Midtown Lunch

In case you missed our post from last week, Go Go Curry is expecting to open its new location on John St. (btw. Broadway & Nassau) on Monday at 10:55 a.m. If you’re one of the first 555 people in line you’ll be able to pay in change 55 cents!) if you get a single size curry. Otherwise, you’ll still pay less than $10 unless you have a hunger that can only be sated by a Grand Slam.

Sabor de Mexico seems intent on quietly taking over the downtown area, although not quite as fast as its close relative Chipotle. I had checked out the first location on Trinity Place (at Thames) when it first opened and was called Caliente Mexican Grill, and on that and subsequent visits found it was dependable if partly Americanized Mexican food. Their strong point is meats, which I’d tried in the form of tacos and a burrito, but they also serve them in a torta and the more desk friendly burrito bowl. I decided to try the latter when a craving for carbs and meat hit.

Read more »

There is a cluster of steam table Indian restaurants in lower Tribeca that seem to cater to office workers in a hurry and cab drivers. They are mostly utilitarian with a few tables and chairs, and have probably not had updates to the interior in a while. Even from the outside, Saffron Fresh Indian, which recently opened on Chambers St. (btw. Broadway & Church), looks a little brighter and inviting than those nearby on Church St. like Pakistan Tea House, Bangal Curry and New Shezan. There’s a lunch special, or you can do as I did and order off the menu. It’s pretty easy to stay below the $10 mark here.

Read more »

There are a few long-running food trucks in this city that have somehow managed to never be reviewed by Downtown Lunch, either because of infrequently parking down here or never tweeting their location (or doing it two hours after most people eat lunch). Bian Dang is truck that we’ve not written about, although we did check out their offshoot Fun Buns cart when it debuted last year. The truck’s been parking in the Financial District occasionally again after most trucks were unable or unwilling to come down here due to disaster recovery vehicles and equipment everywhere, coupled with a lower supply of office workers.

This is really the perfect time of year to eat some Taiwanese comfort food, so I was more than happy to pay the truck a visit when they were parked on Water St. earlier this week.

Read more »

When it comes to pasta, the two options at lunch time are either hitting up a sit-down place, or settling for what comes off a steam table at many pizza shops. Zigolini’s does a good made-to-order pasta, but they remain closed after hurricane Sandy. Another option that some of you have recommended is Koyzina Kafe – an otherwise generic deli on William St. (at Cedar) that has a make-your-own pasta bar where you can watch your lunch being cooked in front of you. After a taste, I thought their pasta definitely has a leg up on what comes from a steam table.

Read more »

It seems that sometime since I last ate at Alfanoose on Maiden Lane (btw. Broadway & Nassau) the restaurant has started playing up the fact that they serve Lebanese food rather than generic “Middle Eastern cuisine,” or coasting on the fact that at some point they were once named as having the best falafel in the city. I’ve never been wowed by the falafel, but they do have a pretty extensive selection of vegetarian items on the menu (a french fry sandwich!), including fried cauliflower. I figured this could either be a very good, or very bad way to pretend I’m being healthy.

Read more »

It’s true this site has a bias against the many generic delis dotting the downtown landscape. It’s also true that some of them serve at least one thing that differentiates them from the others, whether it’s roast pork, rare roast beef or Korean food. A while back, someone tipped us off that Variety Cafe on Broadway had a mongolian grill where you pick your fixings and they cook it for you. After an investigation, it seems that you need to employ some sort of strategy to keep your lunch here under $10.

Read more »