Midtown Lunch

Tip of the hat to Lunch’er Justin who wrote in to tell us that the location of Sophie’s Cuban on New St. in the Financial District no longer had its under $10 sandwich combo that included a sandwich, side and soda, and now if you order all of those things it will run roughly $14. Well what about the other two downtown locations on Chambers St. and Fulton St.? You probably won’t be happy to hear that only one of those three locations will still hook you up with this deal.

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It’s not often I go into a pizza place and everything looks so good that I seriously can’t make up my mind which slices to get. This was the problem I had while at Rosella’s Pizza on William St. (btw. Beekman & Ann) last week. It’s off the beaten path, although I’m sure they get a lot of business from the NY Downtown Hospital across the street and from Pace University students – and from office workers in the know. The only reason I knew about it was because of two recent recommendations for both Rosella’s pizza and pasta from Profiled Lunch’ers. No matter what kind of pizza you like, you’ll find some variety of it here.

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We lunch’ers in the Financial District aren’t exactly hurting for Caribbean food options. It used to be there were only a couple of choices – Veronica’s Kitchen or Trinidad & Tobago carts – and the one you frequented depended on where you worked. Then there was something of a surge in options recently with Nio’s Trinidad Roti Truck resurfacing at Water & Pine and R. Retha’s cart parking at William & Beaver until it got shuttered by the Department of Health. Another truck that was somewhat slippery to catch was Sunrise Grill which I’d sometimes seen at Water & Broad, but they weren’t there every day. But yesterday was my lucky day, and Sunrise Grill was there, there wasn’t much of a line, and hunger was setting in. Jerk chicken and a beef patty seemed to be in order. Read more »

Sometimes it’s a Chinese noodle soup kind of day – as yesterday with it’s clouds and rain was – and it gave me an excuse to check out one of the impressive roster of noodle soups at Ho Yip on Liberty St. (at Trinity Pl.). Yip’s seems to get all of the cheap Chinese noodle soup glory in the Financial District with its two locations, but Ho Yip’s selection blows theirs out of the water. I haven’t sampled the noodle soups from every Chinese hole-in-the-wall in the FiDi, but Ho Yip served me a version with some fabulous wontons.

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If you don’t particularly like Chipotle (or its ridiculous lunchtime lines) and can’t make it to the taco trucks, you’ll be happy to know that Sabor de Mexico‘s open on Nassau St. (btw. John & Fulton). We’ve already reviewed some of the items at the location on Trinity Place (at Thames) and while some are found wanting like the Americanized tacos, there’s more selection of items and meats than at the chain places and it’s also slightly cheaper. There will be a review of the new shop at some point this week when a hankering for some Mexican food hits.

My normal way of approaching opening day at any fast food-type lunch spot is to make sure I have my phone with me for entertainment while standing in a long line, and to decide ahead of time what I’ll be ordering. I had both of these strategies in play on Wednesday when I headed over to GRK on Fulton St. (btw. William & Nassau), the latest spot for Greek fast food in the Financial District. We already have Pita Press and the Souvlaki GR Truck at our disposal, so what could GRK add to the mix? Delicious pork cooked on a spit, that’s what.

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With a broad menu that includes biryani and kati rolls along with some pretty amazing chicken over rice, it’s easy to skim over the rest of what the two Biryani House carts have to offer. The menu lists both fish and shrimp plates, although I was a little skeptical that they actually served these dishes since most people seem to stick to the Indian fare here. I decided to try my luck at the cart on Liberty St. (nr. Broadway), and lo and behold the tilapia over rice plate actually exists! But it is worth ordering over other things on the menu?

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