Midtown Lunch

Thanks to Lunch’er “Adam” for tipping us off to the new Friday Kati Roll special at Indus Express (on 48th btw. 5+6th). The guy behind the counter said you can get any Kati Roll for $5 (normally they’re $5.95 to $7.95 depending on the filling) and though I didn’t see it listed on the menu, he also confirmed that the special also comes with the usual small salad and fries (like the one Zach initially tried). Not bad for $5. My experiences at Indus Express have always been a hit or miss. They have a solid chaat bar, but their steam table curries are pretty lacking and the nearby Minar schools them in Tikka Masala. That said, we’re always willing to give a good lunch special a try. I think I know what I’m having for lunch today…

Related:
Indus Express is Like an Indian Version of a Midtown Deli

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In celebration of Mothers Day this Sunday (you got your mom a present, right!) the Street Sweets Truck will be giving away 1,000 cupcakes on Friday specifically to Moms. After starting their day in Mommy-central Park Slope (7th and Carroll from 9-11am), they plan on hitting Midtown from Noon to 3pm, parking on 50th Street and 6th Avenue (before finishing up on 7th & B’way from 3:30 to 6:30pm.) No word on whether you actually need a child present in order to get your cupcake on- but we all know I will totally borrow a child for some free cupcakes. Freeloading moms engage!

It hasn’t been two weeks since we mentioned Hello Pasta’s plan to take over Manhattan with their ten fast food locations starting this summer. Well, I just spotted Hello Pasta Branch No. 2 (on 3rd Ave. btw. 44th+45th) yesterday. Their sneakiness efficiency is impressive, but I have to admit my first thought was, “What? Already? Another one?”

Related:
Hello Pasta to Launch Empire in Midtown

This morning we posted about an argument between the Frites N Meats Truck and Schnitzel & Things over a spot downtown… S&T has been taking a bit of heat in the comments so Oleg, the owner of the truck, felt the need to tell his complete side of the story.

As you know from this morning’s post on Midtown Lunch- on Wednesday May 5th, the owner of Frites N Meats, Vadim Ponorovsky blogged about a “situation” that happened between his truck and another vendor. He declined to mention the vendor’s name, but when he gave the example, he mentioned it was a truck that parked on Broad & Water streets on Tuesday’s. The truck’s name he wouldn’t mention was indeed “Schnitzel & Things”. Well, we feel that we must address some of the things Mr. Ponorovsky said, and address the absurd claims of threats of violence. What’s missing from his blog post is the personal relationship that we developed over time, throughout which he would consistently ask to park at locations that we scouted ourselves, which was fine with us. We want to be accommodating and reasonable with all the vendors including “old school” and “new school”.

We never wanted to make this a public issue because there is no need for it. Unfortunately, Mr. Ponorovsky didn’t have the same sentiment.

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Thanks to Lunch’er Mike for passing along this great news… the latest branch of the Italian gelato shop Grom (on Broadway btw. 58+59th) will be opening tomorrow (5/7) at Noon. And gelato super fans know what that means… FREE GELATO!!! If you’ve never had Grom before, it’s pretty much the best (but most expensive) gelato of all time… so free makes this the best ice cream/gelato deal of the century (we recommend the pistachio.) From Noon to 9pm. Freeloaders engage.

Milant is back! Sure, we’ve said it before, but the small deli is really back this time under a new name, Melange (on 39th btw. 3rd+Lex). One of the original owner’s son runs the business now so ownership stayed in the family. Apparently, dad’s still helping out and cooking, so the name change probably has more to do with distancing themselves from the issues that plagued their former self than any meaningful changes. The great news? The place is spotless and they’ve retained all of the awesome sandwiches plus added a whole bunch of new ones along with breakfast, a salad station, and hot bar.

Check out their sweet lunch specials and sandwich menu after the jump…

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As more and more “new school” trucks started hitting the streets over the past few years there was a lot of talk about Old School vs. New School vendor clashes. Well, more recently is seems like we’ve been hearing about a lot more fights between Old-New-School trucks and New-New-School trucks. The latest battle took place on Monday between two well known Midtown trucks, over a shared Downtown spot… and yesterday Frites N Meats (one of the trucks involved) took to their blog to vent about it:

We, at Frites’N’Meats, are pretty much live and let live people. We have no interest in interfering with others, disrespecting others or foisting our beliefs or ways of doing things on others. We believe that it’s not cool to go to a spot that a person has occupied every day for years and essentially force them out for your benefit, but we do not think that just because you occupy a certain spot one day a week that you somehow “own” that spot the other days that you’re not there…I know that sounds a little confusing, so let me provide an example without using names.

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