Midtown Lunch

First things first: Pakistan Tea House is up to a B rating from the Department of Health! The Pakistani standby on Church St. (at Reade) was saddled with the dreaded C the last time I ate there, not that I care about such things when there is a cheap, quality steam table lunch at hand.

I was here to try their three-item vegetarian combo, which we’ve somehow not reviewed on this site, instead focusing on the chicken dishes. They have several vegetarian items on offer every day and while none of them were labeled, I found that pointing and asking “What’s that?” worked just fine. I ended up with two hits and a miss using this system.

Read more »

Winter weather doesn’t exactly lend itself to standing outside near the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge ordering Mexican food. That being said, Nixtamalito on the south side of 1 Centre St. is still going strong in this winter weather (and you can order online if you don’t want to venture out) and I had the craving for something meaty and saucy. While the mole was just fine, the enchiladas verdes surprised me with how delicious and spicy they were. This is just the dish to warm you up in single-digit temperatures.  Read more »

In case you haven’t noticed, an annoying thing called the Polar Vortex has made walking outside to grab lunch an exercise in quickness and finding something warm to eat. The other day a craving for chili hit, and there aren’t too many places that regularly carry this specific dish. Then it dawned on me that Potbelly, of which there are four locations downtown, had chili on its menu every day and I had never tried it. While I may not flip my lid for their sandwiches, the chili is delicious.

Read more »

I know that paying more than, say, $7 for a banh mi is painful. I also know that I do not regret the amount of money I spent on the soft shell shrimp banh mi at Khe-Yo on Duane St. (near W. Broadway), and you probably won’t either. Read more »

I hadn’t visited Jersey Mike’s Subs since they opened their first New York City location on Maiden Lane (btw. William & Pearl) last July. That initial visit showed they did a good job with sub sandwiches at a cheaper price than nearby Dave’s Hoagies. An overlooked part of the menu is the breakfast sandwiches, which are available all day and are cheap. One of the items on that menu involves Trenton pork roll, eggs and cheese and it is worth your stomach space.  Read more »

Eateries serving Mexican food alongside Chinese food are fairly plentiful in the city, with at least a couple within Downtown Lunch boundaries. One of those is called New Fresco Tortillas III on Reade St. (btw. Broadway & Church) and it’s just out of the way enough that if you don’t know it’s there, you’d miss it. There aren’t too many hole-in-the-wall Chinese spots left in Tribeca, with China Red on Chambers St. perhaps the most visible. I’m happy I didn’t walk right by New Fresco because I got served some of the finest Americanized Chinese food I’ve had in recent memory at a cheap price. Win win!  Read more »

So far in 2014 I haven’t eaten a lunch that made me super excited to write about it. That all changed on Wednesday when my original lunch idea fell through and I impulsively stopped by Veronica’s Kitchen cart because their roti has been on my “to eat” list for ages. Yes, we’ve sampled the jerk chicken before, but let me tell you, it’s superb in roti form and you get a huge amount of food for a mere $6.  Read more »