Midtown Lunch

It seems like it’s been awhile since a lunch spot like French Cafe Gourmand has opened in the Financial District – as in a place that’s not a chain or a new branch of a chain. No, this cafe on Maiden Lane (btw. B’way & Nassau) is run by actual French people and they sell a small selection of items including coffee, soup, salads, sandwiches and some French pastries and baked goods. When I went in to check it out, I could almost for five seconds imagine that I was somewhere else but Manhattan (or at least in cafe-heavy Tribeca or Soho).

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There are a lot of trucks selling Korean food fused with other cuisines like tacos, sliders and even falafel, so it was kind of refreshing when I looked at the menu at the Bob & Jo truck and saw that it was pretty straightforward. Yes, there are baguette sandwiches but otherwise you’ll find rice platters, bibimbap and japchae with traditional meats or vegetables. They’ve only recently been parking in the Financial District one day a week, usually on Tuesday at Coenties Slip & Water, with occasional forays into Soho but Midtown contributors have already extensively sampled the menu and since it looked pretty good I decided to give the truck an ML: Downtown review.

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This week marks two years since I’ve started writing  for you fine people on Midtown Lunch: Downtown and I thought it might be fun to tell you about some non-review lunches that I’ve eaten on a regular basis since I started working in the Financial District but haven’t ever written about. I’m saving my most shameful guilty pleasure lunch for the end of the week, but today you get the lunch that I’ve probably eaten the most when I’m crunched for time or can’t think of anything else imaginative to stuff in my face. That would be the catfish banh mi from Baoguette, extra spicy.

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The moment I stepped into Parisi Bakery on Mott St. (btw. Kenmare & Spring), I knew whatever sandwich I decided to get, it was going to be good. The line was out the door when I got there, reminding me of equally tiny and popular Italian sandwich shop Alidoro. Also refreshing in this neighborhood of trendy cafes: The guys making sandwiches were middle-aged and definitely not wearing skinny jeans. Based on the sandwich I ordered, I can say the wait in the lunch-rush line is worth it.

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I’m sure many of you are familiar with the Bian Dang truck that’s been serving up Taiwanese pork chop and fried chicken over rice since 2009 when it was called NYC Cravings. Well, just yesterday I saw on Twitter (are you following us, by the way?) that the truck had launched a cart called Fun Buns selling steamed pork buns, and only steamed pork buns. And then I happened upon the cart at the corner of Broad & Stone St. as I was looking for lunch! I took that as a sign that I should have pork buns for lunch, and it turns out they’re getting their sea legs in the Financial District.

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I have a bunch of places on a literal “to eat” list and Greek restaurant Snack on Thompson (btw. Spring & Prince) is near the top of that list, as it’s been on there almost since the beginning of my taking over as editor of ML Downtown. More than one Profiled Lunch’er has mentioned how delicious their lamb sandwich is, but its $10 price tag and the fact that there was always some new food truck spawning kept making me forget about it. Well, you’ll be happy to know that I finally made it up to Soho to review this sandwich, and due to my procrastination it’s now out of the ML price range.

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With warm weather making guest appearances off and on lately, I’ve had lobster rolls on the brain and we are lucky to have more than one option for those in the Financial District. A few weeks ago I attended the Village Voice’s Choice Eats event and eating shrimp rolls from Luke’s Lobster and Red Hook Lobster Pound reminded me that these things are delicious and also, why have I not written about the one from Luke’s on this on the site yet? Also a fact: Luke’s Lobster’s shrimp roll is the only non-soup item on the menu for less than $10. Read more »