Midtown Lunch

Whenever I walk by the Halal Gyro Express cart at William St. & Maiden Lane, there’s a line of people, and that’s because they are great at what they do.

In fact, as I visited on a recent day to try their chicken kofta (we’ll get to that in a minute), the man in line in front of me asked what the difference between the chicken tikka and the regular chicken over rice was. He got a pretty long answer which boiled down to the chicken tikka being white breast meat, and grilled to order “so it stays juicy” while the regular chicken is pre-cooked on the flat top and made from hacked up dark and white meat chicken.

There is a third poultry offering at this cart in the form of a kofta kebab, and how often do you see a non-lamb version of this dish? They pre-cook and then chop up and grill the kebab for a couple of minutes. Yes, you’re going to want to try this.

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The opening day of Go Go Curry on John St. (btw. Nassau & Broadway), the Japanese chain with more than 50 locations world wide, was a bit of a mess. I discovered when I got in line that they weren’t doing take out on Monday and you could only get the 55 cent deal if you had a good hour to wait to eat in the small space that has only a few tables and a counter along one wall. Instead, I went back on Tuesday when you could get your food to go, and to my surprise found you could get any medium size curry for $5 – a special running through Feb. 28. The staff was still working out some kinks, with a wait of about 20 minutes for food and a cash only policy, but after I finally got to eat my pork katsu curry, it was totally worth the confusion and waiting.  Read more »

Cambodian sandwiches: Soon to be found in BPC. 

Those of you who work in or near the World Financial Center in Battery Park City know that it’s definitely gotten some upgrades over the last three years. The offerings were fairly grim and food court-like with a burrito place, Cosi, Au Bon Pain, Yushi, a deli, steam table Chinese and some more upscale options. Then last week the situation started getting a foodie upgrade.

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There are many options for a cheese steak in the Financial District: Delis, street meat carts, the Dominic’s Truck on Whitehall St. and the occasional visit from the Phil’s Steaks truck. We’ll also eventually be getting a location of Shorty’s cheese steaks down on Pearl St.

One place we’ve never checked out, but that I’ve always been curious about it Charly’s which is on Trinity Place (at Cedar St.) and caters to every guilty pleasure food you might want, from pizza to burgers to chicken wings. The thing that many of the dudes and construction workers that throng the place, along with students from nearby high schools, at lunch time is a cheese steak. Would it be any better than the deli variety?

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This Umami Burger can be in your belly soon. Via A Hamburger Today.

• Has your head exploded from the food options coming to the WFC? [Eater NY]
• On that note: An explanation of what Skinnypizza is. Yum? [Grub St.]
• An unphotogenic, but tasty meatloaf sandwich at All Good Things. [SENY]
• A new cafe has opened on Baxter St. above Canal. [Tribeca Citizen]

In case you missed our post from last week, Go Go Curry is expecting to open its new location on John St. (btw. Broadway & Nassau) on Monday at 10:55 a.m. If you’re one of the first 555 people in line you’ll be able to pay in change 55 cents!) if you get a single size curry. Otherwise, you’ll still pay less than $10 unless you have a hunger that can only be sated by a Grand Slam.

Sabor de Mexico seems intent on quietly taking over the downtown area, although not quite as fast as its close relative Chipotle. I had checked out the first location on Trinity Place (at Thames) when it first opened and was called Caliente Mexican Grill, and on that and subsequent visits found it was dependable if partly Americanized Mexican food. Their strong point is meats, which I’d tried in the form of tacos and a burrito, but they also serve them in a torta and the more desk friendly burrito bowl. I decided to try the latter when a craving for carbs and meat hit.

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