PROFILE: Downtown Lunch’er “Joe”

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 Joe who is working in a bad place for someone who likes Korean food so much, but is thinking of remedying the situation himself with a business proposition.

 width=Name: Joe

Occupation: Research Associate

Where you work: Liberty and Nassau

Age: 25

Favorite Kinds of Food: Pizza, bacon cheeseburgers, fried foods, Asian noodles, Buffalo wings, burritos, chicken Caesar wraps, eggplant parm (anything “parmed” really), guacamole, pickles, corn, KOREAN FOOD (to name a few…kimchi, soft tofu soup, braised short ribs, kalbi, naengmyeon, kimbob, galbitang, bibimbop…can’t help it, it’s in my blood), hearty tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich, mac ‘n’ cheese, steak tartare, beef jerky (got my own dehydrator to prove it!), Alaskan rolls, spicy tuna rolls, tempora udon, Nutella with bananas (not the other way around), bacon cheese omelets, buttermilk pancakes…I can go on and on!

Least Favorite Foods: Not too many…sardines, escargot, tempeh, cucumber rolls, “low calorie” imitations (it’s never as good as the original!)

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Swich on Maiden Lane (at Gold), Zaitzeff on Nassau (at John), Baoguette on Maiden Lane (btw. Broadway & Nassau) for the original, spicy; Open Air Cafe at 1 Centre St. for “the slice” from Sauced, carne asada burrito from Choza, and “the works” burger from Lucky Buns; Mexicue when it’s around; Tajin on Greenwich (btw. Edgar & Rector) for the California burrito; Zeytuna on Maiden Lane (at Nassau) for the buffet; Cafe Tomato on Fulton St. (nr. Broadway) for the beef udon and hot buffet; Chipotle (Multiple Locations); Hale & Hearty (Multiple Locations); Seh Ja Meh (when it was still kickin’); BonChon on John St. (btw. Cliff & Pearl); Sophie’s Cuban (Multiple Locations) for the Cuban sandwich; and Adrienne’s Pizza Bar on Stone St. (nr. Hanover Square) for the eggplant parm.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: I get the Hotpants from Swich almost once a week…it’s really bad. Buffalo chicken on yummy, chewy ciabatta bread with extra hot sauce and a side of home cooked sweet potato chips. Heaven.

Places downtown you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: Lots of places (a bunch listed above). I need to try all the cart food around the area. The lines are too long when I go out for lunch and I just don’t have the patience to wait! But before the weather gets too cold I need to try 99% Vegetarian Food cart on Liberty (at Broadway), A-Pou’s Taste cart on Liberty (at Broadway), and Sam’s Falafel cart on Cedar (nr. Broadway)!

Dream job location, purely for lunch purposes, and why: Oh boy, I’d have to say Koreatown! It kills me that there aren’t good cheap Korean places around the FiDi. Woorijip and E-Mo in K-town are great cheap eats. Also what’s great about Korean food is that it usually comes with several side dishes! Plus most of the Korean restaurants have lunch specials just around or below $10!

Anything you’d like to ask the downtown Midtown Lunch readers? I’ve been thinking I should quit my day job and start a Korean food truck in the FiDi. Any investors?

That sounds like an excellent idea! We are severely lacking in the Korean food department down here, although I really liked the meal I had at Jup She in Chinatown. 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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2 Comments

  • Korean food truck would be awesome…need some more variety in the area. (BonChon doesn’t really count since they’re mainly fried chicken)

  • You would def have an eater! If you did Kogi-like tacos, you’d kill it, yo. KILL IT.

    I’m hungry for Bon Chon and all kindsa Bulgogi now…

    Want to try Eggplant Parm at Adriennes.. a colleague of mine loved the Tuna Fish Sandwich there. I tend to just go for the pies!

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