Midtown Lunch

I was walking down 38th St. last week when I noticed (the just out of bounds) Café Niagara, proudly displaying a Grand Opening sign. “What’s this?” I thought to myself, peering through the window at their menu. I noticed that among croissants, sandwiches, paninis and other things you can get hundreds of places in midtown, their dinner menu included something called hoppers. Having no idea what that is, I went inside to investigate. It turns out Café Niagara serves Sri Lankan food and while I didn’t have any hoppers (you can read about them on Wikipedia), I did have a filling plate of adventure for $5. See what I got after the jump.
Read more »

Two week ago we noticed that the Green Taste Truck wasn’t exactly pulling in the crowds… and apparently they noticed it as well! Last week Green Taste was converted into a second Desi Food Truck, serving up dal, curry, kati rolls and biriyani.  On Friday they were parked on 6th Ave. btw. 39+40th, but we’re not exactly sure where they’ll be parking going forward (neither @desifoodtruck or @greentaste has made any mention of the new truck.)  The prices seem to be a bit more expensive than the original Desi Food truck on 27th and 5th but Clay was a big fan of their Kati Rolls, so this one is clearly worth keeping an eye on.

Related:
Flatiron Lunch: New “Desi Truck” Brings Kati Rolls to 5th Ave.
Chicken Tikka Masala Smackdown

Thanks to Lunch’er “Takako” for passing along this one… “The Boi to Go on 2nd between 42nd and 43rd has been closed for a few weeks now. Initially it looked like a temporary closing but now it has a ‘For Lease’ sign on it.” I guess this isn’t a huge surprise since Boi Sandwich (on 3rd btw. 44+45th) is an avenue closer to the heart of Midtown and is serving practically the same menu. Maybe something good will open in its place.

Related:
Boi to Go (aka How I Learned to Love the $7.50 Banh Mi)

Check out today’s line at the cart formerly known as Bulgogi & Kimchi

• Treats Truck is getting their own cookbook! [Grub Street]
• Didn’t you know that lower DOH rankings mean better food!? [NYDN]
• Meskerem’s $8 lunch special is tasty [Eating in Translation]
• Fresco by Scotto is getting sued by former employees [Grub Street]
• Rock Center Dean & Deluca is closing soon [Feast]
• A short history of the soft pretzel [Fork in the Road]
• The raisin sticks at Cafe Zaiya make an ideal breakfast [SENY]
• Check out the food from the last 3 ML Happy Hour meetups [Feisty Foodie]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

Rudy’s bar has been keeping busy this summer. They’ve given the booths a fresh layer of duct tape, started serving chicken and chili, and began renovations to their backyard. Some might recall last year that the Department of Buildings threatened to shut them down due to fire and safety issues regarding their space. However, The Pig abides and construction is in full gear out back.

Check out the progress and their new drink deal after the jump!

Read more »

Earlier this week Gothamist reported that the Department of Health has relaxed restrictions on allowing roasted meats to rest in a window of your shop exposed in the open (heaven forbid!)    Does this mean the proper roast pork and roast duck will finally return to the window of Ying Du (on 38th btw. 7+8th)?  It hasn’t yet, but we are holding out hope!

Related:
Ying Du’s Roaster Ruined by the DOH?
Ying Du Reopens Minus Their Roast Pork/Duck Station

Just a friendly reminder for those who aren’t using Midtown Lunch to its full potential… you can follow a ton of Midtown Lunch spots on Twitter yourself, or you can make it easy and use the Midtown Lunch Twitter Tracker.  You might have noticed on most days, just before Noon, we remind you about it. But the ML Twitter Tracker is available all the time via a link on the right hand side bar.  It conveniently shows you an up to date stream of what all the Midtown Lunch spots on Twitter (not just trucks and carts) are saying- and the best part is, it’s not effected by your work’s ban on Twitter.  On the Midtown Lunch Twitter Tracker today… Treats Truck is on 45th, Joyride is on 52nd, Rickshaw is on 45th, Frites N Meats is on 48th, Schnitzel is on 52nd, Street Sweets will be on Park after 11am, Wafels & Dinges is on 52nd, Crisp is offering a coupon, Papa Perrone is on 55th, Jamaican Dutchy is closed, and Maoz will not open until 1pm for maintenance.  But, as always, you’ll want to check the Twitter Tracker yourself before heading out to see if anything has been added since we posted this… enjoy!