Midtown Lunch

The Financial District has many carts and trucks to choose from and it’s not uncommon to hit up one of them each day of the week. But what about stopping at six different carts and eating something from each one in a span of two hours? There is a tour company called Turnstile Tours that has taken it upon itself to show people (mostly tourists) some of the finest eats in the FiDi on Wednesdays. The tour guide: sometime Midtown Lunch contributor/ice cream maker/actor Brian Hoffman who talks far louder and is more animated than I could ever be. I was invited to tag along on his tour and while I came away with a full stomach, I also found out a lot of fun facts about some of the carts, trucks and people I’ve bought food from for more than five years.  Read more »

Sometimes the best of lunch plans go awry against your will. How can that happen? Well, take my lunch at Shafiq’s Halal cart on Broadway & Liberty where I went last week to check out the dosa that popped up on their menu. When I got there super early at 11:30 a.m. I was told they had dosa, but after waiting for 10 minutes, was then told that no, they were out. I don’t have unlimited time for lunch, so it was time for plan B which involved ordering the cart’s chicken tikka.

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We’ve won some and lost some in the Caribbean food options in the Financial District lately. The standbys of Trinidad & Tobago and Veronica’s Kitchen carts are still around, and lately Sunrise Grill and Nio’s Trinidad Roti trucks have been parking near each other on a stretch of Broad St. between S. William and Beaver. However, R. Retha’s cart seems to be on its way out, although I’ve seen it still parked at the spot at S. William and Beaver with a “For Sale” sign taped in the window. That’s still a pretty solid lineup.

I’d tried the namesake roti at Nio’s and also their doubles which many of the FiDi places don’t offer. What I hadn’t tried was the dinners with peas and rice that they have on offer, so one day on a whim I went up to the window and ordered just that.

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There are a couple of trucks selling southeast Asian foods these days, including Mamu Thai Noodle. The truck has been parking at one of the lots near the World Financial Center in Battery Park City at least one day a week and based on the line when I stopped by on Monday, you all are happy to have a Thai option in that part of downtown.  Read more »

A nice-looking halal cart called Three Pyramids has popped up near the corner of Hanover Square and Water St. It proclaims “No Pork On My Fork” on the side, and seems to offer the standard meats over rice options. Also: chicken wings for $6. Have any of you eaten at this cart yet?

Earlier this year, an unconventional veggie burger caught my eye. This city has a lot of crappy versions of them, but when Birdbath Bakery‘s earned the top nod among the city’s non-meat burgers I took notice. After all there is a location in Tribeca at Church & Thomas streets, and I can’t often get to my favorite source. The other day I stopped in to see if they had the burgers (I was told they don’t have them until close to 1 p.m.) and a pile of them greeted me behind the glass divider.

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When plans to check out a food cart went awry the other day I was left in need of a lunch in West Soho. That was when a sign outside the pedestrian-looking Jazzy’s Deli at Varick & Charlton streets lured me in. This otherwise generic deli offers specialties like bibimbop and bulgogi, but also, the more rare Korean-style fried chicken. Surprisingly, the meaty wings and drumsticks were better than I though they would be.  Read more »