Midtown Lunch

I passed Thai-Nam (on 45th btw. Lex+3rd) the other day and immediately zeroed in on the tasty-looking photo of pho bo – Vietnamese beef and rice noodle soup – plastered on their window. They describe their new offering as “hearty beef broth scented with cloves and anise. Served with thin rice noodle. Choice of beef/chicken/seafood.” Food that’s scented with anything always sounds suspicious to me, but I love pho so will overlook their attempts at fancy language. Thai-Nam wasn’t well-received by Zach on his last visit, but I’m curious enough to give it a go. Have you had it? And speaking of pho, any suggestions on where to find a good bowl in Midtown East?

Over on the Downtown section of Midtown Lunch, Andrea (our new Downtown corespondent) has discovered that the Wafels & Dinges Truck (which usually parks in Midtown on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays) has launched a new permanent cart parked at the South Street Seaport. According to owner Thomas this is the first of a number of carts he plans on rolling out over the summer. Doubtful that one of them will end up in Midtown, but we can dream- right?  The cart features the same menu as the truck, minus the pulled pork topped waffle.   (Also making us kind of jealous today Downtown… a new New Orleans themed sandwich shop with fried chicken biscuits, po boys, and $1 beignets. Hmmm… that’s kind of close to the F and the B/D, right?)

Now, I have to admit, we don’t tend to go nuts over sandwiches here at ML. Schnitzel? Sure. Grilled cheese with chorizo and bacon? All over that freaking thing. FREE FOOD? OMG! Yes. But getting pumped up for cold cuts on a roll is another thing. So when our boss kept asking, “Has anyone tried Melange (on 39th btw. 3rd+Lex) AKA the new Milant yet?” I knew we were talking about the return of some serious sandwiches. Zach’s old standby – Milant’s #13 – is now Melange’s H5 comprised of breaded chicken cutlet, fresh mozzarella, pesto sauce and sundried tomato on French bread for 5.99. And on a good day (like when H5 is put up on the dry erase “Specials” board outside) it comes with free soup too! So is Melange offering Milant’s awesome food under its new name? Find out after the jump…

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Papa Perrone is still having truck problems, and won’t be out today… but the cold and rainy weather doesn’t seem to be effecting anybody else. Schnitzel is in the Flatiron and taking phone orders, Cupcake Stop is braving it on 50th, Frites’n’Meats is on 48th and will deliver (5 burger minimum), the Dutchy is on 51st, and Street Sweets is on 52nd. Also, the Steak Truck is back on 47th and Park and for today only you can get their biriyani for $3 a plate, 5 plates for $10.  Keep up to date on your favorite Midtown Lunches via the ML Twitter Tracker.

If you’ve been wondering when Midtown is going to get a shot at the new Go Burger truck, the wait might not be much longer.  According to a twitter post last week they will be transitioning from weekends only to a 7 day a week schedule any day now.  But that’s small potatoes compared to the bigger news printed in this morning’s New York Times.  Unsurprisingly, Go Burger is going to be the name BLT Restaurants uses on a chain of new burger places opening in the next few months in New York, D.C., L.A. Smells to us like their burger truck is just one gigantic marketing write off.  Speaking of which, what ever happened to the La Cense Burger Truck?

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The Schnitzel & Things Truck has always been open to ideas from its customers (hello Schnitzel Down!) but yesterday they kind of took things to another level when they asked via Twitter what their fans would like to Schnitzified (i.e. battered and deep fried.) Naturally the answer they got ranged from normal (tilapia, eggplant, hot dogs) to slightly abnormal (ice cream, gyro meat), to “how the f would that work” (blueberry pie!?) So, what would you like to see schnitzified? Put it in the comments.

Oh, and if you were wondering what happened with their whole fight with the Frites N Meats truck? It looks like they’ve made up. Nothing like a little public shaming to bring two old friends back together again!