Midtown Lunch

If you’ve never been to Suspenders on Broadway (at Thames), or didn’t even know it existed, it’s because you have to walk down some stairs from street level, past a Subway sandwich shop and notice it before you get to an actual subway entrance. The bar and restaurant has no windows, but what it does have is a giant screen showing sports and Greek and Mediterranean food for less than $10.

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Have you ever thought, “I could really go for some momo for lunch today,” but instead had to settle for potstickers or some other substitute? If you work downtown, there really aren’t many non-Chinese or Japanese dumpling options but with Chinese Mirch’s new truck, that’s changed. The menu is pretty limited to either chicken or vegetable momo, plain ($4), over rice or in a stew called thukpa, or a trio of duck bao (all $8). Being something of a dumpling freak I opted for the vegetable momo rice bowl with spicy Manchurian sauce. The twist with the truck is it was served over basmati rice for an Indian twist and the momo and thukpa are more of Tibetan staples than Chinese. Regardless, my lunch from Chinese Mirch was so good I didn’t even apologize for stinking up my office with it.

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It seems like it’s been awhile since a lunch spot like French Cafe Gourmand has opened in the Financial District – as in a place that’s not a chain or a new branch of a chain. No, this cafe on Maiden Lane (btw. B’way & Nassau) is run by actual French people and they sell a small selection of items including coffee, soup, salads, sandwiches and some French pastries and baked goods. When I went in to check it out, I could almost for five seconds imagine that I was somewhere else but Manhattan (or at least in cafe-heavy Tribeca or Soho).

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In recent months I’ve seen multiple posts about Famous Ben’s Pizza on Spring St. (at Thompson) and their Palermo slice. It looked like a delicious brick of carbs, perhaps made not such a gut bomb by its absence of cheese. Then there was a post last week by Ben Leventhal basically calling the slices at Artichoke Basille’s overpriced crap (my words, not his) s0 I opted to head up to Soho for a taste of Famous Ben’s. What I found was a good pizza experience slightly soured by tourists.

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I’m sure a lot of you were saddened when the Bistro Truck went on hiatus over some winter months. Now that they’re birthing a brick and mortar location on the Lower East Side, the truck has returned to the streets this week and said on Twitter that the truck will be in the Financial District at Old Slip & Water on Wednesdays (is there even parking spots left in that area?), and according to their Web site, in Soho on Tuesdays. They’ll be at Hudson & King today filming something for a U.K. Food Network show, so smile while you’re ordering that lamb burger.

Everyone moans about how terrible the burritos are in NYC, which perhaps explains why there’s a line out the door at every Chipotle come lunch time. There are some decent burritos, in my opinion, but I’m no expert. Lupe’s East L.A. Kitchen has been selling Mexican food on Sixth Ave. (at Watts) for 20 years according to their Web site, and I’d heard good things about their burritos so I decided it was time to give them a shot. Would I find the burrito of my dreams a short subway ride away?

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There are a lot of trucks selling Korean food fused with other cuisines like tacos, sliders and even falafel, so it was kind of refreshing when I looked at the menu at the Bob & Jo truck and saw that it was pretty straightforward. Yes, there are baguette sandwiches but otherwise you’ll find rice platters, bibimbap and japchae with traditional meats or vegetables. They’ve only recently been parking in the Financial District one day a week, usually on Tuesday at Coenties Slip & Water, with occasional forays into Soho but Midtown contributors have already extensively sampled the menu and since it looked pretty good I decided to give the truck an ML: Downtown review.

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