Midtown Lunch

I’m typing this from inside a serious food coma, one that I hope to emerge from before lunchtime. The culprit was last night’s annual Grand Gourmet at Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Station. The food event featured over 30 vendors from the Grand Central vicinity and I somehow managed to eat a sample from just about every vendor.

Most of these restaurants are not typically on ML’s radar. For the most part, these are higher end restaurants and certainly surpass our $10 limit – even at lunch. But I still managed to find some new dessert options, some great bar food, and perhaps a few new spots for expense account lunches.

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This week Grub Street did a run down of thirteen “Spectacular Sandwiches That Happen to Be Vegetarian.” Alas, Midtown didn’t get any direct love, but amongst the brick and mortar spots The Cinnamon Snail Truck was the only mobile vendor to make the list and as it so happens they’re parked in midtown today with the special sandwich that Grub Street called out: Thai BBQ seitan ribs.

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Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Last week, we saw how much Indian food $10 can buy you (the answer is more than you can eat.) For this week’s post, I thought it would be interesting to go as high end as possible. In fact, Tamarind is so pricey that I was shocked when a friend told me they had lunch options for under $10. The trick is that it isn’t exactly Tamarind you want, it is technically Tamarind Tea Room.

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Here’s a bit of Flatiron Lunch news before we lay this week’s review on you…

Happy First Day of Mad. Sq. Eats Spring 2013! Starting today, the yellow tape in the above photo will come down, the vendors will roll up their tent panels, and we will all descend on Worth Square at the corner of 5th Avenue and Broadway from 24th to 25th. If you need a reminder of how this went down in the past, please visit these hunger-inducing posts: here, here, and here.

As usual, there are a few new-comers to join favorites like Calexico, Cannibal, Ilili, and Roberta’s. Of the newbies, I interested in trying Mrs. Dorsey’s Kitchen, Mason Jar NYC (Mason Jar NYC is in the Flatiron area, but barely has a salad under $10, so it will be interesting what food and prices they bring to Mad. Sq. Eats), and Seoul Lee Korean Bar B Cue.

Mad. Sq. Eats, Worth Square at the corner of 5th Avenue and Broadway from 24th to 25th Streets, from Friday, May 3 to Friday, May 31

Last night marked the opening of Hester Nights, and I stopped by to see how it was going. Of note: there was a line to acquire beers just inside the Eventi at Brighton, but otherwise, the crowds weren’t crazy, and I noticed 1-2 empty tents, so I think it will pick up in the coming weeks. Make sure you attend with a friend or two so you can share and try more dishes. Fat Mac didn’t have a line last night, but I thought they offered a hefty portion of classic mac ‘n cheese for $6. Same for Ludlow Pizza which offers $5 margarita or $6 sopressata small personal pizzas. I am most excited for the tremendous variety, because you also have thai street food, bahn mis, BBQ, Mexican, Japanese griddle cakes, and many desserts. As the popular saying goes: “Variety is the spice of life.”

Hester Nights, Hotel Eventi Open Air Plaza, 851 6th Avenue with entrances on 29th and 30th Streets, Thursdays, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., May 2nd through September 26th

Last week, the readers reminded me that Tebaya on 19th Street closed to be replaced by Go!Go! Curry. Go!Go! Curry uptown has generated a lot of ML press with promotions and offers. I hope they do the same for us. But in the meantime, I am most interested in the fact that on a random block in the Flatiron district, we have Go!Go! Curry within 2 storefronts of Go-Go Thai. What are the chances? Maybe Dim Sum Go Go from Chinatown can open a branch on this block, and we could have a Go Go trifecta!!

Go!Go! curry, 114 West 19th Street btwn 6th and 7th Avenues, (212) 255-4555

This morning, there was a new donut truck parked on the northwest corner of 51st and Park, Carpe Donut. Their website says they’ve been around since 2007, making donuts from scratch for catered events, local fairs and festivals. Seems respectable enough to me, but do they have what it takes to make it in midtown? The truck’s menu isn’t too extensive; they’ve got apple cider donuts and a few hot beverages. Any early adopters out there? Let us know how the donuts are in the comments!

