Midtown Lunch

One of the highlights in my year-and-a-half as your guide through the lunches of downtown Manhattan was discovering a $7 all-you-can-eat buffet at the delightfully-named Sea World in the gross upper reaches of Church St. When word came Friday that the place had closed and was possibly being taken over by pizza shop Saluggi’s, I couldn’t stop a “Nooo!” from escaping my mouth.

The first time I ate there and had a lunch that luckily didn’t give me a heart attack, it gave me a glimpse into the kind of places that police officers and construction workers frequent. And oh, that buffet! Not one thing on there wasn’t fried and/or composed entirely of carbs. When Daniel first checked the place out back in the early days of Downtown Lunch, he confirmed that the only thing not fried there was the bread and I found that to be pretty accurate.

I think  most people went to Sea World for the trashy yet delicious fish sandwiches which were four filets between two slices of white bread without any vegetables to distract. Actually, part of the beauty of this place was that there weren’t any vegetables to distract anywhere, unless you count french fries. I’m betting I’m not the only one who will miss this place, and in my opinion its name alone will never be matched.