It’s rare that I eat breakfast anywhere but at home since I get to work at a non-early hour, but the other day I happened to be in need of both coffee and something to eat. What to do? Finally check out the Turkish Coffee Cart on Wall St. (btw. Pearl & Water), that’s what. Read more »
Posted by Andrea H at 12:00 pm, March 6th, 2012 under Cart, Financial District, Turkish, Turkish Coffee Cart.
The somewhat grubby Sushi By Bento Nouveau at Broadway & Cortlandt St. closed at the beginning of February to get a makeover and the results were revealed on Monday as it once again opened for business. I didn’t actually go inside, but it has a sleeker new look and seems to sell the same pre-made sushi rolls along with rice bowls and some noodles, although it looks like they’ve pared down the offerings and aren’t emphasizing the udon noodle soups as much. I’ll take a closer look soon, but if you were one of the people checking it out, let us know the good/bad in the comments.
Posted by Andrea H at 9:30 am, March 6th, 2012 under Financial District, Japanese, Seafood, Sushi, Sushi by Bento Nouveau.
The mini chain of Indian steam table restaurant Diwan E Khaas (Multiple Locations) doesn’t get a lot of love on this site, as anytime it’s mentioned it seems a commenter is saying the food is mediocre at best. I used to eat at the nearest location to me, on Nassau btw. Liberty & Maiden Lane, before I realized there were much better lunch options out there, and haven’t ever returned. A while back I noticed they had a sign up for their “winter lunch special” that got you a vegetable or chicken item plus rice or naan for $5.50-$5.99 which seemed like a pretty good deal to me. Would there be anything on the steam table to recommend though? To my surprise, yes.
Posted by Andrea H at 9:30 am, March 5th, 2012 under Diwan E Khaas, Financial District, Indian.
This site has previously had reviews of fried chicken noodle soup and other items from the Korean portion of Cafe Hanover at Hanover Sq. & Pearl, but for some inexplicable reason we’ve shunned the Kyedong chicken. This brand of Korean fried chicken is advertised in a poster in the window and in panels on the wall behind the front counter where you pay. Sandwiched between offerings of pork belly for $40 and whole chickens, there are portions of chicken at Midtown Lunch-friendly prices. Click through to check out the behemoth lunch box it comes in, housing equally oversized pieces of chicken.
Posted by Andrea H at 12:00 pm, March 1st, 2012 under Cafe Hanover, Financial District, Fried Chicken, Korean.
Oliva Gourmet on Broadway (btw. Vesey & Barclays) seems to court the tourists with promises of plentiful seating and alcohol, since it’s right by the stop for those double decker site seeing buses. Now they’re courting the rest of us with a 99 cent plain slice. The signs don’t say there are restrictions on when the slices are offered, and it has to be better than the 99 cent slice at Papa John’s at Maiden Lane & Nassau. Now if only the other $1 pizza shops would trickle further down Broadway. Joey’s Pepperoni Pizza, I’m looking at you.
Posted by Andrea H at 9:30 am, March 1st, 2012 under Oliva Gourmet, Pizza.
The stars aligned one day when I had to head up to Little Italy/Chinatown, and just so happened to be right across the street from Banh Mi Saigon Bakery on Grand St. (btw. Mott & Mulberry). It turns out this site has never done a proper review of the place, although it did fare well in a Banh Mi Battle Royale that Daniel conducted. I am never one to turn down a cheap sandwich, especially if it’s from a combination jewelry store/banh mi seller. This works way better than combination Pizza Hut/Taco Bell. Read more »
Posted by Andrea H at 9:30 am, February 29th, 2012 under Banh Mi Saigon, Chinatown, Little Italy, Sandwiches, Vietnamese.
If you’ve worked in the Financial District, chances are you’ve heard of Alfanoose on Maiden Lane (btw. Broadway & Nassau). It’s something of an institution in that it’s been there since 1999 and at some point earned recognition for having some of the best falafel in the city. I am not really into their falafel which is in a long cylinder rather than the usual orb, offing the ratio of fluffy inside to crust, and is a couple of dollars more than you’re going to pay at any street cart.
That was the only sandwich I’d eaten there, but then a couple of weeks ago Lunch’er Deep once again recommended the kafta kebab sandwich tweaked to include fried onions. Ground lamb and beef cooked over charcoal sounded pretty great, but would it redeem Alfanoose?
Posted by Andrea H at 9:30 am, February 27th, 2012 under Alfanoose, Financial District, Middle Eastern, Sandwiches, Turkish.
