Midtown Lunch

I’ve been missing the somewhat authentic Chinese food found at Goodies and not too excited to try out its replacement, Asian Wok, located in the same spot in the little mall at Fulton St. & Gold. A glance at the menu showed one of the cheaper lunch combos I’ve seen at $6.95 for an entree and rice, along with your choice of soup or egg roll. And the quality turned out to be better than what I’ve gotten at other Chinese places downtown.

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There are a few long-running food trucks in this city that have somehow managed to never be reviewed by Downtown Lunch, either because of infrequently parking down here or never tweeting their location (or doing it two hours after most people eat lunch). Bian Dang is truck that we’ve not written about, although we did check out their offshoot Fun Buns cart when it debuted last year. The truck’s been parking in the Financial District occasionally again after most trucks were unable or unwilling to come down here due to disaster recovery vehicles and equipment everywhere, coupled with a lower supply of office workers.

This is really the perfect time of year to eat some Taiwanese comfort food, so I was more than happy to pay the truck a visit when they were parked on Water St. earlier this week.

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It seems like just yesterday that a tip came that the old Backyard Chicken space at John St. & Pearl was turning into another Mooncake Foods which already exists downtown in Soho. Then just like that, the doors were open for business yesterday at lunch. And I’d have to say – especially with similar places like OBAO and nearby BonChon on John temporarily down for the count due to the hurricane and a fire respectively, this is a welcome addition to the lunch scene in the Financial District. Read more »

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with L&L Hawaiian BBQ on Fulton St. (at Gold), one of the city’s only sources of greasy, carby Hawaiian plate lunch and Span musubi. They were closed by the Department of Health last fall, and then reopened, but I’ve got to say I’ve been a little afraid of returning for another lunch. I may have to though because they now have a $5.99/pound Chinese buffet Chinese food steam table (not by-the-pound, upon further investigation). I think in place of the sushi bar that used to be up front. This price point is on par with Yip’s a couple of blocks away on William St. so there’s a little competition brewing.

L&L Hawaiian BBQ, 64 Fulton St. (at Gold), (212) 577-8888

There are days when you want a turkey sandwich because you’re trying to be healthy, and there are others when you just need a big, cheap helping of Americanized Chinese food. New Golden Chopsticks is one of the only remaining hole-in-the-wall Chinese spots in the Financial District that we haven’t written about. It’s nestled next to Terrace Fish & Chip off of Pearl St. and I can say it’s one of the better crappy Chinese food lunches I’ve had in a while, and I didn’t even get a gratis egg roll or watery cup of soup with it.

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Sometimes it’s a Chinese noodle soup kind of day – as yesterday with it’s clouds and rain was – and it gave me an excuse to check out one of the impressive roster of noodle soups at Ho Yip on Liberty St. (at Trinity Pl.). Yip’s seems to get all of the cheap Chinese noodle soup glory in the Financial District with its two locations, but Ho Yip’s selection blows theirs out of the water. I haven’t sampled the noodle soups from every Chinese hole-in-the-wall in the FiDi, but Ho Yip served me a version with some fabulous wontons.

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Don’t get me wrong, I love a good plate of chicken over rice with ample hot sauce and white sauce, but sometimes you want something different. That’s why I was intrigued when A-Pou’s Taste Cart at Liberty St. & Broadway started serving a special of basil chicken with white rice, adding to their strong lineup of Taiwanese potstickers and Chinese spaghetti. I’ve basically loved everything I’ve ever gotten from this cart (plus the woman who works there is super nice), and it’s so nice to have an alternative to the halal cart overload happening on the Liberty Plaza. But would basil chicken from a cart be any good? Could it surpass the potstickers?

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