Midtown Lunch

Unless you work near or at City Hall or the surrounding area (or are going to court), you’re probably like me and forget about the kiosks near the 1 Centre St. building. The other day when Korean food sounded like an excellent lunch idea, I realized I hadn’t been back to Koki & Vegi since they opened. I was impressed with their bulgogi that cost less than $10 and figured that based on the extreme enthusiasm of the people working there that the bibimbap was going to be pretty good too.

They’ve added a few new menu items plus breakfast since they opened in July. Now you can get kimchi or seafood pancakes along with grilled dumplings, all for $4.99. As tempting as these sounded, I stuck with my gut and went with the bibimbap with meat ($7.49).

You get a regular-sized takeout container full of the traditional vegetables and a mound of rice, plus a fair amount of beef (although you can also get it vegetarian), and a sunny-side up egg. The chili paste is optional, but if you say you want it they go to town with it. While I ate this I pretended it was a salad because after all it was half vegetables, right?

Good news for fans of this kiosk heading into winter: They’ll be open even when the weather gets gross.

Koki & Vegi, south side of 1 Centre St. building