Midtown Lunch

Food Network’s Great Food Truck Race is back on (Warning: spoilers ahead), airing Sunday nights and they’ve changed the concept back from having people who want to own a food truck compete to actual working food trucks compete. And one of the competing trucks this season is DiSo’s Italian Sandwich Society, who is hugely popular in the city for their excellent Italian sandwiches.

SPOILER ALERT: The last time one of Midtown’s food trucks appeared on the show, it didn’t go so well. This time, it went just slightly better. But unfortunately, DiSo’s got cut last night (on the second episode of the season) for failing to make enough money on the week’s competition. The show is mildly entertaining, but it’s always fun seeing our home food trucks play. And I think they could have gone far, but unfortunately, we’ll have to stick to seeing them on the streets of New York.

Since they talked about hoping to recoup some lost profit during this cold winter season on the show, perhaps today is the perfect time to go and support them. They’re on 47th and Park today, but check out their locations on Twitter.

There are just over two more weeks until the Vendy Awards and my stomach is growling louder every day. To appease my belly, I’ve been making a series of videos on all the nominees and showcasing the Rookie of the Year videos here over the last few weeks (all of them miraculously park in Midtown).

We’ve seen souvlaki from Lil Zeus Lunch Box and southeast Asian tacos from Coney Shack. Today, we’re focusing on the newest nominee to arrive in Midtown, Kaya NYC. They’ve been setting up in Dumbo and Tribeca for the past few months, but only recently set their sights on bringing their popcorn chicken and gua bao (Taiwanese steamed pork buns) to 50th and 6th Avenue. You can check their location on Twitter.

Yvo has a review coming soon on their food, but in the meantime, drool over the video by clicking the link below. And don’t forget to get your tickets to the Vendy Awards here before they sell out.

Kaya NYC

Maybe it wasn’t quietly. I don’t know. I found this soft open report here on Midtown Lunch from 2013, but as you can see by the pics, the front has shifted over a bit and now there’s Graso Grill on the left, Kitto on the right up a short flight of stairs. I walked by recently and snapped some pics of the menu – looks pretty interesting, hovering around the ML $10 mark.

Those pics, after the jump…

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Last week, we posted a video I made on Rookie of the Year nominee Lil Zeus Lunch Box. This is a series of videos I’ve been releasing that documents all of the nominees for the big event coming up on September 12 (tickets still available here). We thought it’d be cool to feature videos on all the ones that spend some time in Midtown.

This week the focus is Coney Shack, another nominee for the Rookie of the Year category. This truck is the newest of the rookies to Midtown, having pulled up for the first time earlier this summer after getting their feet wet on Coney Island. Their southeast Asian inspired tacos are loaded up with ingredients like 5-spice calamari and garlic glazed pork belly. They go back and forth between Midtown West and East, but for exact locations check out their Twitter feed. Click the link below to check out the video.

Coney Shack

The last post tagged “Indian” was in 2013, the last post tagged “Buffet, All You Can Eat” was in 2011, and the last post about Darbar Grill was in 2009. I think that means it’s time for a bit of a refresher…

How much I ate, after the jump!

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I never would have known Jongro existed if it wasn’t for Chris H. He let us know that the recently opened hidden Korean BBQ spot started serving a lunch menu.

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All the Vendy Award nominees are now in. Yesterday, the Street Vendor Project announced the nominees for Vendy Cup (FiDi’s Biryani House, the burger truck Hard Times Sundaes, Cantonese steamed rice noodle cart Guandong Cheong Fun, Astoria’s Souvlaki Lady, and last year’s Rookie of the Year winner Snowday).

They also announced an exciting new category which is Best Street Drink. You’ll be able to try drinks as diverse as coconut smoothies, unqiue lemonades, morir soñando, and champurrado (a hot Mexican chocolate drink).

As for the previous announced categories, we are fortunate to have many Midtown vendors represented, so over the next few weeks we’ll be showcasing them in video form. And no doubt, the videos will make you eager to attend the big event on September 12. Tickets are still on sale here.

To start with, check out this mouthwatering video on Rookie of the Year nominee Lil Zeus Lunch Box, who parks on 50th and 6th Avenue every day and grills up some mighty tasty gyros and souvlaki.

Lil Zeus Lunch Box Video>>

photo courtesy of Awesome in New York

Have you guys heard of Between the Bread? They serve ‘catering food’ (and also offer catering for office parties/lunches/etc.) at individual prices from a small storefront that is basically a cafeteria counter. The menu rotates regularly – I was there on Friday and entrees were a choice of room-temp options displayed for me – herbed salmon, cajun salmon, shrimp teriyaki, chicken paillard, another chicken dish, and then a hot dish which was “honey mustard glazed chicken with basmati rice” that day. There were also sandwiches in the glass display case, a few soups that seem to change daily, and a lot of side options for your entree.

Unfortunately, the pricing of the entrees range from $11.95 for the meats to $13.95 for seafood, putting them well above the ML $10 ‘limit’.

UNTIL NOW.

How I got a seafood entree AND an extra side, all for $10 flat, after the jump…

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Choux Box entered the Midtown East lunchscape about a month ago, offering sandwiches and little snacks. Let’s be honest — Midtown does not hurt for sandwiches, so how were they going to set themselves apart?

By putting their sandwiches on puff pastry.

What the what? What this looks like, what this costs you, but most importantly, what this tastes like… after the jump.

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