Midtown Lunch

I’ve always wondered how the lamb/chicken over rice combo ($6) was at the Gyro House cart parked at Ann St. & Park Row. You can’t help but smell it every time you head to J&R Electronics, which it is parked directly in front of. I’d have to say after eating it that there were two things going on in their combo over rice that you’ll probably either love or hate.

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I’ve long been meaning to check out Sunrise Mart on Broome St. (btw. Wooster & W. Broadway) but I knew it would require a train ride and the focus of a ninja to avoid leaving this place with enough food for five lunchers. The other day I had some extra time on my hands and decided it was time to see what kind of lunch I could get for $10 or less.

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If you know anyone who’s eaten at a Potbelly Sandwich Shop in the Midwest or anywhere outside of New York City, they’ve probably told you about the “underground” menu with different combos of sandwiches than is on the regular menu. A tweet from Potbelly about one of these new underground sandwiches led me to call the Maiden Lane location to confirm that they actually will do this menu tweaking and I was confidently assured by the man who answered the phone that they absolutely sold these items. So I rounded up a friend and headed over to wait in the always-insane line, excited to order one of the five underground sandwiches that I found after some careful research online. Click through for the outcome of this experiment.

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After Win Won was shuttered by the Department of Health, the space in that weird alley-like Liberty Place (btw. Liberty St. & Maiden Lane) sat empty for a little while until one day it suddenty turned into Dumpling House. Since this is pretty close to where I work I was excited that perhaps we had something comparable to Prosperity Dumpling or Vanessa’s in the Financial District. A look at the menu was distressing since that item was relegated to the appetizer section. One day I stopped in to check out the dumplings and what I found wasn’t pretty.

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If you haven’t walked past tiny Backyard Chicken on Pearl St. (at John) in a while you should be aware that they have branched out from selling rotisserie chicken, changed the set up a little and got a new awning with a giant digital scrolling sign above it. This hole-in-the-wall is still that, but a nicer looking one. What drew me there was the promise on that digital sign of ribs (and pizza!?). But the question is: Can you trust a place specializing in chicken with your ribs?

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Despite having other meatless options in its roll arsenal, the Biryani House cart on Liberty (at Broadway) only sold two kinds of kati rolls – chicken and lamb – repurposed from their plates of street meat. Now you vegetarians have another option since they added an aloo gobi roll. I thought I’d take a break from the meat for once and try one since their chicken and lamb versions were pretty good.  Read more »

A couple of weeks ago the Bongo Brothers truck deviated from its normal parking spots in the Flatiron and other areas and came down to the Financial District. Now it seems they’re parking down here once a week so I thought I’d go try some of their food since we’re not exactly brimming with Cuban options, mobile or not. In fact, ever since the Qba Cuban Kitchen truck went back to New Jersey permanently, we’ve had to make do with Sophie’s or the odd generic deli that sells pernil. While I’m no Cuban food expert, I was pretty happy I went out of my way to eat here.  Read more »