Midtown Lunch

When profiled lunch’er Chirag mentioned one of his favorite lunches downtown was the veguette banh mi at Baoguette, I was both intrigued and skeptical. To me soy protein masquerading as a meat product (in this case kung pao chicken) is kind of like the McRib: trying to be something it’s not. I know not everyone eats meat and as it’s one of the only vegetarian banh mi options in the Financial District (other than Nicky’s Vietnamese tofu version). Clearly someone had to try this sandwich for research purposes. Read more »

I know everyone complains that we don’t have a lot of food variety down in the Financial District, and that’s partly true. There is a source of decent Korean food (no, not the best you’ve ever had) at Soma By Nature on William St. (btw. Fulton & John). Chris had checked out the kimchi stew here as a cure for what ailed him and wasn’t too impressed. I went a different route and tried some of the rice-based dishes that may not have transported me to Korea, but did make me a happy lunch’er. Read more »

All the way back in May I stopped by the 7 Hanover Cart on Hanover Square (at Pearl) to try their chicken curry. I was crushed when told they were out already and was soothed with an improvised chicken curry. They aim to please! I decided to go back  for an earlier to lunch to snag some and see how the real thing compared to what had been thrown together. Click through to find out the verdict. Read more »

There are some days when I head out with a specific lunch destination in mind, but sometimes those intentions get derailed. And that’s how I ended up with a lunch that had far more vegetables in it than I’m used to eating. Backyard Chicken has been around for a while, and in a previous review the chicken did not get rave reviews. But what about its other offering of salmon (which said review questioned who would ever order it)? Could it be a hidden gem waiting to be found? Read more »

There aren’t too many options for Latin food downtown other than Sophie’s Cuban and a few other places that are mostly out of ML price territory. West Side Coffee Shop on Church (at Canal) at first looks like a regular diner or coffee shop like the Roxy, but it is so much more. And even if you’re completely starving, I guarantee you can get enough food here in a single lunch to feed a small family. Read more »

It’s starting to get cold and gross outside and when that happens I go in search of things to eat that are usually off limits during the summer. One of those items is soup because who really craves a piping hot bowl of broth when you’re already sweating? A couple of people have tipped me off to Cafe Doppio on Broad (at Beaver) but I have yet to make it over there. When I perused the menu and saw they had soups like pozole and chicken paprikash I was intrigued because normally the most exotic thing you find is three bean chili. Read more »

If you’ve ever gotten off the subway at Canal and Centre streets, you’ve probably noticed the giant yellow awning proclaiming the five combination for $4.50 deal at Lunch Box Buffet. I know I have! Until now I’ve never tried it because, really, there are so many options in the area for cheap food that I was waiting for a day when I had an intense craving for crappy Chinese and happened to be in the area. Well, those events happened recently and I headed inside to a magical world where you didn’t have to pay by the pound to sample multiple items. Read more »