Midtown Lunch

There are days when you want a turkey sandwich because you’re trying to be healthy, and there are others when you just need a big, cheap helping of Americanized Chinese food. New Golden Chopsticks is one of the only remaining hole-in-the-wall Chinese spots in the Financial District that we haven’t written about. It’s nestled next to Terrace Fish & Chip off of Pearl St. and I can say it’s one of the better crappy Chinese food lunches I’ve had in a while, and I didn’t even get a gratis egg roll or watery cup of soup with it.

There is a small buffet at Golden Chopsticks for $6.29 per pound. The variety is smaller than nearby Yip’s (Multiple Locations), and I can’t say whether the quality is better or worse. It might be better to stick with the somewhat extensive lunch options that are each $6.95 and come with white rice. You can get fried rice for a bit more money.

Since I was eating greasy Chinese for lunch, I went all the way and got sesame chicken and I love that they didn’t even bother throwing in a couple of pieces of broccoli like most places do to distract you from the fact that you’re eating fried chicken covered in salty sauce for lunch.

The chicken was of better quality than I’ve had at other places and was all white meat with a good breading. The sauce was the usual kind you get with sesame chicken, but it wasn’t as goopy as the worst versions.

Sure, the standards for Americanized Chinese food are fairly low, but if you want a no-frills unhealthy lunch you’ll find it at New Golden Chopsticks.

New Golden Chopsticks, 77 Pearl St., No. 3, (212) 825-0314