Midtown Lunch

Exquisite jewelry giving way to Thai.

After a long, cold winter of only a few new lunch spots opening downtown with food under the $10 mark there’s now a slate of new places opening in the next couple of months. The list is getting longer every day, with an announcement that the FiDi is getting a cheap Thai option when Rhong Tiam opens on Water St. (nr. Coenties Slip) on May 30. We’re also getting a location of Luke’s Lobsters on William (nr. Broad) and the Potbelly Sandwich Shop on Maiden Lane (btw. Gold & Pearl) that looks like it could open any day now. But wait, there’s more! Read more »

The words “healthy” and “soul food” would probably send shivers of terror down many people’s spines, but these things no longer surprise me. It seems like every new place opening in or near the Financial District is trying to make their food healthy-sounding. And this is what you get from Soul Daddy, a new restaurant at the South St. Seaport, begat from a reality TV show, that we first showed you Tuesday. The restaurant takes soul food, puts it in a space that is reminiscent of Chipotle, and tries to let you eat lunch without having a heart attack afterward. Fair enough, but how does it taste?   Read more »

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 Matthew who works about as far down in Manhattan as you can get and has a trio of favorite lunch places.

Name: Matthew Bruckner

Occupation: Law clerk to the Hon. Allan L. Gropper

Where you work: The Bankruptcy Court, which is located at the very south end of Manhattan Island.

Age: 32

Favorite Kinds of Food: Spicy, bold flavors.  Lots of Asian foods, and particularly Thai, Vietnamese and Korean.  I also eat a lot of foods from the American South, such as grits, BBQ, etc. Ethiopian is also a favorite.  Ramen on a cold wintery day (or after a trip to the baths) is usually where it’s at.  And what would I do without pork? Oh, and salt, which is almost a food group itself.

Least Favorite Foods: The bland and the boring. Cold cut sandwiches, chain restaurants, well-done anything, bland, American-ized ethnic foods.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Trinidad & Tobago cart on Whitehall St. (btw. Bridge & Pearl). I’ve never had anything bad from them, but particularly like that they expose me to lesser-eaten proteins, such as goat and oxtail.  I’d say that the goat curry is probably my go-to T&T dish; Sophie’s Cuban (Multiple Locations), although not as good as Margon in midtown, is a standard lunch option. Oxtail, goat stew, pork chops and pernil are my favorites from Sophie’s.  Their cuban sandwich, though, just isn’t pressed long enough.  It lacks the crispiness that it should have.  Maybe it’s the bread too.  In any case, I don’t get their sandwiches, although I love a good, hot sandwich; Bian Dang (formerly NYC Cravings) truck on Wednesdays when they are in the Financial District.  I usually get the porken, but sometimes I’m feeling more poultry or porky and go solely with the one protein.  I always make a mix of the sriracha & thick “Beijing” sauce to add though.

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