Midtown Lunch

Today Roti Mediterranean Grill officially opens at the corner of Pearl St. & Cedar in the Financial District (their Web site says at 10:30 a.m.), but myself and many other Lunch’ers got a sneak preview on Friday when they were doing staff training.

There was an intimidating line out the door, but it went really quickly which bodes well for opening day. But what about the food? If you want meat and carbs, and to eat somewhat healthy food, you might want to check this place out.  Read more »

Have you ever thought, “I wonder what my pizza would taste like on a puff pastry base?” Well, wonder no more, because Bravo Pizza on Trinity Place (nr. Exchange Alley) has you covered with its malawach pie.

We’ve seen our share of types of pizza in this city, but the kosher spot doesn’t seem to be flaunting its flaky take on the Italian standby.

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In addition to steam table lunches, Bombay’s on Pearl St. (btw. Coenties Slip & Broad) offers a few other items that aren’t commonly seen at competing spots like Diwan E Khaas.

They sells good kati rolls, and also a couple of Indian snacks. And then there’s the Indian fried chicken on the menu. I’d been curious about it, and decided to bite the bullet and see how this fried chicken was anything like Korean fried chicken or just the regular sort.

It turns out it’s a mash up, and one you might want to try if you’re into fried poultry in all its forms.  Read more »

If you tried to eat at Dumpling House on Liberty Place (btw. Liberty St. & Maiden Lane) Monday, you may have been in for a surprise as it’s not only closed, and turning into something different.

The space is becoming A La Saigon and will be serving Vietnamese food, which I for one am pretty happy about. With the exception of Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches, the Banh Mi cart and Baoguette, we don’t have much in the way of Vietnamese specialties in the Financial District. And really, Dumpling House wasn’t anything special, so fingers crossed that the reincarnation will be an improvement.

Update: This place opened up the day after this post. Expect a review in short order.

The couple of times I’ve written about Baba Ghanouge (Multiple Locations), I’ve somehow gotten items with chicken – in a sandwich with fries and in man-ushi form – and never tried the falafel or other vegetarian items.

If you’re not in the know, this place has a falafel sandwich for just over $4. Yes, it’s utilitarian and doesn’t involve hummus or anything, but for $4 no one should complain. You can barely get the same thing at a street cart for that amount of money in the Financial District!

But is their bargain falafel any good? I’m here to tell you that it is, and they don’t skimp on your sandwich either.

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If you’re not sick of big, meaty sandwiches for lunch, then you may like to know that Shorty’s opened its shop selling Philly cheesesteaks among other things on Pearl St. between Coenties Slip & Broad earlier this week. This is another branch of the purveyor’s shop and bar in Midtown, and they also have a food truck that I’ve somehow never managed to eat at. I’m not going to lie – sometimes I can’t handle the food coma in a bun that is a cheesesteak for lunch.

Frequent commenter and tipster dbdtron did the dirty work…er, eating on opening day and wrote in with a short and sweet take on what he got from the downstairs takeout portion of the place. Find out what he has to say, straight ahead!  Read more »

The Luckyim Thai cart had a rough past couple of weeks. They, along with at least four other carts, were ousted from their spot on Liberty St. at Broadway by the installation of a Citi Bike rack. After a day or two, three of the carts moved around the corner to Nassau St. (btw. Liberty & Cedar), and I decided to go try another dish from Luckyim Thai.

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