Midtown Lunch

Winter weather doesn’t exactly lend itself to standing outside near the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge ordering Mexican food. That being said, Nixtamalito on the south side of 1 Centre St. is still going strong in this winter weather (and you can order online if you don’t want to venture out) and I had the craving for something meaty and saucy. While the mole was just fine, the enchiladas verdes surprised me with how delicious and spicy they were. This is just the dish to warm you up in single-digit temperatures.  Read more »

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 »

I wasn’t sure what to expect when walking into Maid Cafe NY on Centre St. (at Walker) in Chinatown. Would I be accosted by ladies dressed as maids? Would the food be terrible? Neither of these turned out to be entirely true, although the cafe is probably better used as the source of Japanese sweets than a solid lunch.  Read more »

Did you know there is a culture in Japan where you go to a cafe and are served by a woman dressed as a maid? Well, this exists, and apparently we have one of these eateries called Maid Cafe NY downtown on Centre St. (at Walker). Based on reviews online the place has been open for a few months, but we just heard about it, and hey, it’s not often that you get a press release about a lunch spot where the workers wear maid costumes. They mostly have desserts (green tea cheesecake seems to be the thing here), but they also have breads like curry pan along with Japanese curry, rice balls and a beef bowl for Chinatown-like prices. This is the place for you if Takahachi Bakery seems too pedestrian. Photo via Maid Cafe NY.

When The Hummus & Pita Co. opened its second NYC location downtown I wondered what their crowning glory would be. I had an enjoyable chicken shawarma sandwich where the meat was almost outshined by the vegetables stuffed in alongside. Based on the strength of that meal, I decided to stop into the shop on Chambers St. (btw. Broadway & Church) for round 2. Once again, I was seduced by a spinning cylinder of meat.  Read more »

There are many delis and other eateries that I’ve walked by many times but never bothered to step inside. That’s usually OK, but sometimes you find a gem that you would never tell existed from the outside. Corte Cafe at the corner of Lafayette and Duane streets is such a place, advertising only “international foods” on its awning. A step inside shows the usual salads and sandwiches, but you can also get fried chicken, a torta or a variety of Caribbean food. It was the latter that piqued my interest since the area around City Hall is lacking in the food of the islands.

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It’s not often you get a glowing e-mail about a turkey sandwich. That was the case last week when Lunch’er Chris wrote in to say that he had checked out the new location of Simit + Smith on Worth St. (btw. Broadway & Lafayette), and had a “phenomenal” turkey sandwich. A great turkey sandwich at a place specializing in the bagel-like Turkish simit? This needed an investigation!

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