Midtown Lunch

Another fun filled New York City Wine & Food Festival has come and gone, and we were lucky enough to attend the ‘Carts in the Parc’ event, held this past Sunday. Over 15 vendors were present, including Midtown mainstays, Biryani Cart, Eddie’s Pizza Truck, Jamaican Dutchy, Le Gamin, NYC Cravings, Schnitzel & Things, Sweet Streets, Wafels and Dinges, and the Treats Truck.

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Blondie is hanging at the Biryani Cart right now (on 46th and 6th), which is being filmed by Food Network Canada for a upcoming series on food carts. (And at Noon they were looking for people to eat on camera!)  Lunchtime is usually a little hectic at the Biriyani Cart, but it’s child’s play compared to what’s going on at the new Shake Shack over on 8th Ave. right now…

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Kati rolls seem to be everywhere around midtown. There’s the Kati Roll Company (on 39th btw. 5+6th), the Biryani Cart (on 46th and 6th), Indus Express (on 48th btw. 5+6th), Grill 44 (on 44th btw. Lex+3rd), and now Fahima’s Halal Cart– the street meat cart on 45th and 6th run by the brother of Kwik Meal’s Mohammed Rahman.  Their stir-fried noodles were unimpressive, but their biryani was a surprise hit and I even hinted that they could be equal to or even better then the Biryani cart’s well-established version. It’s no surprise that Fahima’s is also cashing in on the kati roll fever. As a steadfast devotee to Biryani’s kati rolls I wondered if Fahima could bring the game in a side-by-side taste test.

Check it out after the jump.

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Have you ever been kind of jealous of the winners of Zach’s various cart tours?  Even though I work in midtown and can hit the great midtown carts anytime I want, there’s something to be said about the fun of taking on a bunch of them at once.  To really do it right you need strength in numbers, so when I learned that a couple of my friends from Seattle, would be in town and free for lunch during the week, I started plotting potential food adventures.  Both of them regularly read Blondie & Brownie and they were jealous of the midtown cart/food truck scene.  The more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that we should try to hit as many carts for as many different types of foods as possible and with that in mind, may a present Brownie’s Cart Canyon Tour: 10 carts/10 cuisines/$10 a person…

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After yesterday’s run in with the man the Biriyani Cart decided today to move their “Sandwich Land” cart across 46th street, in an effort to reduce the clutter in front of Cafe Europa.  The Biriyani Cart itself stayed in its normal spot, and the Carribbean Spice cart returned also- but very few customers seemed to notice the Sandwich Land cart parked across the street, making the scene in front of the Biriyani Cart even more hectic than usual.  As of now the police haven’t returned, and nobody from Cafe Europa has said anything… but there is no question all the vendors on the block are a little tense.

Related:
BREAKING: Trouble in Biriyani Cart Land?

A few reports have come in today about police activity in front of the Vendy Award winning Biriyani Cart (on 46th and 6th.) According to Lunch’er Chris it might have had something to do with the crowds of people waiting on line for biriyani in front of Cafe Europa (the generic Midtown deli on the same corner):

“So I was down at Europa (on 6th and 46) grabbing my standard boring salad and on my way out I notice the manager talking to a couple cops. I heard him complaining about the crowds for the Briyani Cart blocking the sidewalk, which is kind of odd considering it doesn’t really effect the entrance at all. Anyways, you might want to ask the Briyani guys if the cops have been bothering them today at all.”

Just confirmed with Meru, the owner of the Biriyani Cart, that the cops did in fact show up earlier today- and have just now returned for a second time to issue tickets.

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Got a number of tips this morning from lunchers who spotted Bobby Flay visiting Vendy Award nominated carts today.  He started at the Jamaican Dutchy cart this morning around 10am, then moved on to the Biryani Cart, before finishing up at the Wafels and Dinges Cart around Noon.  He was filming a segment about the Vendy Awards for next Friday’s edition of The Early Show on CBS.

Meru (from the Biryani Cart) told me after he didn’t hold back on the spice because he knew Bobby could take it.  Photos of kati rolls being consumed, and fans going crazy… after the jump.

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Taking a branding page from the 53rd & 6th Street Halal Guys, the Biryani Cart (on 46th & 6th) has gotten t-shirts of their own.  The question is… how long before the other vendors on the same block start wearing red shirts to confuse customers!  More carts should have shirts… and sell them to the public.  I’d totally buy a shirt from a cart.  You?

Related:
More Cart Shenanigans: Beware of the Yellow Sweaters