Midtown Lunch

I am sick.  Sick as defined by Nyquil (I’m not getting any money from these people, but I love this shit), that is with sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, and fever.  I did not want to come to work, but deadlines were looming overhead and duty called.  So when lunch rolled around, I was looking for something that was gonna make me feel better.  Normal people might think chicken soup, but for whatever reason, not me.  Nope, my first thought was “I need to get me something spicy, something hot, something that’s going to make me forget that I’m sick.”  So stumbling down the street I saw Soma By Nature [sic] on William Street, a Korean/Japanese place I’ve been to a couple times, and couldn’t help but wander inside to see what they had to burn my face off.

Walking through the door,  meandering over to the counter, there were, of course, more than a few choices.  The menu board out front was pushing $6 specials which I might go for on another day and the menu inside really wanted me to try their bimibap, but today I felt the need for something a little more hearty.  Amid the bulgogi and soba options, Kimchi Stew jumped out at me and I went ahead and ordered it.  Given the option of either pork or vegetable, naturally I chose pork.  After a solid 10 minute wait, the lady who had taken my order came around the corner with my tray of steaming Kimchi Stew and a small bowl of rice.  This looked like just what the doctor ordered.

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I feel like there’s a shortage of good, greasy Chinese food in the Financial District.  The only one ever covered here on Midtown Lunch: Downtown NYC was Yip’s, written up by my partner in crime Kevin.  And with Chinatown so close, there probably isn’t much of a need for a lot of these kinds of restaurants, but that doesn’t make the walk or subway ride up to Chinatown any more enjoyable.  Sometimes you want Chinese food and you want it now.  That’s when I head to Win Won.

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As Zach pointed out to me, I’ve been on a bit of a hoity-toity binge lately. Pricey burgers, fancy cafes. I’m worried I’m going to start losing some Lunch’er cred soon. Fortunately, Chris has been keeping us on the right track with tasty pizza and cart food, and I promise to do some real bargain-hunting for next week.

In the meantime, though I returned to Swich the other day and found a cheap and wonderful surprise tucked away on the Sides section of their menu: For $2.50 you can get a heaping container of israeli couscous with herbs and cranberries. It’s not big enough to be lunch on its own, but it’s the perfect thing when that bacon-jalapeno slice doesn’t quite sate you.

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Seth talked last week about how downtown dining is all about location, location, location. We may not have the variety of midtown, but we boast loads of places to eat that are pleasant places to be as well.

Kiva Cafe on Reade Street is just such a place, and the food is terrific to boot. Kathy over on Serious Eats tipped me off to Kiva’s $8.50 soup and sandwich deal, and her picture was so enticing that my friend Gigi and I went the next day. The food was just as excellent as I had hoped, and the cozy feel and super-friendly staff make this a place I’ll be returning to often.

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Thinking about writing this post, I spent a long time trying to come up with some excuses for the prices at Zaitzeff on the corner of Nassau and John: They use high-quality beef, they make all the sandwiches and fries to order, they’re sitting on prime real estate, etc. But I realized that the fact that I want to excuse them might just be endorsement enough.

I love this place. I wish I could get a burger and fries and a drink for my $10, but I can’t. I still love it. I also–and I’d loved to be proven wrong–can’t find a better burger in the area.

The meat they use is terrific, a burger ordered medium rare is actually cooked medium rare, and the fries–even though they’ll put your lunch well over $10– are awesome in both their regular and sweet potato varieties. We could argue until the cows come home (to be grilled) about whether this burger is “worth” the price, but I for one keep going back. Quod est demonstrandum, if you ask me.

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Today was going to mark Midtown Lunch: Downtown NYC’s first foray into Chinatown, but for that occasion we wanted to make it special.  At first we thought flowers or balloons, but that seemed so cliche.  Then we thought about getting you a kitten, but buying someone an unexpected pet is never a good idea in NYC.  Finally, we decided on the perfect surprise, something we knew would make your eyes light up and maybe even cause you to shed a tear of joy.  Unfortunately, the surprise isn’t quite ready.  But it will be.  And soon.

In the mean time, let me take you on a little stroll down New Street to the aptly named Grotto.  Located in the basement at 69 New Street, the restaurant is fairly dungeon-esque with no windows, no natural light to speak of, but thankfully a pretty good ventilation system.  Not that you’ll want to inhale anything other than the heavenly aromas emanating from the ovens.  These guys are taking pizza to unseen levels as far as New York pizza is concerned, with spicy buffalo chicken, chicken parm, and bacon jalapeno pizzas.

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