Midtown Lunch

Some proteins are more forgiving than others – namely those containing a lot of delicious fat. But I cannot live on fatty meats alone without my heart exploding, and when I saw Big D’s Grub Truck was making its weekly stop in the Financial District with a special of chili sesame chicken I decided to go check it out. I was also curious to see what these grinders they’re serving would be like. I’d had the tacos the first time they parked down here, and was impressed by two out of the three I tried and by the impressive price-to-size ratio. Would the grinder be a success or failure? To the analysis!

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I was a little surprised at how much interest my post about the $8 lunch special at The Copper Barrel on Murray (btw. Broadway & Church) got from all of you lunch’ers. Then it was pointed out that there’s not much in that area for lunch, either good or bad, although if you go up to Chambers St. there are at least a few options. Most of those are fast food, though, and sometimes you just don’t want to order your meal by number. The sign outside gives no clue as to what the lunch special is, so I decided to step inside yet another dark bar in the middle of the day to find out.

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No idea how long they’ve been selling it, or who’s making it, but now you can get some baklava to go with your insanely strong coffee at the Turkish coffee cart on Wall St. & Pearl. The sign on the side says it’s $2, and I’m guessing that’s per piece. Your move, Alfanoose.

I don’t know why more sandwich shops don’t team up with another business to both lower their costs and offer some sort of combo deal. Sure there are the banh mi shops in Chinatown that double as music and jewelry sellers, but you can’t eat jewelry or albums. When I heard that itinerant sandwich shop Crosby Connection had popped up in Eat My Chocolate on Mulberry St. (btw. Prince & E. Houston) and were offering a $9 sandwich and sweets pairing I had to go check it out. Because nothing says afternoon food coma like a giant sandwich and a sugar rush.

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Today is the day that Crisp finally introduces the Financial District to its “falafel handbag sandwiches” with its newest location on Fulton St. (nr. William). I went yesterday to check it out during a soft opening for friends and family (and lunch blogs!) and found out that this location is one of 10 more they hope to open around the city, although I was assured they are not trying to be the next Subway. They have all of the creative interpretations on falafel that exist at the two stores in Midtown, plus a couple of new things they’re trying out like opening at 7 a.m. and serving breakfast. What you will find is some fried chickpea balls thrown together with ingredients foreign to most purists (goat cheese and nachos anyone?). What you will not find is a falafel lunch at the rock-bottom prices you’re accustomed to from a trip to Sam’s or Alan’s carts.  Read more »

Usually when you pick a lunch spot it’s because they have something particularly delicious to check out or a pleasant eating environment. Or the food is dirt cheap. Jeremy’s Ale House on Front St. (btw. Peck Slip & Dover) has only a small fraction of those things, and really my co-lunch’er and I ended up there out of sheer curiousity of what kinds of people would be eating lunch here on a spring-like day. And what would the interior look like with sunlight shining in? The answer to those questions, plus a picture of the tasteful decor after the jump. Read more »

I had one of those days recently where come lunchtime all I wanted to do was eat greasy food and get my recommended daily salt intake in one sitting. While I had many options to do that I opted to head over to Oriental Express on Cedar (btw. William & Pearl) to check out the buffet. I haven’t eaten at a by-the-pound buffet since New China Red in Tribeca scared me with its buffet sushi and communal soy sauce. I hadn’t quite committed to the buffet when I went down the stairs into the underground dining room, but it looked pretty good and at $5.95 a pound I wouldn’t be losing a whole lot of money if it did suck. Read more »