Midtown Lunch

Earlier this fall, Tuk Tuk Boy expanded East, opening not one, but two new carts on Park Avenue. Now, they’ve expanded West with Bankkok Thai Street Food on 43rd btw 5th and 6th, near Trini Paki Boys and STK Out. These guys have really cornered the market on Thai food carts in Midtown, launching four carts in just 13-months time. I stopped by to check out how the newbie stacks up to the mother ship on 50th street between 6th and 7th.

The menu includes similar appetizers to the original cart, including spring rolls, dumplings and the like. They’ve got curries, noodles and were offering a ginger chicken special on the day I was there. For consistency’s sake, I ordered the same dishes as the ones I’ve had previously: shrimp and crab spring rolls and chicken pad Thai.

The shrimp and crab spring rolls at Bankkok Thai Street food will run you $4 for 4 rolls, which is more than the $2.99 I paid at Tuk Tuk Boy earlier this year. Taste-wise, they were exactly on par, which is good if you’re looking for cart-to-cart consistency, but unfortunately that also meant they just tasted like fried. I said I’d probably skip these last time I had them, and for a dollar more, I’d definitely skip them in the future.

Priced at $7, the pad Thai with chicken is the same price at both carts. The noodles were very tasty with definite hints of fish sauce but lacked the spice like the ones I had from Tuk Tuk Boy. They didn’t skimp on the white meat chicken, but unfortunately the chicken lacked the seasoning that Chris H enjoyed at the new Park Avenue locations. It may take this cart a minute to perfect their dishes, as we saw with the original cart, so although my lunch wasn’t perfect, you can bet I’ll be back in the New Year to check in again.

Bankkok Thai Street Food, 43rd Btw. 5+6th