New York Street Food

I had to be by Union Square around lunch, which means Today’s Lunch is an old favorite – Num Pang.

Num Pang is a small storefront located at 21East 12th st btw University Place & 5th Ave with a few seats at counters upstairs, which puts it in our Honorary Street Food category.

For new readers who may not be familiar with Num Pang, it’s the Cambodian version of banh mi.  There are a few differences, but the quality of the food at Num Pang is usually so high, it appeals to lots of different people.

Today’s Lunch is the pulled Duroc pork with spicy honey ($8.20 after tax).

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When I was at the new Cambodian Cuisine Torsu truck last week, someone else on line got #5, Num Pain Saach, a Cambodian version of banh mi.  It looked really big and delicious, and luckily I was able to get back there over the weekend to try one.

It was Saturday night, but the truck tweeted they were at their usual weekday location, West 4th St & LaGuardia Place, on the south side of Washington Square Park.  That’s an easy stroll from my apartment, and it was a beautiful night, so I headed over.  They are usually there from 6-11pm, but check their twitter account here to make sure.

I ordered a #5 sandwich ($5.95), and about 5 minutes later was handed a giant hero.  You can see from the picture below that it’s a little bigger than a dinner plate.  Now that’s a sandwich!

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As NYSF readers know, I really like banh mi and num pang, the Cambodian version of Vietnamese banh mi.  While I get num pang fairly often in New York, I don’t get banh mi nearly as much – but L.A. has a bunch of banh mi trucks.

Since L.A. can be a bitch to get around, I decided to try the banh mi truck that was convenient to where I was located.  That turned out to be the Mandoline Grill, which was in the parking lot of The Other Door bar in North Hollywood, the same place I went to try the Canter’s Deli Truck.

After asking the owner Mong a few questions, I decided to get the grilled pork banh mi ($6), which she said was their most popular sandwich.

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I was near University Place today around lunch time, which often means NUM PANG!  Regular readers of NYSF know about my love of Num Pang, and it’s been a couple of months, so there was no question about Today’s Lunch, other than what to order.

Num Pang is located at 21 East 12th St between 5th Ave and University Place.  I haven’t written about Num Pang recently, so for our newer readers, Num Pang is in the Honorary Street Food category.  This means a storefront with little or no seating that serves food traditionally known as street food in their home country – in this case Cambodia. Num Pang is basically a Cambodian variation on banh mi.

Today’s Lunch is a grilled king mackerel sandwich with leeks and thai-basil infused olive oil ($8.45 incl tax) from Num Pang.  Yes, it was as good as it sounds, and there are more details after the jump.

I happened to be near home for lunch and decided to go back to Baoguette/Pho Sure at 120 Christopher Street (between Bleecker and Bedford), a member of our Honorary Street Food category.

Last time I had a Classic Banh Mi sandwich that was tasty, but a little messy.  For Today’s Lunch, I decided to go for the Spicy Catfish Banh Mi ($7).

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