Midtown Lunch

After a streak of offering nothing but Taiwanese potstickers, the A-Pou’s Taste cart at Liberty St. & Broadway has been on something of a streak of adding non-dumpling dishes to the menu. Not that any of us got sick of those delicious, crisp-bottomed dumplings, but maybe they got sick of cooking nothing but them?

To my surprise, when I stopped by the other day to investigate a sign announcing a new chicken curry dish, there were two Indian men working at the cart instead of a tiny Taiwanese woman. The man – who informed me he was Bangladeshi – got super excited when I ordered the chicken curry, proclaiming it his favorite dish. It turns out he should be proud of this Indian curry served alongside Taiwanese dumplings and Chinese spaghetti.  Read more »

It’s been a couple of years since I stepped into Downtown Deli on Church St. (nr. Park Place) in order to try their reuben on a recommendation from a luncher. I was thwarted when they were out of the proper meats and instead had a thoroughly OK brisket sandwich with gravy.

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Some of you have wondered in the comments how some of the other offerings at Blue Spoon Coffee are, and I’ve forgotten to investigate. The second location at William & Platt (the original’s on Chambers btw. Broadway & Church) has been my go-to for a cup of coffee or breakfast goods when I’m strapped for time, and it seems they either make everything themselves or source the food from good purveyors in the city.

I really like the vegetarian sandwich I got there after the FiDi location opened, and this time, on a cold and windy day, I went for one of the three soups they have on rotation each day.  Read more »

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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Whenever I walk by the Halal Gyro Express cart at William St. & Maiden Lane, there’s a line of people, and that’s because they are great at what they do.

In fact, as I visited on a recent day to try their chicken kofta (we’ll get to that in a minute), the man in line in front of me asked what the difference between the chicken tikka and the regular chicken over rice was. He got a pretty long answer which boiled down to the chicken tikka being white breast meat, and grilled to order “so it stays juicy” while the regular chicken is pre-cooked on the flat top and made from hacked up dark and white meat chicken.

There is a third poultry offering at this cart in the form of a kofta kebab, and how often do you see a non-lamb version of this dish? They pre-cook and then chop up and grill the kebab for a couple of minutes. Yes, you’re going to want to try this.

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The opening day of Go Go Curry on John St. (btw. Nassau & Broadway), the Japanese chain with more than 50 locations world wide, was a bit of a mess. I discovered when I got in line that they weren’t doing take out on Monday and you could only get the 55 cent deal if you had a good hour to wait to eat in the small space that has only a few tables and a counter along one wall. Instead, I went back on Tuesday when you could get your food to go, and to my surprise found you could get any medium size curry for $5 – a special running through Feb. 28. The staff was still working out some kinks, with a wait of about 20 minutes for food and a cash only policy, but after I finally got to eat my pork katsu curry, it was totally worth the confusion and waiting.  Read more »

There are many options for a cheese steak in the Financial District: Delis, street meat carts, the Dominic’s Truck on Whitehall St. and the occasional visit from the Phil’s Steaks truck. We’ll also eventually be getting a location of Shorty’s cheese steaks down on Pearl St.

One place we’ve never checked out, but that I’ve always been curious about it Charly’s which is on Trinity Place (at Cedar St.) and caters to every guilty pleasure food you might want, from pizza to burgers to chicken wings. The thing that many of the dudes and construction workers that throng the place, along with students from nearby high schools, at lunch time is a cheese steak. Would it be any better than the deli variety?

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