Midtown Lunch

A while back, Bongo Brothers renamed its truck the Miami Food Machine and got a totally different look. The previous incarnation was all meat, all the time, in the form of sandwiches, a burger and plates with rice and beans.

Plates with rice and beans are still on offer, but now you can get sliders and tacos and there’s tofu on the menu. I decided to try some Cuban fusion tacos (in your face Korean fusion!).  Read more »

The pernil and other meaty products from Sophie’s Cuban (Multiple Locations) get most of the attention, but they also offer a few seafood options on their daily menu, and a couple of special dishes on Fridays. If you want to get lunch for less than $10, the fried fish special will not only fill you up, but it’s pretty good if you make one important addition.

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There aren’t a lot of Latin food options in Soho or Nolita other than La Nueva Conquista on Lafayette and a couple others in areas in the outer reaches of the neighborhood. If you want to sit down and eat your Cubano in a restaurant for less than $10, the options are even more grim, and Cafe Habana on Prince St. (at Elizabeth) offers that with prices that are gentler than most eateries in this area. In addition to the sit down part of the cafe, there’s the Habana To Go takeout shop next door on Elizabeth St. which you will probably not want to linger in since it’s not air conditioned, but it’s good for grabbing a sandwich or burrito and eating on a bench out front or somewhere that’s not 90 degrees.

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I can’t say I’ve ever actively searched for a way to combine chorizo and ground beef into one delicious lunch, but when I saw the frita on the menu at the Bongo Brothers truck (which is at Old Slip & Water today), I knew it must be mine. This monster melds those two types of meat into a patty, and showers them with those shoestring potatoes that come in a can and sauteed onions and then adds some ketchup so you don’t have to. This all sounded marvelous, but how would it taste? Was this going to be too much meaty goodness to handle?

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A couple of weeks ago the Bongo Brothers truck deviated from its normal parking spots in the Flatiron and other areas and came down to the Financial District. Now it seems they’re parking down here once a week so I thought I’d go try some of their food since we’re not exactly brimming with Cuban options, mobile or not. In fact, ever since the Qba Cuban Kitchen truck went back to New Jersey permanently, we’ve had to make do with Sophie’s or the odd generic deli that sells pernil. While I’m no Cuban food expert, I was pretty happy I went out of my way to eat here.  Read more »