Midtown Lunch

As you guys may know by now I like dumplings. Any kind of dumplings. And when you give me 5 of them for $1, and throw in a sesame pancake on the side I couldn’t ask for a better carb-explosion of a lunch. I hadn’t been to Prosperity Dumpling on Eldridge St. (btw. Hester & Canal) in a while because it’s not exactly close to where I work. It’s well-known among those who love cheap, delicious Chinatown treats, but shunned by those who would rather walk up the street a couple of blocks to the larger (and more expensive) Vanessa’s Dumpling House. I actually discovered Prosperity after going to Vanessa’s one day and seeing how packed it was. Read more »

Up until now it’s mostly been local stores forced to relocate due to the massive Fulton Transit Center construction. Most notable to lunch’ers until now was the loss of Tokyo Kitchen, but now it looks like the Burger King on Broadway & John St. has also fallen victim to the project. As you can see from the sign taped to the door, you only have to walk a couple of blocks to get your chicken fries and Whoppers from the King.

Now that’s some good looking gravy. Courtesy of Eating In Translation

• Someone else appreciates Table Tales’s Sunday gravy. [Eating In Translation]
• Finally, you can eat like you’re in Brooklyn while working in Soho! [Eater NY]
• A jewelry shop really can make a fine banh mi. [Ultra Clay]
• More fancy pizza just came to Tribeca. [Grub St.]
• I got beat to the punch on trying the fast food version of shabu shabu at Quickly. [Serious Eats NY]
• Having Despana as the closest lunch option sounds pretty OK to me. [Lunch with Front Studio]
• For those sad about our lack of Korilla, I give you Chinito. [Village Voice]

As I was walking back from lunch I happened to notice that the location of The Original Soupman on Pearl St. (btw. Wall & Hanover) that’s been papered over forever and under renovation looked open. Well, they weren’t, but that’s not the interesting part. It looks like they’re still going to be serving Soupman items, but also Ranch 1 chicken?! This seems like a weird combo to me but I’m going to wait to pass judgment until I can actually eat here. I really hope they have someone standing outside in a chicken costume! Let us know in the comments if you see them up and running for lunch.

The other day I told a couple of people that my lunch destination was Sea World on Church St. (at Lispenard) to further investigate the $6.99 buffet that popped up. They wished me luck in the way that people do when you tell them you’re taking the subway to the Bronx or going to eat a McRib. My stomach has handled worse things than fried seafood, I thought, and it’s only come back to haunt me once! When I got there and asked if the buffet was by the pound, I heard the magical words “No, it’s all you can eat.” And with that I was handed my plate and went over to see what my strategy would be for gorging on fried foods. Read more »