Midtown Lunch

In a somewhat surprising development, sandwich/quick lunch chain Pret A Manger has given up its store at Maiden Lane & Pearl St. It was heavily damaged during hurricane Sandy, along with most of the other nearby businesses, some of which have reopened, and others like the Hale and Hearty across the street are still being rehabbed. If you’re in need of a Pret fix, you walk a few blocks further up Maiden to the location on Broadway between Cortlandt and John streets.

After a streak of offering nothing but Taiwanese potstickers, the A-Pou’s Taste cart at Liberty St. & Broadway has been on something of a streak of adding non-dumpling dishes to the menu. Not that any of us got sick of those delicious, crisp-bottomed dumplings, but maybe they got sick of cooking nothing but them?

To my surprise, when I stopped by the other day to investigate a sign announcing a new chicken curry dish, there were two Indian men working at the cart instead of a tiny Taiwanese woman. The man – who informed me he was Bangladeshi – got super excited when I ordered the chicken curry, proclaiming it his favorite dish. It turns out he should be proud of this Indian curry served alongside Taiwanese dumplings and Chinese spaghetti.  Read more »

Some of you have wondered in the comments how some of the other offerings at Blue Spoon Coffee are, and I’ve forgotten to investigate. The second location at William & Platt (the original’s on Chambers btw. Broadway & Church) has been my go-to for a cup of coffee or breakfast goods when I’m strapped for time, and it seems they either make everything themselves or source the food from good purveyors in the city.

I really like the vegetarian sandwich I got there after the FiDi location opened, and this time, on a cold and windy day, I went for one of the three soups they have on rotation each day.  Read more »

There are a couple of things coming to the old-timey cobblestoned streets at the lower part of the Financial District, and here’s hoping they include some food that’s reasonably priced.

Nestling into the lineup of Irish bars and pizza spots on either side of Stone St. are a German beer hall called Bavaria Bierhaus (the space seen above) and Route 66 American BBQ, which is self explanatory.

I’m not sure about you all, but I welcome any advancements in BBQ in the FiDi, which is seriously lacking in this lunch option.

Last week featured a lunch experience I’d never had before – one that felt a little bit illicit, as I was handed Korean food made in some kitchen behind an anonymous door in the Yorganic frozen yogurt shop on Hanover Sq. (btw. Beaver & Pearl). Some of you may have already discovered this underground source of legit Korean food called Gangnam, but if you haven’t, here’s the primer on how to get your hands on some.

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The restaurants on Pearl St. had a rough go of it after hurricane Sandy, but when I walked down the stretch between Broad St. & Maiden Lane yesterday it’s a bit of a mixed bag. Signage was up for a new lunch spot on Pearl at Cedar, but others are closed due to structural damage from the hurricane, or for more mysterious reasons.

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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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