Midtown Lunch

I got really excited when I discovered the walk up window at Koko Asian Fusion on Greenwich (btw. Carlisle & Albany) where you could get quality General Tso’s chicken at a rock bottom price. When I walked by recently I noticed they’ve changed things up and are offering a different special over rice for $5.95 at the window every day. If you like restaurant quality Americanized Chinese or Thai food on the cheap, this is the place to get it.

When I last ate at Oriental Express on Cedar St. (btw. William & Pearl) I went straight for the buffet rather than dealing with the crowd of people at the back counter where you get things from a steam table or order off the menu and have something cooked to order. There were some hits and misses with the buffet but it became pretty clear that if it’s junky Chinese food you want, it’s probably best to just order from the menu rather than grabbing little bits of things and worrying about how much rice you can afford to pile on. The good thing about the huge mass of people in the back is that even the food on the steam table won’t be sitting around for long.

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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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After Win Won was shuttered by the Department of Health, the space in that weird alley-like Liberty Place (btw. Liberty St. & Maiden Lane) sat empty for a little while until one day it suddenty turned into Dumpling House. Since this is pretty close to where I work I was excited that perhaps we had something comparable to Prosperity Dumpling or Vanessa’s in the Financial District. A look at the menu was distressing since that item was relegated to the appetizer section. One day I stopped in to check out the dumplings and what I found wasn’t pretty.

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I’m not quite sure why more restaurants don’t have windows selling one item, such as Luke’s Lobster‘s lobster roll express window, and the one I spotted the other day outside Koko on Greenwich St. (btw. Carlisle & Albany). Nearly everything on the lunch menu at this Asian fusion place is priced at or over the $10 limit (OK, there are a few items for $9.50, but who’s going to pay that for chicken & broccoli?). If you’re not choosy, you can get one specific Americanized Chinese item for half price – but you have to order it while standing on the sidewalk.

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My first experience with the Chinese food at Goodies on Fulton St. (at Gold) was a great one so when the craving for noodle soup hit the other day I knew exactly where I was going. The hard part once I got there was deciding which kind to get, and then whether to get noodles or rice cakes in it. Thankfully the woman who’s always manning the tiny dining room had some time on her hands as the place was empty due to the torrential rain outside. When asked, she confirmed that this is indeed the same Goodies that used to be in Chinatown and based upon my second go-round with their food it’s definitely our gain.

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Those of you who were fans of Win Won , the DOH-shuttered Chinese greasy-spoon on Liberty Place (btw. Liberty St. & Maiden Lane) take note – it’s reopened as the fancy-fonted Dumpling House. The menu isn’t all that different or exciting although the good news is they have four different kinds of dumplings. The bad news is that they’re six for $6 – kind of lame for a place with dumpling in its name. Otherwise there is roast pork and duck listed under the appetizer section, and the usual standbys lumped into a lunch special with white or brown rice and a drink or soup for $8. I guess it’s too much to ask for a 5 for $1 dumpling place in the Financial District?