention of the Jamaican Dutchy cart, plus the under $25 review of Sophie’s Cuban.  But this… this is much much bigger.  Midtown Lunch’ers have know about Szechuan Gourmet, on 39th btw. 5+6th, for awhile, but now the secret is officially out.  Frank Bruni awarded the Chinese restaurant 2 stars in this mornings New York Times.  Not a fun little piece about our favorite sit down Chinese restaurant in Midtown.  Not even an under $25 review (amazingly lunch is still under $10).  A full fledged, rate it like you’re eating at Le Bernardin, New York Times review.   Two mother-fucking stars. That is some crazy shit.  A Midtown Lunch people!   

Back in March I wrote about how much of a madhouse the place had become during lunch.  I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like now.  As long as the lunch menu stays under $10 I’m not gonna be mad…

Related:
The Best Chinese Food Dishes in Midtown… As Picked by You
The Most Offal Lunches Midtown Has to Offer

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 »

I try my best not to be too negative on this site, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to vent. Every once in awhile I’ll share some of the more angry useful emails I get in a post called “Airing of Grievances”. (If the Eater Complaints Dept. would like royalties, I’ll be happy to pay up…) As a former Los Angelino I can relate to this one (although I don’t know if authentic is the word I’d use for Baja Fresh and Wahoo’s.)

Tried the new Qdoba today. More like Qdon’tbother. Blech! More Mexican food for people who’ve never been west of New Jersey. It’s like a Subway with tortillas and beans instead of lettuce and bread with big knives baked into it. I went for the “hot “ salsa and couldn’t even taste it. Also opted for the “3 Cheese Queso” burrito. I thought it would be three actual cheeses like a real Mexican place might provide… It was pump cheese. Pump cheese! Pump cheese belongs on your 2am, 7-11 nachos not on a friggin burrito!

Upside? The massive, albeit bland, burrito was only 5 bucks and it came with a sweet “I heart Qdoba” t-shirt and a fancy customer loyalty card. I don’t heart Qdoba but I do heart a big-ass, $5 dollar lunch on 50th St. (btw. 6+7th)

But wait, there’s more (not alot, but some things need to go after the jump to protect the children)  Read more »

I don’t know what Bastille Day is, but I know it’s French- so why not use it as an excuse to eat the most French Midtown Lunch there is.  It’s been almost 2 years since I wrote about the Cyber Cafe (on 49th btw. 7+8th), an internet cafe that was home to two of the strangest lunches in Midtown: a satellite version of Tuck Shop (the Lower East Side Aussie Meat Pie place) and Madeleine “The Crepe Lady”, a French woman who made authentic Breton style crepes on Wednesday through Sunday.  Tuck Shop closed up awhile ago (although the Cafe may still sell their pies, I’m not sure) but Madeleine is still there 5 days a week (Wed-Sun) serving up the best crepes in Midtown.  Unfortunately she’s not there on Mondays- but it’s still worth posting about considering the holiday.  She makes savory crepes and sweet crepes and if you haven’t checked it out, you’re missing out on one of the hidden gems of Midtown Lunch’ing.

Crepe porn, after the jump…  Read more »

Fresh on the heels of the off-the-menu “Special Vegetarian” sandwich at Blimpie, comes word that Zen Burger (on Lex. btw. 45+46th) has been serving their own off-the-menu filet-o-fish sandwich.  When Zen Burger first launched at the beginning of the year, the only thing keeping it from being an exact replica of McDonald’s (in vegetarian form) was the lack of a filet-o-fish.  They had a “Zen Tuna” sandwich, but it wasn’t fried, and quite frankly, who wants fast food that isn’t fried.  Considering that most adult vegetarians probably refused, as kids, to eat anything *but* the filet-o-fish during family trips to McDonald’s, this addition to the Zen Burger menu should be pretty well received.

The fishless fish sandwich, and my anti-McDonald’s tirade, after the jump… Read more »

“How can I not?” was the first thing that went through my head when I read about the off the menu “Special Vegetarian” sandwich being served at the Blimpie on 46th btw. 5+6th on the Village Voice blog.  Doritos?  Spicy green chutney?  Off the menu?  At a Blimpie?  How… can… I… not.  I posted a quick link to share the info with you people (I’m unselfish like that) and headed straight over to this gross sandwich chain, which had decided to buck the Latin food trend that other Blimpieowners seem to be impressed with, and instead make something for the Indian population working in the area. 

Since I know some of you were probably holding off, waiting for the visual proof of this sandwich’s existence- I present, the foot long crime-against-nature, after the jump… Read more »

Oh man.  What are we going to do?  Has it really come to this?  Since Yum Thai closed last year, I have been seriously Thai deprived.  Sure, there are options available– but none are really “Midtown Lunch” worthy (i.e. there is no super cheap, order at a counter Thai food in Midtown.)  If you want Thai, you’re going to have to eat it at a sit down restaurant, or order it to go and take it back to your office.  There are plenty of options to the far west, but not much going on to the East, which is what brought me to Thai-Nam last week; a Thai/Vietnamese combo restaurant on 45th btw. Lex+3rd.

What I got (after ignoring the various red flags) after the jump… Read more »