Midtown Lunch

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (ensuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.)

After spotting the story on Cheap Ass Foods yesterday morning, Zachypoo emailed me frantically to check out the new banh mi cart on the corner of St. Johns and Water street. So I knew I had to scope out the situation ASAP. Clearly we weren’t the only ones who saw the post, because the line was really damn long! Fuggging BLOGS!! I wanted my banh mi NOW! But I had to wait… and wait I did.

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Making Downtown office workers jealous is something this blog has been doing for awhile now. To even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the great stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (insuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food), and seems to be particularly fond of Chinatown (my dream lunch location). Last week was Malaysian (something we are sorely lacking here in Midtown), but today he deals the death blow. Banh Mi.

Jewelry Shopping in the Banh Mi Saigon Bakery

With Midtown Lunch’ers paying an insane 8-9 dollars for a simple sandwich, it’s good to know that there are still Downtown options where a guy can go to quench his bellys thirst for an inexpensive lunchtime feast.  Banh Mi have always been the cheapest lunchtime sandwich option, and while Midtowners are forced to pay almost $8 at Boi To Go (2nd Ave. btw. 42+43rd), we can still do it for $4 or less in Chinatown. And if you’re willing to eat roasted pork with mayo and cilantro inside a fresh baked baguette (and we know you are) there’s no better deal in town. Downtown boasts several Banh Mi spots tucked away in odd places (you want a gold chain with your sate chicken?), and over the past week your downtown correspondent has sampled three of them for your reading pleasure. I’ve listed them in order of “best” to “still really good”, since none really qualify as “worst”.

The complete list, and some Vietnamese sandwich porn, after the jump… Read more »