Archive for 'Review'

LA Baguette’s Burrito is Basically Street Meat in a Tortilla

Last week, Lunch’er “uncledunkle” took to the ML forums to ask if anyone had ever tried the burrito from the La Baguette truck (SE Corner of B’way & 40th Street). I’d been wanting to try La Baguette myself and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to take a bullet for a good cause (too bad they answered their own question before I got a chance.  Oh well, I’m one day late!) Anyway, I too got the chicken burrito ($5) and was kind of happy to discover that it’s basically just another way to enjoy some delicious street meat.

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Mexicue Packs a Ton of Flavor Into a (Very) Small Package

Mexicue Menu

We have long dreamed of the day that New York would get their very own KOGI Truck, the infamous Los Angeles based Korean taco vendors that teased us back in June of last year, before pulling the rug out from under us just a month later. Kogi has spawned a host of fusion taco imitators on the West Coast… to the point where it seems like every new truck that hits the street in L.A. has at least some kind of taco option- regardless of what kind of food it is.  Here in NYC, we’re not so lucky…  until now that is!  Enter the Mexicue truck, a scrappy new entrant in the street food scene which, through savvy marketing, has amassed significant buzz. We’ve watched with growing curiosity for the past week as the Mexicue crew zealously tweeted their location and wares to over 650 followers.

Expectations in check, I decided to check it out for myself.

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The Boss Inspired Great Calzone Taste Off of 2010

My first thought when George Steinbrenner died two weeks ago wasn’t of Yankee Stadium or championship trophies, it was of Larry David’s voice. I guess I’m a bigger Seinfeld fan than Yankees fan. One of my favorite Steinbrenner episodes of Seinfeld is when he becomes obsessed with George’s lunchtime calzone stuffed with cheese, pepperoni and eggplant, and starts making George bring him one everyday. The spell that calzone casts on Steinbrenner always makes me crave one. So, to honor The Boss, I headed out to some of Midtown’s most notable pizzerias in search of Midtown’s best calzone. See what I found after the jump.

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Quick Stop Kosher Truck is No Competition for W&D, But Their (Moshe’s) Falafel is Pretty Good

Your resident shiksa goddess has finally made it to Quick Stop Kosher (aka the kosher waffle truck) the other day. It was hard to track them down; first there wasn’t a Twitter, then they went to serve Mt. Sinai and on a religious fast. But I finally got my chance to have some falafel, and a waffle for lunch- even though it came with quizzical looks from their kosher patrons. For extra Jewish points, they now serve the layer-challenged Moshe’s Falafel (whatever that means. Maybe they buy all the ingredients from Moshe’s?)

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Totto Ramen Is the Closest Thing We’ve Got to the East Village

Lunch’er “Chris” is on fire! Yesterday he gave us a rundown of all the decent options at Taste of Summer in Rock Center (today is the last day, btw.) Today he files this pretty amazing report on Ramen Totto, which is now open for lunch. I think it might be time to make this guy official. Please welcome the newest contributor to the fold… Chris H.

Few would consider ramen to be good hot weather food. Even fewer would consider a restaurant located on 52nd btw. 8+9th to be within midtown lunch bounds. However, with Totto Ramen’s recent announcement that they would start serving lunch I felt compelled to schlep (schvitzing all the way) to the outer regions of Midtown to check out Ryuichi “Bobby” Munekata’s latest offering. Was the journey worth it? We noodle over the answer after the jump…

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Trying Out McCormick & Schmick’s $10 Lunch Special

_MG_9959 - Version 2

I wasn’t immediately excited when I read about the $10 lunch special at the bar of McCormick & Schmick’s. I like cheap lunch specials at a fancy restaurant just as much as the next guy (i’m looking at you burger from Wolfgang’s, but schlepping up to Rockefeller Center didn’t really seem worth it in this heat. Then I saw that a half po’ boy and lobster bisque was among the options – I reconsidered. I love a po’ boy and haven’t had a one since our ML Team excursion to the Grand Central Oyster Bar. Clearly I was past due.

See what ten bucks gets you after the jump.

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Hello Pasta vs. Nooi: A Midtown Pasta Chain Showdown

Nooi, a French pasta chain opens in MidtownHello Pasta front door

In Midtown, we’re used to the sight of fast food joints, generic “design your own salad” bars, and gimmicky interpretations of pizza. But when Hello Pasta (Lex btw. 54+55th) and Nooi (Lex btw. 40+41st), two expansion-hungry fast food pasta chains, opened within walking distance and a week of each other, it caught our attention. As skeptical as we are about fast food pasta, a Midtown Lunch Ultimate Taste Test Pasta Showdown to the death clearly was in order. Who’s pasta is worth its salt? Which sauce to get and which ones should they pour down the drain? Or do we declare a double TKO, and send both of these chains back to where they came from. The answer is after the jump…

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QBA Truck Brings “Quick but Authentic” Cuban Food to the Streets

Last week we reported that New Jersey’s QBA Cuban Kitchen truck had started making appearances in Manhattan, and according to the schedule on their website they’re hoping to make it a permanent Tuesday and Thursday thing (on  the SE corner of 48th and 6th) Excited about a new truck in the face of NYC’s coming food truck apocalypse, I immediately headed out to welcome QBA to the neighborhood, and to see what they had to offer.

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Chowing Down at ESPN’s World Cup Truck (Which is Back in Midtown Today)

espntruck1

Last week we told you about the ESPN Match Truck that would be traveling around NYC serving food designed by Kogi, the famous West coast Korean/Mexican food trucks.  The truck has been traveling around the city (including stops in Brooklyn & NJ) serving up food and broadcasting soccer matches on a big screen TV… and today they’re back in Columbus Circle.   They started serving food at 9 AM (they have some breakfast items) and they’ll stay there through lunch (until 5pm) serving up food with Kogi and World Cup influences.  We decided to check out what they have to offer.

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First Look at the Eddie’s Pizza Truck $10 Lunch Special

Eddie's Pizza Truck

The first day for any anticipated food truck is going to be hard, and the first Midtown lunch for Eddie’s Pizza Truck was no exception. Waits upwards of a hour, a few ordering mishaps, and people ordering numerous large pies for their offices made it even tougher.  But I went, regardless, to get my $10 lunch special deal: a 10″ bar pie with one topping plus a side and a drink. After all, opening night is one thing. Serving the masses in Midtown during lunch is quite another.

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