Bagel Express (Lexington Ave. btw. 39th+40th) has been my go-to bagel place since I started working in Midtown, but I had never thought of going there for lunch until last week, when I noticed a sign advertising rotisserie chicken. I’m a big fan of rotisserie chicken. There’s just no better way to ensure a moist, and flavorful bird. I ordered the quarter chicken with two sides for $5.99, although I’m sure most Lunchers will want to go for the half chicken meal, which still costs only $7.99. As far as the sides go, you can choose from an assortment of mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, rice, and plantains. I went for the mac and cheese and roasted summer squash with bell peppers.

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Paty’s Tacos, also sometimes spelled as Patty’s Tacos, has been through a lot. At the 2011 Vendy Awards, Paty’s Tacos was voted “Most Heroic Vendor” after losing a lawsuit against the city, which prohibits vendors, in this case food trucks, from selling “merchandise” in metered parking spaces.

Despite being tossed around between the Upper East Side, Morningside Heights, and Union Square, Paty’s seems to have recently found a home parking on Park Avenue between 47th and 48th Street for lunch. And honestly, if the other neighborhoods won’t take Paty’s, we will welcome her tacos with open arms!

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The Cinnamon Snail Truck is celebrating hitting 15k likes on Facebook with 15 cent classic donuts today. Flavors include: maple glazed with toasted coconut, brown sugar beer glazed, traditional apple cider, fresh strawberry glazed, plain glazed, passion fruit glazed, raspberry blackout, chocolate glazed, chocolate cookie glazed, and coconut thai basil (note: this is a photo I had of their donuts, so not all the donuts pictured are the classic donuts–but you can see the coconut thai basil, raspberry blackout and the apple cider). Limit of 6 per customer at that price. They’ll also have the rest of their donuts and pastries available at their normal prices. They are parked in their typical Wednesday spot at 55th and Broadway, but as always, check the Twitter Tracker or follow them @VeganLunchTruck to make sure they haven’t been forced to move.

It’s been a minute since the Kati Roll Company last made updates to their menu, but starting today they are offering salad in addition to kati rolls. The chopped salad is a blend of greens, tomato, carrot, cucumber, mango (or seasonal fruits), raisins, sunflower seeds, corn, chickpeas, almonds and green pepper. Three Indian dressing options include tangy lime cilantro, cool mint yogurt, or spicy cumin tamarind. Salads come in two sizes: the large (13 oz) will run you $7.99 and the small (8 oz) is $5.49. Add a skewer of grilled paneer or chicken tikka for an additional $1.75.

I really want this to be great, considering how much we enjoy their kati rolls on this blog. But, gotta say, I’m not sure how I feel about it. That said, their Facebook page mentions free samples today at both locations from noon to 2 p.m. Freeloaders, take note, and leave your first impressions in the comments.

Earlier this month we reported that Indus Express (on 48th btw. 5+6th) had been shut down by the marshalls and put up for rent. Today Lunch’er Copyboy checked in with this update…

Monday the former Indus Express, 48 W. 48th St. reopened as Masala Junction. It’s pretty much the same restaurant but with a new owner, new lease, and new signage. The prices are basically the same – $8.99 for a vegetable box, $9.99 for meat, $6.99 for a samosa chaat, the only thing I order here. Gone is the misguided sub sandwich kiosk, restored is the plastic cutlery self-service stand. The cashier told me that they fixed a lot of kitchen issues, changed some recipes. She’s a holdover from Indus Express as are most of the other employees.

My chaat was somehow different – I think the samosa recipe has changed subtly. But it’s still tangy and delicious, heavy on the chana masala.

Check out the photo after the jump…

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