Midtown Lunch

Some possible good news for all of you fans of Caribbean food: R. Retha’s Cart is reportedly back at its spot on Beaver St. at S. William. We got word from reader “Broadway luncher” yesterday that the cart, which was formerly the Jamaican Dutchy transplanted from Midtown – was spotted back in its old spot after an extended absence starting in the summer of 2012, and temporary replacement by a random street meat cart. I’d noticed the spot was completely empty a couple of weeks ago, so it’s good to hear R. Retha’s came back to claim it.

It’s not often the starch is the star of the show at lunch time, but that’s what I found when getting one of the mini meals at the Trinidad & Tobago cart on Whitehall (btw. Bridge & Pearl). The cart has stayed in its regular spot despite the fact that many office buildings in the area are not open. Nio’s Trinidad Roti truck has started parking up Whitehall St. across from the Bowling Green subway station, but the cart drew me to it with a shorter line and promise of stew chicken.

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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 you’re in search of something to tide you over until dinner, or maybe you just don’t want to eat a giant roti for lunch. In that case, might I suggest a double from Nio’s Trinidad Roti truck? At $2 it’s an economical choice and you’ll get one handed to you in swift fashion with the only question whether you want it spicy or not.

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Last week, we at Midtown Lunch: Downtown got a tip that Nio’s Trinidad Roti truck was parked directly in front of Veronica’s Kitchen cart on Water between Maiden Lane & Pine. I went in search of the truck on Monday in the rain and when I didn’t see it parked in that spot, I turned around to see what the situation was at Veronica’s, only to find that the cart was MIA and Nio’s had taken their regular spot on Front St. My brain screamed “WHAT?!,” but I calmed down enough to realize that maybe Veronica’s wasn’t out that day because of the non-stop rain. So I stepped up to the window at Nio’s, feeling like I was betraying an old friend, and ordered some lunch.

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A Lunch’er alerted me to a little Caribbean turf war that happened yesterday when Nio’s Trinidad Roti truck park on Water St. near Pine, right in front of the plaza where Veronica’s Kitchen cart has sat for years on Front St. The menus looked somewhat similar with various meats served with peas and rice, along with roti (there weren’t prices posted, so no idea if they’re comparable). A search of the Web shows that Nio’s parked down on Front St. for many years serving three kinds of roti and doubles alongside the meat and rice dishes. The truck appears to be a mobile version of a brick and mortar roti shop on Church Ave. in Brooklyn. Did any of you eat at the truck yesterday or when it used to be down in the Financial District ages ago?

As you’re probably aware there are two carts serving West Indian food in the FiDi. I knew about both Veronica’s Kitchen and Trinidad & Tobago carts before I became editor of this site but I hadn’t ever eaten at them. Why? Well, I live in a neighborhood where for a long time the only food options other than crappy Chinese were Caribbean places. My very first meal after moving to NYC and unloading all of my belongings was at a West Indian takeout place. So I guess I figured since I could get this food any time I didn’t need to stuff my face with it at lunch. Then the other day I really wanted roti come lunchtime for some reason I can’t explain, and it was a toss up which cart to get this from. Veronica’s has already been written up a couple of times on this site so instead I headed way down to the T&T cart on Whitehall St. (btw. Bridge & Pearl) to see how Ms. Shirley’s roti stacked up.

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