Urbanspace @ 570 Lex is their second permanent food hall concept in NYC. If you’re ever in Midtown during the warmer months, you’ll likely see different pop-up tents along Broadway hosted by Urbanspace. Some of these food vendors have been around for years (maybe even from a food truck or brick and mortar) and others are just starting out. It’s a great way to grow business for these typically smaller food establishments.

We were lucky enough to be invited to their first year anniversary party, where we got to try a little of everything.

These baja fresh tacos from Dorado Tacos & Quesadillas were light and crispy, everything you’d expect from a Californian-style Mexican taco place.

We got to choose 2 baos from Baos by Kaya so we got obvs the Pork Belly (oven-braised pork belly, scallion, cucumber, radish, crushed peanuts and hoisin sauce) along with the Red Curry Chicken Baos (red curry chicken, carrot, red onion, cilantro, crispy shallots and special green sauce – mild spicy).

Loved the baos so much we got 2 more – Szechuan Cow Bao (braised beef shank, carrot, red onion, cilantro, crispy shallots and homemade Szechuan sauce – mild spicy) and the Buddha Bao (fried tofu, red cabbage, red onion, cilantro, black sesame seeds and sweet chili sauce). The vegetarian bao really surprised us – even Stephen had no idea it was tofu but loved it.

We realized the food hall was getting crowded so we grabbed most of the food and made our way back home to eat and take pictures there. This is just one of the displays found in the large two-story market hall.

I legit was not kidding – we had a shitload of food. Thank god for Stephen; I have no idea how I would have carried all this home myself.

We’ve had Bobwhite Counter‘s food before (on the ABC Food Tours) and this Buffalo Chicken Sandwich was just as good as their mac & cheese.

The Spicy Tuna Taco from Takumi Taco was actually not even really a taco. Baby nachos? Either way too many chips and not enough tuna. Sauce was tasty though. Menu lists: sashimi-grade big eye tuna, jicama, avocado, cucumber, spicy mayo, radish, sesame seeds, crispy gyoza shell.

This was an interesting concept from the well-known Inday restaurant chain (here named Inday Go Go). These “wraps” are actually homemade roti made from coconut, chia seeds, and flax seeds. A little thin to be holding this much food, but probably better fresh. The Spicy Chicken Roti here came with romaine hearts, pickled cabbage, pickled onions, cucumbers, coconut tahini, chili sauce, crispy shallots, cilantro.

I’ve been dying to try Taim, so really happy we got to choose from one of their pitas. This is their Cauliflower Shawarma Pita – shawarma-spiced cauliflower, hummus, Israeli salad, pickled cabbage, tahini, amba, parsley. You won’t even miss the meat!

The is the Cali Nachos from Jicama California Street Food. Definitely not the best, but would have likely been better fresh.

Spicy Chicken Pad Thai from Thaimee was definitely spicy (peep that red chili pepper sprinkling).

Pretty standard Spicy Tuna Roll from GoFish Sushi Box.

By far my favorite dish of the whole night. Kuro-Obi, started from the ramen masters at Ippudo, present themselves as a “quick service ramen bar” with a few market spaces throughout the city. I can’t even begin to tell how you delicious their ramen is.

I present to you the Aka-Obi – creamy chicken soup ramen, with springy zuzutto noodles, a spicy miso paste, scallions, kikurage mushrooms and 2 pieces of sliced marinated pork chashu. Literally.. TO DIE FOR.

Cappone Salumeria‘s, known for their Italian sandwiches, had a special of the night – their Meatball Parm. The balls were huge, flavored and cooked well, and as expected the Italian bread was on point. A perfect nightcap before going into a perpetual food-coma.

 

Urbanspace 570 Lexington

Address: 570 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022

Website: www.urbanspacenyc.com