Midtown Lunch

I haven’t been into Hot Clay Oven, the healthy Indian fast food place on Maiden Lane (btw. Gold & Pearl) but I noticed the other day that in addition to chai tea they also sell a bunch of soups. The offerings include an Indian chicken chili and sweet potato shorba and since it’s a block closer to my office than the nearest Hale & Hearty I might be trying this on a cold day when I’m feeling lazy.

Places that do Asian fusion food often serve mediocre food since they have enormous menus bouncing around between Japanese, Thai and/or Chinese. Hana on Nassau St. is a place I’ve walked by many, many times but never thought to go inside due to the fact that they have three separate menus for each of these cuisines and I just don’t have the patience to decide what I would want off of these. That problem was solved for me though when a handwritten sign appeared in the window one day promoting beef stew specials. I wasn’t exactly sure what an Asian place would do with this staple of my childhood, but I wanted to find out.

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Earlier this year I checked out Sabor de Mexico on Trinity Place (at Thames) back when it was Caliente Mexican Grill. I’m not sure why they changed the name, but they were serving a decent burrito and some Americanized tacos at a price comparable to their closest comparison, Chipotle. I was mostly impressed by the fact that the sauces and everything seemed to be made from scratch although I could be wrong about that. Since I never went back after that initial visit I figured I would check in and see if they’d added anything to the menu and if the quality had changed (it did).

My test of this was ordering fajitas ($7.95) and what I got wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but it did lead me to discover that they are cooking up some fine meats.

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A couple of weeks ago we reported that kosher food hall Milk Street Cafe on Wall St. (nr. William) was on the verge of closing after a sharp decline in people eating there, and now it looks like that’s becoming a reality. They’ll close the doors for good after today. There was a whole lot of fanfare when the place opened in June, giving those who keep kosher a place where they could actually sit and eat lunch and didn’t only sell falafel. In the months since then the presence of barricades has increased on the street outside the restaurant due to Occupy Wall St., and Milk Street’s owner said that was the main reason for a 30% drop in business. Now the massive space will be empty, and hopefully not filled by some terrible chain restaurant. I only ate at Milk Street once when it opened, but were any of you regular customers who are going to miss this place?

While walking down Water St. a couple of weeks ago I spotted an A-Pou’s Taste cart on the east side of Water St. between Maiden Lane & Pine. When I asked if they were there permanently, the girl working inside told me they were trying the spot out and it must be a good location because they were still there on Friday. At first I thought the cart on Liberty (at Broadway) had just moved, but that one is still there so those of you in the cart wasteland over on Water St., go get yourselves some Taiwanese dumplings or cheap soups!

It’s the time of year when grabbing lunch from a cart or truck sounds less appealing, and sitting somewhere with plentiful seating starts to sound better and better. The problem with that is you can easily top $10 once you factor in tip and maybe a drink (or two). When I saw that The Growler Bites & Brews – the latest alcoholic addition to Stone St. – was now serving food I rounded up a friend and headed over. If you’re looking for a fancy hot dog or sausage served to you by some chatty bartenders, then this is a good lunch spot.

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I was not expecting the new Kortako (Tagline: “It’s Tako! not Taco…”) on Nassau (btw. John & Fulton) to be so uncrowded on opening day, but it was probably a good thing since the place is essentially a long hallway. The space is extremely narrow and since you have to order from the end of the counter farthest from the entrance, you’re left smooshing yourself up against the wall behind people who are ordering/paying. That being said, I had studied the menu beforehand and decided what carby delivery vehicle I wanted my Korean/Mexican fusion food to come in, and you can see the burrito with two types of kimchi that I ended up with straight ahead.  Read more »