Midtown Lunch

The results of Street Meat Palooza 2 are just two days away, but here’s a little discovery that is worth sharing with you now.  If you’ve been following Midtown Lunch, or the street food scene in Midtown, than you know about the “Famous Halal Guys” who park on the SW corner of 53rd and 6th at night, and the “imposter” cart during the day that pretends to be related to it. (It’s not.)  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you should read this now.

When I first wrote about the “imposter” cart a year and a half ago, I noted that one of the ways you could tell the difference was the daytime cart had a rectangular tin, while the “famous” nighttime cart (and its daytime offspring on the SE corner of 53rd and 6th, and the SW corner of 53rd and 7th) all had circular tins.  Well, at Street Meat Palooza 2 we discovered that the imposter cart (in addition to wearing the signature yellow sweaters worn by the famous cart) has now changed their packaging to circular tins.  Meaning the two plates of food are now virtually indistinguishable.

Can you tell which is which?  Larger shots are after the jump.

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2009 Summer Restaurant Week starts on Sunday, and to kick things off there’s going to be some free food action this Thursday (7/9) on the second floor of the Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle.  From Noon to 2pm enjoy “VIP gourmet tastings from five top NYC Restaurant Week eateries — Tribeca Grill, Porter House New York, Spice Market, Bice Ristorante and DB Bistro Moderne.” Freeloaders, you may want to mark this one on your calendar.

My kid eyeing the new Roast Pig Special from Hing Won (I think that might be chin drool)

• You can get some pretty tasty looking snacks off the bar menu at Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse in GC [Serious Eats: New York]
• Another Crumbs is opening on Lexington and 44th [Blondie and Brownie]
• The post confirms two Baja Fresh factoids previously reported here: the off the menu dos manos burrito, and the new location on B’way and 40th [NYPost]
• Crisp has added some sort of new “pita roll” to their menu [Cooking With Casa]
• The Treats Truck has improved their conecakes [Blondie and Brownie]
• The actual cupcakes from the much publicized Cupcake Stop Truck are not as good as the bakery they ripped off [Always Hungry NY]

The annual summertime Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory stand has returned to Pershing Square.  It is set up on 42nd and Park, right next to the restaurant Pershing Square, and Blondie and Brownie are reporting that they will be open from Noon to 7pm seven days a week until August.  The dirty little secret… Pershing Square (the restaurant) sells Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory ice cream all year long on their menu (but it’s obviously a lot more fun buying from an outdoor stand!) [Blondie and Brownie]

There has been a lot of press (and even more twittering) about the new Schnitzel and Things truck, coming soon to Midtown.  Hell, they even have “merch” for sale– and they haven’t even sold a single bite of schnitzel yet!  Well, Fressagirl is reporting that another truck serving schnitzel quietly hit the scene a month ago on 9th Ave. btw. 32+33rd (just outside the Midtown Lunch boundaries.)  In fairness to Schnitzel & Things, schnitzel is just one of the many items on the Brucha Caterer truck- which is entirely kosher.  (And, as you know from this post, Austrian schnitzel and kosher schnitzel can be two completely different things.)

Of course Midtown has plenty of room for two schnitzel trucks.  And I’m still looking forward to the arrival of veal schnitzel!  In fact, Schnitzel & Things just released the first photo of their truck, which you can check out after the jump…

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The sign at Kar Won (on 60th btw. Park+Lex)

Great news for those pig lovers who work too far North or East to take advantage of the new “roast pig over rice” from Hing Won (on 48th btw. 5+6th) that I raved about yesterday. Both Kar Won (on 60th btw. Park+Lex) and Hop Won (on 45th btw. Lex+3rd), which are owned by the same company as Hing Won, are also serving the roast pig over rice for $6.

Thanks to Lunch’er “Dylan” for passing along the tip in the comments. He hit up Kar Won for the special and had this to say:

“My container looked almost identical to Zach’s, but it came with a heaping portion of garlicky sauteed bok choy/cabbage. While the belly was great, and the skin crispy, there were a few pieces that had a bit too much inedible bone or cartilage. That said, still awesome.”

But is the pork all I made it out to be?  Some say no.

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I know this particular article isn’t about Midtown, but we’ve seen this same thing before- and will probably be seeing it again soon.  The New York Daily News is reporting that local business owners in Bay Ridge are seeking to have street vendors banned from 5th Avenue. The store owners, who pay up to $160,000 a year in rent,  are saying it is unfair that these street vendors are getting a free ride. And “Burger King owner Jay Syed, 56, said not only has he lost 20% of his business since the carts cropped up last summer, but he also believes the vendors are polluting the streets and attracting rodents.”  (I love the irony of a Burger King owner being concerned about pollution.)

A letter was written to Mayor Bloomberg and the matter is now being taken up by the neighborhood Community Board and the Small Business Services Department.  If they do end up banning the vendors, it could set a dangerous precedent that could spread to other neighborhoods… including Midtown. [New York Daily News]

See All Midtown Lunch Posts Related to Street Vendor Issues