Midtown Lunch

Even if Kogi BBQ does end up opening a truck in Midtown, as promised on Monday, they won’t be the first cart serving Korean tacos here.  That  distinction will probably go to a brand new “Korean BBQ” cart that popped up this week on 50th btw. 6+7th, in the same exact spot that used to belong to the Happy Well Being House Cart.  More like the Bulgogi Cart on 49th than the Happy Well Being House Cart (which had fried fish, and grilled chicken), this new Korean BBQ cart has bulgogi and “shortribs” (or their boneless version of kalbi.)  But what caught my eye was at the bottom of the menu: bulgogi hot dogs, and Korean tacos. Hello!

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I’m not exactly sure how much “new Midtown truck!” news you can handle… but clearly this week we’re pushing the limits.  Got a few reports from Lunchers about this new crepe truck (known as “Tripie”?) parked in Columbus Circle. Lunch’er Mike tracked them down on Facebook and Lunch’er “Jonathan” was kind enough to send along the photo on the left via twitter. $4.95 for a crepe is kind of cheap by Midtown standards. Has anybody tried this cart yet, or know anything about it?  I’m curious how it stacks up against Madeleine the Crepe Lady (on 49th btw. B’way+8th) or the Le Gamin Truck (which parked in Midtown for the first time yesterday, and will be back in the same spot today.)

A new branch of Szechuan Gourmet is set to open today on 56th btw. B’way+8th, and Lunch’er “Jonathan” was kind enough to scan the menu and send it over.  From the looks of the things it’s mostly the same as the original location (on 39th btw. 5+6th), with maybe a few more lunch specials?  But the most important thing to note is that the SG specialties all remain intact (like ma “paul” tofu and double cooked pork belly with chili leeks.)  Plus lunch specials now come with soup *and* szechuan pickled vegetables! Very exciting.

Check out the full menu of lunch specials after the jump…

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Following in the footsteps of Time Out New York’s Feed Blog…  Thrillist, Citysearch’s The Feedbag, and New York Magazine have all filed reports about this new La Cense Burger Truck coming to Midtown sometime in the next week later in the month.  With all this PR, I’m starting to wonder if this truck is about bringing tasty burgers to Midtown Lunchers or about raising brand awareness for La Cense’s Montana bred beef (after all, NYC is the biggest food media city in the country.) We’ll wait to see if they park outside of Conde Nast before issuing judgment.

A few other important tidbits of important info I didn’t mention in the first post… the burgers will be made entirely from grass fed beef, and will be served topped with carmelized onions on a sesame seed bun for $7. And if you were wondering exactly what Adam Perry Lang’s (from Daisy May’s BBQ) role in all of this is, he created the burger recipe and the method of preperation.  It definitely could be good…

The Le Gamin Truck’s first forray into Midtown today had a pretty familiar storyline. Even with the rain they ran out of most items by 1pm (most notably french fries and merguez.)  When will these trucks learn not to come into Midtown Lunch territory short stocked. Have they learned nothing from this, this or even this oldie but goodie?

Last month I mentioned that the just out of bounds Piece of Chicken (on 45th btw. 8+9th) had raised the price of their breast and chicken livers, and now Grub Street has discovered why: “Owner Alberta Wright tells us it’s because she’s been undercharging (for the breast meat, especially) since she opened. ‘I’ve not been charging the right prices. I need to make more money on that breast,’ she says.” [Grub Street]

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week, it’s Victoria- a financial “servant” who hates onions but loves fish tacos and horchata.

Name: Victoria

Age: 23

Occupation: Financial servant

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 58th & Lexington

Favorite Kind of Food: I’ll start with CHEESE – for me, melty cheese can save almost any dish, there’s nothing like a good grilled cheese with tomato, a meatball parm, Velveeta shells and cheese, a baked wheel of camembert, or a burger oozing with gorgonzola. I also love fish – raw: salmon, kampachi, hamachi, toro; cooked: black cod, Alaskan butterfish, Chilean sea bass – I don’t have the will power to be politically correct with food! I can’t turn down a rare, bloody ribeye steak or Porterhouse, or carpaccio with shaved parmesan and capers. I can be a bit of a carnivore, with venison, lamb, veal, ribs, and OXTAIL. (I even tried kangaroo in Australia.) I like anything braised that falls off the bone, like coq au vin or osso buco or pig’s feet (Chinese dish). And I can’t forget chicken wings of any kind! Also, being Chinese, dim sum: steamed shrimp dumplings, fried turnip cakes, lotus-wrapped sticky rice, sweet egg tarts – and did I mention I could honestly eat dessert for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Scallions, chives, onions (I like the taste of them but I always pick them out), pickles, Vietnamese sandwiches (I don’t get the hype), Ethiopian food – only had it twice, once in LA’s Little Ethiopia district and once at Merkato – but both were horrible.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Anything from Woorijip (on 32nd btw. 5+B’way). Kimchi dumplings or bibimbap from Mandoo Bar (on 32nd btw. 5+B’way). Tina’s Cuban (Two Locations) for the heaping oxtail special plate. Kalbi or miso-marinated steak at Gyu-Kaku (on 50th & 3rd), small portions but very tasty. Coconut shrimp or any daily special at Gourmet 53 (in that basement food court at 53rd and 3rd.) And I know these are out of the “official” range, but they are MUST TRY places if you have the time: the chicken meatball sandwich with melted fontina and pesto mayo at Penelope (on 30th and Lex); the lamb, prosciutto, or clam personal pizzas with super thin crusts at Waldy’s (on 6th ave btw. 27+28th; and any of the desserts at Kyotofu (on 9th btw. 48th and 49th.)

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After what happened yesterday we should probably get used to all these new trucks popping up in Midtown.  Today it’s the Le Gamin Truck, which has been parking everywhere *but* Midtown for the past month and a half. From Lunch’er Jason: “Walking to work today I spotted a truck I’ve never seen before. I believe it was ‘Le Gamin’. They listed sandwiches and other savory items for sale with a physical address somewhere on MacDougal. They were parked at the NE corner of 47th/Lex.” Merguez sandwiches, croque monsieurs, and frites?  I’ll take it! Not sure if they’ll last at this spot, or what their long term plan is, but you can follow them on… you guessed it… twitter.

Photo and menu info courtesy of Serious Eats: New York.

As much as I love the Chennai roll at the Biryani Cart, when it comes to spicy, red onion topped kati roll goodness nothing beats the original Kati Roll (on 39th btw. 5+6th).  And now they’ve added a new option to their menu: whole wheat roti.  Starting two weeks ago, Kati Roll started offering this wrapper alternative to their fresh fried paratha.  The new bread option is very thin, is whole wheat and is roasted- as opposed to the paratha which is slightly thicker, made from white flour, and pan fried.

The fresh fried bread is one of my favorite parts of the kati roll, but I’m always down with a little bit of change- so I headed to 39th Street on Thursday to check out the new option.

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