Midtown Lunch

The NW corner of 45th street and 6th avenue used to be a food truck favorite spot, bringing a regular swath of trucks almost every day of the workweek. Then, the NYPD crackdown in Midtown ruined the fun, forcing trucks to find other often less lucrative locations to park during the lunch rush. But, it seems that slowly things have been reverting back to the good ol’ days. This week, on Tuesday, Schnitzel & Things couldn’t park at their planned spot on 40th & 6th due to construction, so they moved uptown to 45th & 6th.
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I have to admit, the prospect of pizza and tacos in one place under one food umbrella was not exactly what I thought of as the next big thing. To be honest, I didn’t think it’d be the next small thing either. When I cruised by Joey Pepperoni, still the best $1 slice in Midtown, for their soft-launch of tacos, they weren’t quite ready. Now that I’ve gone back and taken a shot at them myself, I don’t think I was quite ready either.

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The existence of the phrase “Donkey sauce” didn’t really meet with much acclaim when our man Sam gave the place an ML treatment, doubly so at the anti-ML limit menu prices. With the brutal honesty of the NY Times impacting on the record of the Mayor of Flavortown, it’s apparently become a mecca for ironic dining.

What does the Donkey Saucer himself do in this case? He gets a fairly blatant-looking “interview” on Yelp in an attempt to restore foodie rep that he may or may not have had. Does his invocation of Saints Bourdain and Batali come across as a mea culpa or a transparent cred-grab? Would you eat food that tastes like your “drunk grandma would make for you on Thanksgiving” under the protective gaze of hate-eating even if it carried the veil of Williamsburg-scale irony?

Man your stations… we’ve got a free food alert coming in. Tommy Bahama has a truck parked on 48th & 5th giving out free tiny but tasty fish tacos. SE corner. Freeloaders, engage.

While I was out of the country, it seems Korean fusion truck Bob & Jo updated their menu for winter, carrying over rice platters and bibimbap from the former menu, but replacing the baguette options with ramen! I really enjoyed their spicy chicken baguette back in the day, but if I could, I would eat soupy noodles every lunch of the winter! Score.
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Yesterday Eater broke the news that Ken Friedman and April Bloomfield’s Salvation Taco is now open for lunch in the Pod Hotel (on 39th btw. Lex+3rd). Being big fans of the Spotted Pig and The Breslin we are pretty excited for this team’s first project in Midtown proper, but knowing the prices at most of their restaurants, we were a little concerned that this might not be a Midtown Lunch. That is until we saw the menu…

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Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Andrew, a Finance Manager who moonlights as a street food tour guide.

Name: Andrew

Age: 30

Occupation: Finance Manager/tour guide

Where in Midtown do you work? International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, 37th St and 5th Ave (and I run tours for Turnstile Tours)

Favorite Kind of Food: It depends on what I’m fancying for lunch that day – usually something Caribbean hits the spot.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I can’t stand eating anything wrapped in plastic or out of a refrigerator case for lunch. I like to eat something hot and fresh, especially this time of year.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: I love eating from carts – that’s probably where I eat 90% of my lunches. The selection along 6th Avenue is so great, it’s hard to pick even just a couple that are my favorite. The oxtail at Trini Paki Boys (43rd St) is perhaps my favorite street meal in New York; if they’re out of it, their chicken and rice – especially with the tamarind sauce – is probably my second favorite. I also love the King Kati Roll from Biryani Cart (45th St), and the talapia and rice from Kwik Meal (46th St), but those are well-known staples of the Midtown street food scene. Whenever they have it, the lengua taco from El Rey del Sabor is fantastic, as is their spicy pork. And because I love getting a nice piece of fish for under $6, the fried whiting and chips from Kim’s Aunt Kitchen is great.

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Glaze Teriyaki (on Lex btw. 54+55th) will celebrate their two year anniversary by donating a significant portion of today’s profits to Hurricane Sandy Relief.  Also on the ML Twitter Tracker… Domo Taco is on 38th & B’way, the Souvlaki Truck is on 48th btw. 6+7th, the Mac Truck and the Gorilla Cheese Truck are on 47th btw. Park+Mad, Crisp on Wheels is on 49th btw. 6+7th, Toum is on 47th btw. 5+6th, Mexico Blvd is on 48th & 6th, Chinese Mirch is on 47th & Park, Frites N Meats is on 48th btw. 2+3rd, Wafels & Dinges is on 49th btw. 6+7th, Big D’s is on 53rd & Park, Valducci’s is on 52nd & Park, Comme Ci Comme Ca is on 36th & Bway, and Korilla is on 47th & Park.

If LT Burger doesn’t satisfy your overpriced burger needs, never fear! Chef Laurent Tourondel (shall we call him LT?) is opening another restaurant, BLT American Brasserie, just blocks away on 45th between 5th and 6th in the Cassa New York Hotel. The humble acronym BLT paired with the haughty descriptor Brasserie won’t fool many Midtown Lunchers. If it’s anything like its Chicago counterpart (which, according to Yelp, is now closed) it’s going to serve more expensive burgers, along with pizza (no, pardon me, pizettas, which to me, means nothing more than a tiny pizza), sushi, salads, steak, and other foods you can readily find in America. I’ll go out on a limb and predict that a lunch at BLT is going cost far more than most sensible Lunchers are willing to spend.