Midtown Lunch

Eateries serving Mexican food alongside Chinese food are fairly plentiful in the city, with at least a couple within Downtown Lunch boundaries. One of those is called New Fresco Tortillas III on Reade St. (btw. Broadway & Church) and it’s just out of the way enough that if you don’t know it’s there, you’d miss it. There aren’t too many hole-in-the-wall Chinese spots left in Tribeca, with China Red on Chambers St. perhaps the most visible. I’m happy I didn’t walk right by New Fresco because I got served some of the finest Americanized Chinese food I’ve had in recent memory at a cheap price. Win win!  Read more »

It seemed the Financial District was being inundated with locations of Lenny’s, the mini-chain that serves at least one decent sandwich. Apparently they were looking to consolidate rather than have a store on every corner, because the John St. location has been shuttered and a new one opened on Pearl St. between Wall and Hanover Square. This joins another new location on Park Place between Broadway and Church.

Niko Niko on Pearl St. (at Wall) is a little bit grubby, even on the outside, but always a good standby for cheap noodle soup, sushi or bento boxes. It was a surprise to walk down John St. and see a gleaming new location of a familiar name on the block between Pearl and Water streets. There weren’t any signs in the windows of the original telling of an imminent closing, so this is either a second location or they’re a while away from opening and aren’t letting customers know yet. Regardless, this is a nice alternative if Mooncake Foods or the deli next door aren’t cutting it come lunch time.

• Hawaii Cupcake Factory coming to Tribeca. [TC]
• The Bourdain food hall/WTC rumors seem to be true! [EaterNY]
• Westville has some legit-looking mac ‘n’ cheese. [FitR]
• A spicy hint at Lahore Deli. [Eating in Translation]

So far in 2014 I haven’t eaten a lunch that made me super excited to write about it. That all changed on Wednesday when my original lunch idea fell through and I impulsively stopped by Veronica’s Kitchen cart because their roti has been on my “to eat” list for ages. Yes, we’ve sampled the jerk chicken before, but let me tell you, it’s superb in roti form and you get a huge amount of food for a mere $6.  Read more »

Manhattan home to at least two food trucks serving Lebanese food. The first was Toum with its exceptional and gigantic sandwiches and potent garlic whip and the second is Bread & Olives that was spotted at Hanover Sq. (btw. Pearl & Water) on Monday and I’m told they also park there on Wednesdays. It looks like the truck parked in Midtown last year, but this is the first I’ve heard or seen of them parking downtown.

The menu features platters or sandwiches with proteins like falafel, lamb cubes, kafta or two kinds of chicken along with breakfast pies and sides. It was early and there was no line so I was sold, and ordered myself a sandwich.

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Chipotle should be just a tiny bit afraid because there’s a new burrito and taco source opening across Maiden Lane. Tres Carnes, which already has one location in the Flatiron and is opening another in Midtown, is opening where Pret A Manger used to be near William St. before the space was flooded during hurricane Sandy.  Read more »