Midtown Lunch

Okadaman, the relatively new Japanese truck specializing in okonomiyaki and other homey delights, started offering Japanese breakfast a few weeks ago. Ever since I saw them tweet about it, I’ve been dying to make a detour on the way to work to check ’em out, and I finally got there on a slow summer Friday. As I walked up to the truck, I noticed the breakfast menu was not posted, so make sure you ask what the options are. I had the choice of two equally awesome-sounding egg-on-toast breakfasts … and, honestly, I almost ordered both.
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After a frazzled start, I knew the Okadaman truck would pull through. I was so eager to taste this Japanese pub food from a truck that I made my way over on their first day a few Fridays back. Slow service and long waits for food along with seemingly unorganized ordering methods got them off to a rocky start. But this is Midtown where the crowds are fast and furious, so it always takes a while for these new trucks to get their bearings.

I stopped by for lunch again last Friday (a week after their launch) and hoped I could try the two dishes I didn’t have time to wait for the previous week. There was no line and just a handful of customers waiting for their food and thankfully nobody looked angry or overly hungry.  They changed their system and now you order and pay at a register up  front of the truck and pick up your food when they call your name. I was disappointed that there was no combo option that paired their two most buzzed about dishes together. So in the interest of journalism, I splurged with one combo (1/2 an okonomiyaki and kara-age) and an order of takoyaki. After a mere 10 minutes of waiting, they even gave me two forks – probably assuming I was going to share these two orders with somebody. Um, wrong!

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Working the streets is not easy. Ask any food truck owner who’s ridden into the belly of the beast that is known as Midtown lunch. There was a lot of press surrounding the Okadaman truck and I imagine many folks were as excited as I was to try them out on their first day. After a minor parking snafu, they ended up on 48th between Park and Madison.

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Korean tacos from a truck are so 2011. While Domo Taco brought Japanese flavors to tortillas, two new food trucks are focusing on more authentic Japanese dishes. Andrea broke the news last month that a brand new food truck called Okadaman will be serving Japanese izakaya food (minus the copious amounts of booze, unfortunately). Well, now we got more specific word of their planned schedule and it sounds like the primary stomping ground will be in Midtown. Woo hoo!

The menu will have a little something for everybody – as long as you like scallion pancakes, fried chicken, noodles, or octopus balls. And they’ll be offering about four lunch combos in the $6 – $8 price range where you can mix and match a few of their menu items. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I love Japanese bar food and I’m terribly excited for their launch. The plan is to hit the streets next Friday, June 22 and switch between Midtown East and West during the weekday lunch rushes with extra locations downtown for dinner. Of course, many trucks think Midtown is the place to go right out of the gate and then are overwhelmed by the crowds and parking restrictions, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the plan changes once they launch. But let’s hope not.

But wait.  There’s more.  Another Japanese food truck is launching today as well…

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