Midtown Lunch

Somedays, against my will, I crave a lunch that’s kind of trashy. My mind wandered back to a delicious fish sandwich on white bread that I had at the defunct Sea World in Tribeca, and I wondered if I could find something similar in the Financial District. The answer is yes, because you can find something similar at Terrace Fish & Chips just off of Pearl St. (nr. Stone). But would it be as good?  Read more »

When looking at the menu of Lovely Day on Elizabeth St. (btw. Spring & Prince), you may wonder if you’re seeing things. A full Irish breakfast is listed, along with Thai noodle dishes and Japanese ginger fried chicken. Oh, and there’s also a burger. When you combine that with the old-timey interior that reminded me of a French cafe, it’s doubly confusing. What is this place?  Read more »

There’s an interesting new by-the-pound buffet option in the Financial District at Justino’s Pizzeria (formerly Pizza Pizza) on Pearl St. (nr. Stone). Why is it interesting? Because it’s $6.95 per pound and from the quick scan I made during lunch yesterday it looked like there weren’t a lot of scale-friendly options. There were a couple of kinds of pasta, a baked dish with cheese on top, broccoli, sliced Italian bread and then a few tureens off to the side that I’m guessing were soup. Pasta and broccoli are not the lightest of items, so it wouldn’t be hard to spend $10 or more here if you’re really hungry. It might be a hard sell when you can get a couple of plain slices there for $5.

We got word that the Route 66 Smokehouse on Pearl St. (btw. Coenties Slip & Hanover Sq.) will be opening Wednesday at 11 a.m. for lunch and dinner service. The chef is an alumni of Blue Smoke, and the owner has other bars and restaurants on the Stone St. strip including Beckett’s Bar and Grill and The Dubliner. While it’s unclear how much of the “American regional” menu will be affordable (as in, $10 or less) because there are no prices listed, there are several items that sound delicious. Read more »

One of the last carts left standing at Liberty and Nassau streets is the Cocina Mexicana cart. The menu has stayed the same since they materialized in the Financial District back in June, except they seemed to have done away with the signs on the front offering daily specials like enchiladas. Maybe there was lack of interest, or lack of customers for those, but it’s a shame because not they offer the same few items as seemingly every other Mexican spot in the neighborhood: burritos, tacos, quesadillas and tortas. I stopped by to try the sandwich, lured in by the picture of one with bistec in it on the front of the cart.   Read more »

• Lunching at the new Barbarini incarnation, Barbalu. [Tribeca Citizen]
• These Chinese bureka might have Jewish roots. [Eating in Translation]
• Will food truck regs change with a new mayor? [FitR]
• That fancy 7-Eleven in the FiDi may not be the wave of the future. [Grub St.]
• You can lunch at the Seaport’s Paris Cafe once again. [DNAinfo]
• ML contributor Clay leads us on a tour of Chinatown. [SENY]

Most of our ramen options downtown fall into two categories: More than $10, or from a deli. It’s a pretty sad situation, really, especially compared with most other parts of Manhattan. Long ago I saw an ad on another site advertising $10 ramen on Mondays at the Japanese spot Zutto on Hudson St. (btw. Jay & Harrison). That’s about the only time I’ve seen restaurant ramen offered at that price within the Downtown Lunch boundaries, so I had to check it out.  Read more »