Midtown Lunch

There’s been a lot of work going on behind a huge black plywood wall on the corner of Fulton & Nassau for a few months now – since shortly after the demise of Terrace Fish & Chip. I’d been monitoring it since I was pretty sure it was going to be a restaurant of some sort, and according to a Twitter post yesterday from someone who peeked behind plywood, it’s another location of Financier Patisserie. There’s no visible signage up, but if you look at the top of the picture there is a nice greenish-yellow paint job and some black lamps which seems very Financier to me. If it’s true, this would be the third location in the Financial District. Update: There’s now a sign up saying the store opens on July 7. Maybe there will be free food involved…

That giant kosher place Milk Street Cafe that popped up in the old Mangia space on Wall St. (at William) nearly a year ago is opening its doors tomorrow. They’re having a ceremony and giving out free cookies and coffee from 10 to 11 a.m. and will be open for lunch afterward. Regular hours are 6:30 a.m. until 9 p.m. except for Fridays when they close at 3:30 p.m. Based on a press preview a couple of weeks ago it looks way better than most generic delis down here and should be a great destination for all you vegetarians out there.

As frequent readers may have noticed I don’t often get sushi for lunch, not because I don’t like it, but because getting a bento box or something else at downtown Japanese places nearly always seems like a better value to me. Now that the weather has gotten more hot and humid sushi has started sounding better than a hot bowl of rice and meat. That’s how I ended up at Sushi A La Kawa on Maiden Lane (btw. Nassau & Broadway) because I work nearby and saw they have a pretty great maki lunch special, and better yet, the rolls haven’t been festering in a refrigerated case waiting for someone to buy them.

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At first when I spotted the Taco Mexicanos truck on Maiden Lane (at Water) last week, I was excited for their tamales and tacos since I love both of those items. Then I started thinking about the fact that they had something that other places in the Financial District didn’t: Ecuadorian food. That’s right, they have hornado, encebellado, guatita and the favorite of late-night drinkers everywhere, salchipapas, aka hot dogs and french fries. After asking what all they had for the day, and what was recommended from the Equadorian offerings, I was steered in the direction of the hornado ($7) after being asked how hungry I was. Check it out in all its porky glory after the jump. Read more »

When the Jamaican Dutchy cart migrated down to the Financial District from midtown I was a little surprised because this neighborhood used to be a lunch dead zone. That’s changed and we now can boast three Caribbean carts serving roti and various meats over rice and peas. And judging by the lines, those working in the land of chain lunch spots are happy to have another cart option. I stopped by to try their jerk chicken, which I think is a good measure of any Jamaican cart. Read more »

It’s not every day that we fully endorse shelling out $17 (plus tax) for a lunch that may or may not fill you up, but if you like seafood-filled buttered hot dog buns at all you’re going to want to check out Luke’s Lobster. The shop opened on S. William St. (btw. Hanover Sq. & Broad) on Friday, joining two other locations in the city and the just-launched truck. Brian had absolutely raved about the lunch he had when the truck stopped in midtown, so I was excited.

There was a line when I got there for a later lunch but it had mostly died down by 2 p.m. It helped that they have a lobster roll express window where they only sell that one item. For everything else you have to step inside the small nautical themed shop, and that’s what me and a co-luncher did. Plenty of butter and seafood-straight ahead… Read more »

A couple of days ago a post in the forums about a sighting of the Jamaican Dutchy cart on William St. (at Beaver) caught my eye. I didn’t have time to go investigate, but I didn’t have to because yesterday the midtown site confirmed that yes, the cart had moved downtown, but you may recognize it by the sign for “R. Retha’s” and the Jamaican flag waving above. There was a huge line when I walked by yesterday so it seems you guys didn’t need my help in sniffing this one out. As you can see, they have all of the good stuff but I’m interested in how it stacks up against old-timers Veronica’s Kitchen and the Trinidad & Tobago cart.