Midtown Lunch

Is it good or bad when you swear out loud due to the size of the lunch served to you? This was the question I asked myself after unwrapping my sandwich from the Fried Chicken & More cart.

I’d first tried the cart’s namesake fried chicken after they started serving food at Park Place & W. Broadway in January. The chicken was reasonably good, and most of all, dirt cheap. Since that first taste, the cart has expanded its offerings by leaps and bounds with several kinds of fried chicken products (nuggets, popcorn, wings) on the menu alongside cheeseburgers, a fish sandwich, falafel, pizza rolls, biscuits and fries. Unless you only order a single piece of chicken, you are not likely to go away hungry here.

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Way back in the day – more than three years ago – my predecessor Kevin attempted to try Underground Pizza‘s jalapeno bacon slice, but got denied. While he did sample a worthy vodka slice, I had made a mental note to try this slice if I had a chance. That opportunity happened late last week, and I was sad I waited this long to try it.  Read more »

The collection of carts along the water outside the World Financial Center has been a mixed bag since they launched a couple of years ago with burgers, lobster rolls and tacos among the foods on offer. The choices have changed, as the food scene at the WFC has.

Now that the indoor food court is closed for renovations, the carts and food trucks that park outside daily have picked up the slack. I was surprised to see a crop of mostly new vendors among the carts alongside mainstay Quality Burger, among them hot dogs, tacos and rotisserie chicken. Check out my experiment with mixing a Moroccan sausage with Vietnamese sandwich toppings straight ahead!  Read more »

We’ve had many sandwich chains open shops in Downtown Lunch territory, including the much-hyped Potbelly, but Jersey Mike’s Subs rolled into Maiden Lane (at Gold) with little fanfare. The first sign they were coming wasn’t a press blitz, but a red awning going up a few paces from many other chain spots on the same block. A look at the menu online showed hot and cold subs, cheesesteaks and wraps – nothing to get too excited about. But some of you vouched for the fact that Jersey Mike’s was better than the Subways and Blimpies of this city.

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It’s not often you get a glowing e-mail about a turkey sandwich. That was the case last week when Lunch’er Chris wrote in to say that he had checked out the new location of Simit + Smith on Worth St. (btw. Broadway & Lafayette), and had a “phenomenal” turkey sandwich. A great turkey sandwich at a place specializing in the bagel-like Turkish simit? This needed an investigation!

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At this point, there are few Japanese spots we have not checked out in Downtown Lunch territory, save the ones that don’t have lunch specials below the $10 mark. One that I had walked by many times but not tried was Akimoto Sushi on Church St. (btw. Duane & Reade streets). A look at the lunch menu showed the usual bento boxes, donburi, noodles, fried rice and noodle dishes as well as maki rolls. On a warm day, sushi sounded good, but in the end I was a little disappointed.

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I’m a big fan of the falafel sandwiches at Nish Nush on Reade St. (at Church), but I hadn’t branched out to any of the platters yet. There are a few platter options including falafel, shakshuka and hummus either plain or with various toppings. I decided on one of the topped hummus options, and provided you get some extra pita, it was enough for more than one meal.

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