Midtown Lunch

Have you ever wondered what a pulled pork breakfast sandwich mash up might taste like? Well, you can get pulled pork sandwich on a homemade English muffin at the GoGo Grill cart that’s been parking at Bowling Green. While the sandwich has a couple of flaws, I think you’ll forgive the unconventional bun used here.  Read more »

The section of John St. between Broadway and Nassau St. is continuing to be revived with new places to eat – this time gelato (or yogurt? So confused) and coffee. Gelato ti Amo has opened alongside Go Go Curry and Aroy Dee Thai Kitchen, making this a pretty great stretch of places for cheap eating. I don’t think I’m alone in thinking this is a nice change of pace instead of yet another branch of Red Mango.

Now you can get something to eat alongside your various tea-based drinks at Vivi Bubble Tea on John St. (near Nassau). The Taiwanese drinks shop now sells steamed buns filled with roast pork or sweet taro. I’m not sure if $1.65 apiece is a good deal, but it’s pretty much the only option for this kind of snack in the Financial District.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one confused on Monday to find a newly installed Citi Bike rack in place of the row of food carts normally on Liberty St. at Broadway. This is not the first time these vendors have struggled to maintain their spots, but this is permanent.

The rack is fairly long, with no room on either side for a cart to set up, leaving a smoothie vendor, 99% Vegetarian, Biryani House, A-Pou’s Taste and Luckyim Thai carts all without anywhere to park. The affected vendors turned to the Street Vendor Project for help, and it sounds like they are unsure what to do next, but you can show your support for them on Thursday.  Read more »

When Midtown Lunch contributor Brian clued me into a new cart serving Malaysian food in the financial District late last week, it just happened to be when I was heading out the door for lunch and I changed my plan of what to eat that day.

Mamak showed up at Hanover Square between Pearl and Water streets at the top of last week, with plans to be there daily. Their specialty is rendang stew, of which you may have eaten the beef version at some point in your life. There are three kinds on offer at this cart, but you’re going to break the $10 barrier for the privilege of trying them.

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Dollar slices: Not always terrible. Via FitR.

• A version of Smorgasburg is coming to the Seaport. [DNAinfo]

• Musings on the dollar slice [Fork in the Road]

• New resto has pupusas, arepas at hip Tribeca prices. [Tribeca Citizen]

• Picks for Little Italy/Chinatown eating. [SENY]

I was out of town running a marathon earlier this week when Clarke’s Standard officially opened its doors on Maiden Lane (at Pearl St.), but was more than happy to go eat a burger and fries after punishing my body for 26.2 miles.

The place was not too crowded at prime lunch time mid-week and it only took a wait of a few minutes to get my lunch. You’ll find no complaints from me about Clarke’s Standard’s food in this initial review, but I do question whether a burger and fries lunch of more than $10 (with no drink) from a quick-service place has become the norm.

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