Midtown Lunch

As Street Meat Palooza 3 taught us last week, the XPL Halal carts and trucks are similar in name only. When we got word that the 48th & 3rd cart had added Butter Chicken to their menu, I headed over right away- only to be turned down. “It sounded too fatty,” was the answer to why I couldn’t get my butter chicken on. But there is hope, they’re thinking about bringing in Chicken Masala this Friday, with more unusual cart items to come.

Until then, enjoy your falafel with eggplant, it’s the new thing.

Related:
Street Meat Palooza 3: Crowning The Best Chicken And Lamb Over Rice Cart in Midtown
48th & 3rd XPL No Longer Affiliated With Park Ave. XPL?

Thanks to Lunch’er “Marissa’ for pointing this one out… Sapporo, the popular ramen spot on 49th btw. 6+7th,will be closed for renovations until June 12th. Need a ramen replacement? There’s always Men Kui Tei (on 56th btw. 5+6th) and Menchanko Tei (on 55th btw. 5+6th).

Schnitzel & Things potato salad would be perfect this wknd. Photo by PhudeNYC

• Want to make Schnitel & Things’ potato salad? Here’s a recipe [Vendr.TV]
• L.A.’s Grill ‘Em All Truck will be the Flatiron on Saturday [Noise Creep via AHT]
• As the weather gets hotter, chaat gets more appealing [Bionic Bites]
• The broth is the best part about Boi Noodles [Ramen & Friends]
• Your first look at Totto Ramen [Feed Blog]
• Surprise!  There are a ton of calories in Five Guys [Feast NY]
• Writer discovers the awesomeness of haloumi at Macchiato Espresso Bar [SENY]
• Last chance for early bird Vendy Tix is this weekend [Vendys via CCG]
• For those who are inexplicably interested in BK’s new ribs… [Fork in the Road]
• R.I.P. Bare Elegance [Grub Street]

This just in… the 2 Bros. on 46th btw. 5+6th opened last night.  What a better way to kick off Memorial Day Weekend than with a couple slices of $1 pizza- right?

Now that Downtown has its very own section of the site, what are we going to post on Fridays at 10am? Answer… how about a new column devoted to those lunches just south of the ML boundaries. Every week we’ll post about a lunch in Murray Hill south, Gramercy, Flatiron, and everything in between… or as we’ll call it from now on: Flatiron Lunch.

I must have passed Sagaponack dozens of times while bouncing around the camera shops and photo labs of the Flatiron District, but I never really considered it for lunch. It certainly doesn’t immediately seem like a Midtown Lunch. I mean, look at it… there’s a chandelier. It’s fancy. I’m a longtime fan of Pearl Oyster Bar for a downtown seafood splurge and BLT Fish is just a couple blocks away- in other words, I have fancy seafood covered.

I grabbed a menu anyway, just to see what they’ve got and was pleasantly surprised. Turns out that there are more ML priced options than you’d expect. Even better, those options go beyond the seafood rolls, offering an interesting selection of tacos, including a Korean Barbecue taco. Um, what??

Yes, really. Read about it after the jump.

Read more »

• “Whopper Bar” coming soon to Midtown [Midtown Eating]
• How do you get rid of gyro stains? [Eating in Other Areas of NYC]
• Sounds like the Soup Nazi will be back within a month [Midtown Eating]
• Business lunch ideas for people who don’t want to bankrupt the company they work for [Midtown Eating]
• Two chickens, one cup is very upsetting [Midtown Eating]