Midtown Lunch

Today my weekly Thai food craving struck. Having just come off a gluttonous holiday weekend, I decided to forgo my usual noodle grease bomb and try something a little lighter. As I was perusing menus for places in my neighborhood, I came across Rain Thai, a relatively new addition to the ethnic food enclave on 53rd between 2nd and 3rd. I was particularly struck by the delicious sounding and amusingly named item Grilled Moo Yang: marinated pork served with spicy chili and sticky rice ($10).

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After reading Lunch’r joer’s recommendation of the steel cut oatmeal at Pret, I headed over to check it out this week. I tend to go for my breakfast late-ish in the morning, so I was disappointed to discover that they finish serving their oatmeal at 10:30, but while I was there the limited edition Pret Holiday Toastie ($6.69 + tax) caught my eye.

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Squid ink pasta at Cicciolina in Cuzco, Peru. Shot by Clay.

Brownie found an under $10 brunch bargain at Le Paddock in Windsor Terrace, Blondie hosted a holiday cookie exchange for charity, Brian took his beer tour to the Brazen Head, Donny headed to Williamsburg for lunch at Diner, Rachel got into the cooler weather with some homemade chili, Chris made the trip to Long Island City for the Kansas City-style barbecue at John Brown’s Smokehouse and I had handmade squid ink pasta at Cicciolina in Cuzco, Peru.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… Zach found that the best Korean soup in Los Angeles might not be in Koreatown, Andrea tried the stewed chicken from Veronica’s Kitchen downtown and Jamie is declares that she expects more loco in her tacos than Philly’s Taco Loco truck provides.

Two weeks ago, Chef Zac Young and crew started their Flex Donuts Pop-Up at Zócalo in Grand Central Terminal again! Knowing that during the last pop-up, a little less than a year ago, I developed a slight addiction, I tried to stay away this time. That didn’t work once I saw that they are serving up specialty cake doughnuts along with the regular filled yeast doughnuts. One thing’s for sure, they are not playing around this time! So, I stopped by and picked up the pecan pie and salted caramel.

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The Bob & Jo truck has been in Midtown a lot lately. Earlier this week, I found myself happily ordering at their window after unsuccessfully trying to solve the Vietnamese food mystery at Taz. Having enjoyed the chicken rice platter in the past, I went with the chicken baguette sandwich. The chicken was even better than last time, because this time, it WAS hot and spicy, as promised on the menu. The heat was tempered by the condiments in the sandwich. Served in a crispy baguette and topped with sweet and sour radish and carrot kimchi, the sammie was an absolutely delightful lunch.

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Here’s some good news for those of you who have been enjoying Cer Te’s November special. Cer Te tweeted this morning that they’re are extending the sandwich into December, “by popular demand.” Cer Te has a history of creating amazing duck sandwiches, although earlier this month, Anna wasn’t convinced, posting that the Duck Duck Jus “has potential, but it’s it’s not quite there yet.” Has anyone tried the mighty duck sammie since? I’m curious if it they made any improvements during the month.

In light of the recent difficulties plaguing food trucks in New York City, we thought it might be useful to take a look back at the history of vending in NYC. Our man Brian Hoffman gives street food tours for Urban Oyster both in Midtown and the Financial District, so we asked him to pull from his extensive research on past and present vendor regulations to give us some perspective on the current scene.

Photo Courtesy of Detroit Publishing, Library of Congress, Circa 1900

Yesterday we linked to a Crain’s report that has revenue from some food trucks down a whopping 70%, a fact that undoubtedly has to do with food truck owners struggling with unclear laws, a barrage of parking tickets, and other difficulties that make operating their small businesses much more difficult than it should be. Yet this is nothing new, just the latest batch of regulations and restrictions street vendors have had to overcome for centuries.

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• It looks like B-Bap on 9th Ave. has closed [Midtown Eating]
• Omar’s on 55th might serve street meat [Midtown Eating]
• Isn’t Little Morocco supposed to be back by now? [Midtown Eating]
• There are people in Midtown who actively seek out X-Mas stuff!?! [Midtown Eating]