PROFILE: Downtown Lunch’er “Kevin”

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, we have Kevin who has eaten at a lot of downtown’s finest lunch options, but is searching for a good, cheap burger.

Name: Kevin

Occupation: College intern

Where you work: Broadway and Beaver streets

Age: 23

Favorite Kinds of Food: I’m a sucker for Japanese bento boxes and sushi.  Banh mi sandwiches and Vietnamese food are also high on my list. I ate a lot of banh mi as a kid and I love the different varieties offered at banh mi sandwich shops today.

Least Favorite Foods: Unauthentic or heavily Americanized Chinese food masquerading as authentic Chinese food.  Also anything that’s overly greasy or contains globs of mayo (yes, I’m not a fan of mayo on nearly anything)

Favorite Lunches Downtown: I’ve recently taken a liking to Fuji Catering Service.  You can’t beat authentic, hand-made bento lunch boxes for about $7 delivered to your lobby.  Venturing outside the office, I fall back onto banh mi from Baoguette (Multiple Locations) and the Banh Mi Cart on John St. (at Water).  I also enjoy the occasional visits from the Schnitzel & Things (Multiple Locations) and Wafels & Dinges (Multiple Locations) trucks.  I really hope more midtown trucks and carts will consider venturing downtown a few times a month to bring some more variety to the area.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: I eat at the Homemade Cart on the corner of Beaver St. and Broadway regularly since it’s near my office.  Either you love it or you hate it but his chicken and rice packs a flavor punch that I’ve yet to see from any other halal cart.

Places downtown you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: Too many, but a few at the top of my list are Tajin on Greenwich (btw. Edgar & Rector), Café Water on Pine St. (btw. Water & Pearl),  ESPN Match Truck, Picnick Smoked (where did it go?!), Frites N Meats (Multiple Locations), and Niko Niko on Pearl St. (btw. Wall & Pine).

Dream job location, purely for lunch purposes, and why: Anywhere along 9th Ave. in Midtown West…there’s just way too many good places to try down that stretch!  The runner-up is Chinatown. You can’t beat the seemingly infinite amount of cheap eats that can be had for under $6.

Anything you’d like to ask the downtown Midtown Lunch readers?: Where can I get some more bunny chow?  Why can’t the ESPN Match Truck stick around through the summer (or an independent version of it)?  Are there any good (and cheap) burger places in FiDi other than Burger King and Goodburger?  Where is this Hot Soup Cart?  (I can never seem to find it)  Will Dunkin’ Donuts or Tim Hortons ever open up a shop in the area?  Will there ever be a Vietnamese restaurant opening up downtown so I don’t have to venture up Chinatown for my fix?

I’m with you on the ESPN Match Truck because it rolled the food from about five different carts into one. The burger question is a tough one, but Blarney Stone on Trinity Pl. has a good one, as does Checkers on Chambers St., and there’s a Five Guys opening soon on Fulton St. It may be a little far south for you, but there are Dunkin’ Donuts on both Fulton and Cortland streets. I liked the banh mi I had at Mangez Avec Moi in Tribeca, and I think they deliver.And as always, if you would like to be next week’s Profiled Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate), email us at downtownnyc@midtownlunch.com.

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8 Comments

  • Hot Soup Cart is usually in front of 60 Wall, although I haven’t seen it since early spring.

    There is a Dunkin Donuts on Maiden Lane (a block up from the Water Street Deli, near Goodburger)

    • I’ve been looking for it since early spring, which is probably why I never found him! Maybe he’ll be back when the weather starts cooling down…

  • Fuji Catering Service??? Why haven’t I heard of this before????

    • They’re a pretty small service catering mainly to Japanese ex-pats working in the city. I only stumbled upon them in Chopsticks NY. I highly recommend trying them if you’re in the mood for bentos.

      • I just read that Chopsticks NY article and it sounds interesting. I also just read their menu for the week and tomorrow’s eel over rice with crispy fried chicken sounds pretty tempting.

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    The Fuji Catering Service sounds really good. What time do they usually get to FiDi? Do they take credit card? Their website has minimal info. The menu is tempting. Thanks!

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