Midtown Lunch

One of the most hotly anticipated food truck launches in recent memory happened yesterday, with Taim Mobile rolling out its un-shiny new wheels. They parked on Hudson St. on the western edge of Soho, away from the heavy foot traffic a couple of blocks away in either direction (probably on purpose), but still drew a long line despite the rainy conditions. My wait time from ordering to food in hand was about 30 minutes, but I blame that on the sheer number of orders because they actually seemed to have a good system going and plenty of people working in the truck. And man, was the wait worth it. Read more »

The only previous experience I’ve had with Swedish food involves the IKEA cafeteria and I’m sure that’s about as close as most people have gotten to that country’s cuisine. As much as I love the dirt-cheap food there, I also know it’s like eating in a hospital cafeteria and no one ever said that food was good. Enter FIKA Swedish Espresso Bar, which started out in midtown but now has its flagship location down on Pearl St. (at Coenties Slip). While technically an espresso bar, they also make their own chocolate and serve both cold sandwiches and hot entrees and soup. I ventured down to see what was good to eat besides the meatballs. Read more »

If you are one of the poor souls working today (or Friday) and are missing out on Thanksgiving, there is at least one option in the Financial District that incorporates all of the flavors of the holiday. That would be Toasties on John St. (btw. Broadway & Nassau) that has a Thanksgiving sandwich permanently on its menu. I’d been meaning to go here anyway after walking by a million times, and also on the recommendation of profiled lunch’er Paul. Find out if they pull off the tricky turkey/stuffing/cranberry combo after the jump.

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As you guys may know by now I like dumplings. Any kind of dumplings. And when you give me 5 of them for $1, and throw in a sesame pancake on the side I couldn’t ask for a better carb-explosion of a lunch. I hadn’t been to Prosperity Dumpling on Eldridge St. (btw. Hester & Canal) in a while because it’s not exactly close to where I work. It’s well-known among those who love cheap, delicious Chinatown treats, but shunned by those who would rather walk up the street a couple of blocks to the larger (and more expensive) Vanessa’s Dumpling House. I actually discovered Prosperity after going to Vanessa’s one day and seeing how packed it was. Read more »

The other day I told a couple of people that my lunch destination was Sea World on Church St. (at Lispenard) to further investigate the $6.99 buffet that popped up. They wished me luck in the way that people do when you tell them you’re taking the subway to the Bronx or going to eat a McRib. My stomach has handled worse things than fried seafood, I thought, and it’s only come back to haunt me once! When I got there and asked if the buffet was by the pound, I heard the magical words “No, it’s all you can eat.” And with that I was handed my plate and went over to see what my strategy would be for gorging on fried foods. Read more »

If you’ve ever eaten at Yushi in the World Financial Center (or in midtown) you may have noticed that they’re hellbent on making you eat healthy Asian food. I had only eaten their food once at the Taste of the World Financial Center and wasn’t overly impressed with the Peking duck pancakes I had. But then I found out they started serving “king katsu curry” for $9.95 this week and I figured it was an excellent chance to head over to Battery Park City. It also begged the question: what happens when you bake katsu? Forge ahead to see what it looks like! Read more »

Looks can sometimes be deceiving when looking at a food item. Take Indian food – sometimes extremely unphotogenic, yet a party in your mouth. The same rule applies with the Sunday gravy tasca from Table Tales on Water St. (nr. Beekman). I had seen a glorious picture of this item from the New Amsterdam Market and was happy to see it’s on their regular menu. I headed over to get one to go (and this may have been the fatal flaw) with visions of meatballs and tomato sauce dancing in my head. What I got surprised me. Read more »