Midtown Lunch

We here at Midtown Lunch love nothing more than good stuff hidden in plain sight. Korean food hidden within a generic deli? Boom. Roaming nameless empanadas? Right on. Really good Indian food in the lobby of a building full of people who complain at how great they have it? Do they ever! But tacos and tortas from an ubiquitous coffee cart? That’s a new one here. A good solid rock-hurling away from the tasty tortas at Rinconcito Mexicano, the Coffee Place Cart outside the New York Times building (40th and 8th) got flagged by Food in Mouth as serving up some good tacos and tortas. But does it measure up to a proper MLification?

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History repeats itself, indeed: we’ve reported on Ming Du’s repeated closures by the Department of Health, and for reasons not known to us (Tax? Health? Astrology?) Ying Du Ming Du is now New Li Yuan. Still the same roast meats in the window, and still in the DoH eye. That Grade Pending in the window reflects a violation on March 15th and a reinspection on April 4th. The same lunch options are still there, and it was packed as normal. The major violations this time are just temperature issues, though – no more evidence of vermin as of now. Granted, it’s not as name-changey as Chinatown, but we’ve seen Hing Won stay as Hing Won since 2006. Wonder what’s going on behind New Li Yuan’s lines? Any Chinese speakers of the appropriate dialect care to go covert on our behalf to find out?

Ever since jenjfen first reported on Mami PG’s Cooking (Mami Penang) last Fall, I had been wanting to find a time to organize a group Malaysian lunch at the office, but with the onset of the winter holidays, I couldn’t round up a team (minimum of three for an order) to satisfy my hankering. When I finally came back around to thinking about Mami’s last month, I was disappointed to learn that they were taking a short hiatus to regroup, as their Facebook page stated that their business had expanded and they were soon going to be operating from a commercial kitchen with a more “challenging menu.” Looking at their FB page today, it does appear that they’ve teamed with Mamak House and will be continuing delivery service soon!

However, as I waited in eager anticipation for the return of Mami PG, my Facebook browsing led me to Aunt Ooi’s Kitchen, another Malaysian lunch box delivery service! I didn’t even think there could possibly be another underground Malaysian lunch box delivery service in Midtown, but apparently, the trend is here, people. And thankfully, we have Aunt Ooi’s Kitchen to pick up where Mami PG left off.

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Once again, we’re giving away two VIP tickets to Grand Central Partnership’s annual food festival. You may remember from year’s past that Grand Gourmet brings over 30 of the neighboring eating establishments together for a night of eating, drinking, and celebration in Vanderbilt Hall. Check out my delicious re-cap from last year’s event. The proceeds go to the Grand Central Neighborhood Social Services Corporation, which is a not-for-profit homeless services provider. For that reason, tickets aren’t cheap ($125 for general admission), but we’re giving away two VIP tickets (a $700 value!) to one lucky reader. The event is on Thursday, May 2 from 7-9:30pm and all you have to do to win is check out the list of vendors here and let us know which one you’re most excited for. A winner will be chosen at random on Thursday, April 25 at 3pm. Don’t want to leave it to chance?  You can purchase tickets at their website.

If you missed our midtown book launch at Posman Books in Grand Central last week there’s another opportunity to catch us at a special lunchtime signing at the Posman Books located Rock Center’s concourse, tomorrow, Wednesday, 4/10 at 1pm. We’ll be signing our cookbook New York à la Cart: Recipes and Stories from the Big Apple’s Best Food Trucks with our awesome photographers, Donny Tsang and Clay Williams. As the subtitle suggests the book is packed with recipes (over 100!) and stories from our favorite carts and trucks in the city. Including recipes for some of our favorite midtown lunches.

Check out a list after the jump…

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Midtown already has Bierhaus on 3rd Ave., but now Midtown West is set to get some German beer action. Reichenbach Hall is under construction on 37th St. between 5th and 6th Aves. Their signage and website promises beer, schnitzel, and sausage, but there’s no word on when they’ll open their doors. Anyone excited for more German lunch options, or maybe just a place to grab a few liters of lager after work?

Reichenbach Hall, 5 West 37th Street (btw. 5+6th)

Remember the days when we used to beg for somebody to open a Thai food cart in Midtown? Well, now we have two! Lunch’er Teresa checked in yesterday to let us know about a new Thai food cart on 52nd and 6th Ave.

Not sure if you’ve seen, but there’s a new thai food cart on the SW corner of 52nd St and 6th Ave – located next to Gobuki (korean cart). I haven’t seen anything about this cart on the internet anywhere so thought you might want to review it. Not sure of the name, but there’s a single guy working in an old halal cart. This cart definitely gives tuktuk boy a run for its money.

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You know we’re all about the free food here on Midtown Lunch, and is there really any better free food promotion than Ben & Jerry’s free cone day? Sure, the lines are ridiculously long. But they move quick, everybody is all smiles, and at the end of the line you get a full scoop of ice cream- not some little thimble full of nonsense. Just like previous years, both of the Midtown Ben & Jerry’s locations (Rock Center basement and the branch on the 4th floor of Macy’s) will be participating. Freeloaders, prepare to engage.

The new Neapolitan Express truck slowly rolled on to the streets a few weeks ago. Since they’re completely powered by compressed natural gas, they received a rare approval from Mayor Bloomberg. Sure, it’s better for the environment and we can all appreciate that, but Mayor Mike made no statements about the quality of the pizza itself  also seemed to like the pizza.

After testing out the truck at sporadic locations around the city, Neapolitan Express seems to be on their way to a more permanent schedule. I caught them on Friday set up at 53rd and Park. I overheard one of the guys tell somebody that they plan to be in this area for most of their lunch shifts from here on out. The menu lists just three savory personal pie options and a dessert pizza.

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