Midtown Lunch

Tip of the hat to ML contributor Brian who sent the above photo alerting us that there’s a cart called Swirl at Front & Pine selling frozen yogurt,  and currently giving out free samples. Based on the cart’s signage it looks like their thing is to not just throw the toppings on the frozen yogurt like they do at Red Mango or all of those pink YoGo trucks you see everywhere, but instead it’s swirled into the actual yogurt from whatever you choose at the mix-in bar. Hopefully the prices are also a little more gentle than at the chain places.

Yesterday I noticed a  brand new awning for China 59 on what was more recently Hana on Nassau St. (btw. Maiden Lane & John). A look at the Chinese and Thai menus shows they haven’t really changed much except the name, and you can get all of the usual suspects in a lunch special for $8 or $9 which is at the higher end of what I consider an acceptable amount to pay for pad thai/sesame chicken/beef teriyaki. I’m always wary of places that serve more than one type of food, but I guess it’s one stop shopping for the indecisive eater.

It seems like we’ve been having a lot of coffee shops open in the Financial District lately with Blue Spoon Coffee Co. popping up last week and now R&R Coffee has appeared in the space that used to house Country Kebab at Fulton & Gold streets. I walked into R&R during lunchtime Monday but it appeared they’re only serving coffee right now as there was no food to be seen, but one would imagine they’ll have the usual breakfast pastries and maybe some sandwiches and soup. It’s nice to see something other than fast food open on this touristy strip of Fulton, and if you’ve checked it out weigh in in the comments!

You know how sometimes you wander out of the office to grab lunch without a game plan? I call these “random lunches” where I just end up getting food at a place that I’ve always wondered about but never had a reason to enter. Da Vinci Pizza is one of those places and based solely on its weathered exterior awning you know it’s either going to be a great NYC slice or a lunch you’ll later regret. After walking in on a hot and humid day, I was faced with a huge selection of slices, no line, and a trio of men waiting for me to make up my damn mind about what I wanted. After spotting a tasty looking square pie in the corner I decided an upside down slice was going to be lunch.

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Apologies to those who consider the Elevated Acre their little secret, but after checking it out yesterday it was too great a place to eat lunch to not share. One of my friends tipped me off to this raised park overlooking the water after her office moved way down to the bottom of the island and she was left searching for good places to eat lunch once the weather got warm. Think of it as our very own Highline, minus all of the tourists. Read more »

It’s easy to forget about Niko Niko on Wall (at Pearl) which has been a mainstay of cheap Japanese comfort food for years in the Financial District and is the closest thing we have to something like a Sunrise Mart. When Yushi opened a couple of blocks up Pearl St. I wondered how the two would compare, but I think Niko Niko has the edge on most things in the price department although I did really like Yushi’s rice bowls that have perhaps more inventive vegetable and protein options. Still, sometimes when the weather is super hot as it has been lately the thought of eating a big hot bowl of rice and meat sounds about as appealing as doing my taxes so that’s when either sushi or zaru soba comes in and I stopped by Niko Niko to check out their version of the latter.

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Tip of the hat to the intrepid Lunch’er who wrote in and said they had gone to Urban Lobster Shack on Stone St. only to find it no longer existed and there was a “For Rent” sign in the window of the door that led to the hallway of a shop. Indeed, when I investigated yesterday the only evidence that the purveyor of cheap lobster rolls ever existed was a tiny sign hanging from the scaffolding. I’m sure Luke’s Lobster opening a couple of blocks away didn’t exactly help business, but it’s still a little sad to not be able to get a lobster roll for less than $15 anymore.