Midtown Lunch

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (ensuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.)

Before reading the sign at the entrance of Pho So 1, the new Vietnamese restaurant located on Mott street, try to visualize a drunk Vietnamese restaurant owner shouting those words at you. Yhat’s the only way I can read that sign with a straight face. But then again it’s really funny, so why would I even want to read it with a straight face?

This end of Mott street has a few old Chinese standbys including Wo Hop and Hop Kee, the old-school-kinda-joints where you walk down a flight of stairs to get inside. Pho So 1 is also found down a flight of steep stairs at 11 Mott street, now offering good, honest priced Vietnamese food (also currently offering a 10% discount as part of their grand opening).

Read more »

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (ensuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.)

Call me a Midtown Lunch infidel, but I’ve never been a huge advocate of street meat. I’ve been burned too many times eating lunch at a cart, only to have my stomach sounding like a garbage truck rumbling down the West Side Highway a few hours later.

But I’m a Midtown Luncher now (well, a Downtown version of one anyway), and so with a heavy heart (all those burgers have an effect on the arteries) I set out to find my own local street meat peddler…and boy, did I ever find one.

Read more »

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (ensuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.)

Fuleen Seafood is located on Division street, in the heart of Chinatown. Upon entering you’ll usually find the place packed- people love the food here, from the locals to the adventurous tourist. I used to eat here every once in awhile because I loved the chicken curry… that and a few of the shrimp dishes. They have 70 lunch specials for $5.50. I think if the price has changed in the past few years it’s only gone up 50 cents or so.

For lunch you get an extremely generous serving of your main dish, rice, and the complimentary “house” soup. I always try to eat the soup (it’s free after all), but I just can’t get myself to like it. It has a very potent taste and a bit of rank odor if you ask me. I believe when I asked about it they said there was pork, vegetables, and a cantonese herb called Harbor? Never heard of it… and I probably misunderstood. Maybe she was just saying “herbs”??

Read more »

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (ensuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.)  I don’t know what’s up with Daniel lately.  Last week he wrote about a salad (shameful) and this week he’s found an $11 burger.  You know how I feel about lunch that costs more than $10.  This better be good…

My encyclopedic girlfriend said I will lack context if I don’t mention the history of Jerry Joseph–the pioneer behind Jerry’s Cafe, a newly reopened Tribeca restaurant dealing in comfort food. I didn’t know the background story of this early Soho settler, but read all about him with a quick google search.

So I no longer lack context now… just tact, basic personal hygiene, and friends (any applicants?).

Read more »

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (ensuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.)

Last week I ventured into the deep fried underbelly of the city known as Sea World. It was the food equivalent of a whorehouse, and just being there was like bathing in a pool of oil… delicious oil. In an attempt to even out my arteries, I tried something a bit healthier this week. Columbine (on West Broadway, near the corner of White St.) is where I went for my weekly cleansing. Everyday you’ll find different specials, which are quite often the best thing to go for.

Read more »