Midtown Lunch

Are you kidding me? 4 hours of doing nothing, and then an hour and 45 minute lunch break? Two blocks away from Chinatown. Judicial gods- please oh please pick me for a trial. I have so much left to do here. Although… with the damage I did today for only $5.80, I’d be scared to look in the mirror after a few weeks of lunch’ing down here. Full report coming tomorrow…

(Added Note: I have already seen fellow possible jurors come back to the room with crappy looking pizza, Subway, and one girl with just a starbucks- you know, because that’s lunch. Such suckers!)

Oh, what a glorious day! A new cart has arrived, and is serving the most authentic Mexican food I have seen in Midtown. Pampano Taqueria… be afraid.  Be very afraid. This place does not serve small, over priced tacos, on a single, fancy pants tortilla.  Their tacos cost $2 (the way it should be) and come on *two* corn tortillas, warmed up properly on the griddle.  The two sombrero carts– you should be afraid as well.  I don’t even think this cart knows what nacho cheese is.  Every item on their menu comes topped with queso blanco- the real deal Mexican cheese. Tamale lady in front of the Mexican Embassy–  you don’t have to worry about anything.  Your tamales are cheap, authentic, and delicious.  Nobody will ever replace you.

But everyone else!  Commence your shivering.  The Mexican food savior we have all been waiting for has finally arrived.   Read more »

Oh what a difference an avenue makes!  When Boi to Go, the fast food Vietnamese offshoot of the restaurant Boi, opened in May of last year, it caused me to walk one avenue farther than I think any Midtown Lunch’er should have to walk (it’s on 2nd Ave btw. 42+43rd.) But for the only banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) in Midtown, a man will do crazy things.  That is also why I didn’t complain too much about the price tag ($7.50).  Compared to Chinatown or Sunset Park, what Boi to Go serves is a not entirely authentic (what’s with the avocado?), overpriced sandwich. However, you put it next to most Midtown deli sandwiches, it is competitively priced- and freakin’ delicious.  And now, it’s going to be one avenue closer- in proper Midtown Lunch’ing range.

In about month, Boi to Go will open a second offshoot on 3rd Ave. btw. 44+45th called “Boi Sandwich”.  I haven’t heard exactly what the menu will be, or if it will effect what is going on at the original Boi to Go, but if they serve the same sandwiches I’ll be pretty damn excited.  (Even though I could probably use the extra walking…)

Related: Boi to Go (aka How I Learned to Love the $7.50 Banh Mi)

The original post about this new chain got some interesting comments. Some of the negative ones were obviously fake, and some of the positive ones were obviously shills. Tomorrow, we get to check it out for ourselves. The empanadas are touted as “always fresh, not frozen” and clearly “gourmet.”  They’re also overpriced- but I’ll reserve judgement until after I actually taste them. 8th Avenue between 43+44th. Store doesn’t open until 4pm, but apparently they will be giving out free samples until 8pm.  Might be a good stop off on the way home from work.  Friday will be their first day open for lunch.

Just like yesterday, there is free Mister Softee on Madison and 53rd again courtesy of Maxwell Medical (they’re also giving away coupons for free massages.) They’ll be out here until 2:30 pm. If you missed it,
don’t worry. They’re doing it again tomorrow and Friday. Same place, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

The Biriyani Cart on 46th btw. 6+7th., which rose to prominence when they added roti rolls in the wake of Kati Roll’s move to 39th Street, unveiled their new cart on Monday.  The menu and prices are much clearer now, with useful descriptions of all their kati rolls.  This is definitely one of my favorite carts in Midtown, and it just seems to be getting better, with the addition of a few new menu items. Their chapli kebab has been offered for a little while now (it can be ordered as a plate or in a kati roll) but today is the debut of the new PWCD Kati Roll which is described on their new flyers as being “egg layered chapati bread with farm fresh scrambled egg and potato.”  Farm fresh?  On a cart?  Get out of town.  I will definitely be trying this soon.  Sadly though 2 kati rolls is now $6 whether you order chicken or lamb.  (Not sure when this price hike occured, but at some point it was 2 for $5 if you ordered chicken- so it is a price hike.)

The old cart is not going away though.  The owner plans on opening a second location with the old cart on Monday.  He is shooting for 43rd & 6th, but I’m a little skeptical that the Trini-Paki Cart will allow that to happen. I’ll keep an eye on the situation for you.

This wasn’t the only unveiling this week on 46th St.  Moshe’s famous falafel cart got a new look as well… Read more »

A Lunch’er alerted me yesterday to the news that 99 Miles to Philly is opening a new location today on 52nd and Second.  (Though he failed to mention that it’s replacing Zip Burger, which had been closed for rennovations.)  2nd Ave. is out of bounds for most Midtown Lunch’ers, but philly cheese steak fans on the east side should be prety excited hear this news. I’m sure for many of you, it will be worth the extra walk- especially for those who consider it better than Carl’s.  It opens at 11:30 today, so Early adopters, let us know how it is. Update: Confirmed Open.

If the new location of Lazzara’s Pizza wasn’t enough “slightly out of bounds” pizza news for you, Slice has recommended Pizza Suprema (on 8th Avenue and 31st Street) as one of the best places to order pizza delivery in Midtown. Normally 32nd Street is the cut off for ML purposes, but I think we can go the extra block for an Adam Kuban recommendation.

I don’t remember seeing lines like this at the XPL truck (on Park Ave. & 48th St.) before they surprisingly took 2nd place at Street Meat Palooza. It just goes to show, all carts are not created equal. (You may say the secret ingredient is the rice.)

Thanks to Blondie and Brownie for passing along the photo.