Midtown Lunch

When plans to check out a food cart went awry the other day I was left in need of a lunch in West Soho. That was when a sign outside the pedestrian-looking Jazzy’s Deli at Varick & Charlton streets lured me in. This otherwise generic deli offers specialties like bibimbop and bulgogi, but also, the more rare Korean-style fried chicken. Surprisingly, the meaty wings and drumsticks were better than I though they would be.  Read more »

The area of the Financial District to the west of Broadway is sometimes lacking in diverse lunch options. To my surprise, I noticed the menu of Cafe de Novo on Greenwich St. (at Rector) had a Korean food section. There are other delis that serve Korean food, most notably Cafe Hanover, but this one is in an area frequented by tourists and construction workers from the World Trade Center. The fact that there was a Korean man working behind the counter gave me hope that this could be good.

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For the past couple of years, I’ve really been wanting to try out the angus burger at Bon Chon on John St. (at Cliff). Then the place nearly burned down and they were closed for a time earlier this year. Thankfully, they’ve reopened with the same menu, and I could fulfill my need for a burger topped with kimchi and an onion ring.  Read more »

I wasn’t sure what to think when I got an e-mail from Luncher Rajeev a few weeks ago telling of a new cart called Gangnam Style on Chambers St. (btw. Greenwich & West). I figured it was some young upstarts looking to capitalize on the popularity of a song that will not be mentioned here for fear of it being stuck in all our heads for two hours. It is the second  Korean food option in Downtown Lunch boundaries named for that song.

It turns out a name can be deceiving, and Gangnam Style is not an annoying marketing tool for mediocre food, but churning out some great Korean meats served by a nice couple, at prices that are hard to beat.  Read more »

Korean food kiosk Koki & Vegi has been going strong for a couple of years, serving office workers and tourists alike at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.

 Apparently we haven’t visited Koki & Vegi since 2011, so I walked over on a nice day to see if they’d made any changes to the menu. It turns out they have – adding fruit juices and smoothies along with teriyaki chicken and a hot dog that appears to be topped with bulgogi.

Since I’d previously focused on the beefy items, I went for the spicy chicken on this visit and it did not disappoint.

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Last week featured a lunch experience I’d never had before – one that felt a little bit illicit, as I was handed Korean food made in some kitchen behind an anonymous door in the Yorganic frozen yogurt shop on Hanover Sq. (btw. Beaver & Pearl). Some of you may have already discovered this underground source of legit Korean food called Gangnam, but if you haven’t, here’s the primer on how to get your hands on some.

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Last week I wasn’t feeling so great, and come lunch time visions of noodle soup were dancing in my head. Ramen was the first thing to come to mind, but there aren’t many great options down here that didn’t require me to walk many blocks on a cold day. Instead, I honed in on good old reliable Soma by Nature on William St. (btw. John & Fulton) with every intention of trying their ramen or udon soup, but then I saw something called dumpling rice cake soup which was described as “dumpling rice cake, drop egg in beef stock.” I had no idea what this meant, but I ordered myself some and prepared to find out.

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