Midtown Lunch

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, we have lunch’ers Yen and Michi who are architects that sideline in food blogging on Lunch with Front Studio. They try not to play favorites with lunch destinations, or with what they will eat.

Names: Yen Ha and Michi Yanagishita

Occupation: Architects

Where you work: We have our own firm: Front Studio Architects

Age: No spring chickens – 36 and 37

Favorite Kinds of Food: Salty kinds

Least Favorite Foods: Foods that start with the letter “Q”…  Uhh joking aside, perhaps foods you need to flex your foodie machismo muscles for?  I don’t really know what that means.  Poorly cooked foods?  We don’t really like ruling things out.  You never know what you’ll end up liking (or disliking)

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Shanghai Café for their soup dumplings and rice cakes; Roast pork with rice and beans at La Nueva  Conquista come immediately to mind.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: We try not to repeat our lunch location for at least 6 weeks, so it’s kind of impossible for us to eat somewhere too often.  But probably the closest to always being in the mood for, or a no-brainer would probably be Shanghai Café. Read more »

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, we have lunch’er Jennifer who will eat pretty much everything and is jealous of a certain area of the city that is a food truck magnet.

Name: Jennifer, aka, Saikai

Occupation: Margin/cashiering clerk

Where you work: Wall St.

Age: 26

Favorite Kinds of Food: When it comes to food I’ll eat just about anything once to try it.  As for a favorite it would defintely have to be anything sweet.

Least Favorite Foods: Anything overly spicy, whether it’s spicy hot or just has too much spice in general.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Cheese enchiladas from Tajin on Greenwich (btw. Edgar & Rector), the daily special or chicken tempura roll from Niko Niko on Pearl (btw. Wall & Pine), lamb over rice with chickpeas and white sauce from Xpress Power Lunch on Wall & Pearl, bruschetta slice from Da Vinci’s on Water (btw. Broad & William), and the Caesar salad with cranberries substituted for croutons from Just Salad on Maiden Lane (btw. Gold & Pearl). Read more »

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, we have a change of pace with Chirag, who is a vegetarian trying to find a decent lunch and a fan of all things chickpea.

Name: Chirag Shah

Occupation: Web developer

Where you work: 120 Broadway, next to the big red cube.

Age: 33

Favorite Kinds of Food: Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Indian, Mexican

Least Favorite Foods: “American,” namely burger & steak places as there are generally very few vegetarian options.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: 1) Veguette sandwich at Baoguette on Maiden Lane (btw. Nassau & Broadway)- That kung pao soy protein is delicious. 2) Falafel sandwich with extra tahini at Alan’s Falafel Cart on Broadway (at Liberty), although nothing beats Mamoun’s Falafel in the Village. 3) Veggie rice from the Xpress Power Lunch cart on Nassau (at Maiden Lane) – Chickpeas and veggies in a wonderful blend of spices over rice and soaked with that tasty white sauce.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Pret (Multiple Locations) has some really good sandwiches and they always seem to have at least a couple of options in the sandwich and wrap department.  Hale & Hearty (Multiple Locations) when it starts to get cold, like now.  Their “V” designation makes my usually difficult task of finding vegetarian options very easy. Read more »

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, we have Matthew who works amid financial types and is looking for some good seafood options.

Name: Matthew Haas

Occupation: Editor

Where you work: Broad St., next to the NYSE

Age: 40

Favorite Kinds of Food: I love seafood, Middle Eastern and Latin cuisines.

Least Favorite Foods: Fast food burgers.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: I spotted a tiny lobster place while exploring the neighborhood when my office relocated in August.  I finally decided to treat myself to a good lunch there just the other day.  When I say tiny, I mean TINY.  Urban Lobster Shack on Stone St. (btw. Broad & Broadway) is smaller than a walk-in closet, but the lobster roll and bisque combo was great. Read more »

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, we have Max who is a part-time downtown lunch’er (and also part-time midtown lunch’er) and likes to save his stomach space for some Vietnamese sandwiches.

Name: Max

Occupation: Project Manager at a brokerage with four names

Where you work: Water Street (various locations), 7th Ave. & 51st St., and… Purchase, N.Y.

Age: 32

Favorite Kinds of Food: Vietnamese sammiches, TAMALES, Japanese curry, roasted
pig, Peking duck, any kind of pancakes, dumplings, char siu bao, bimbimbap, roast beef
sandwiches (on rye, tomatoes, no lettuce please), yakitori, Jamaican patties… the list goes on!!

Least Favorite Foods: I don’t get the appeal of mac and cheese. Bad pizza, cookie cutter street market food (e.g., deep fried oreos, those giant sausages, friggin’ mozzarepas) Read more »

Name: Mike
Occupation: Production artist (at a digital advertising agency)
Where you work: Tribeca (a block from Canal near the Holland Tunnel)
Age: 22
Favorite Kinds of Food: I love ethnic food, particularly with a good dose of spiciness. I am always willing to try eating something strange (including offal). Tiny, authentic, ethnic hole-in-the-walls are my favorite. If it’s what the locals eat, that’s what I want to eat. I’d probably rate Thai food as my favorite nationality of food though I dislike getting watered-down/Americanized Thai food. I’m obsessed with pork… pork prepared in any style: bacon, BBQ pulled pork, pork belly, schnitzel, chicharron, pernil, panchetta, porchetta, sausage, proscuitto…I’ll eat it any day, any meal. I know this is not really food per se, but I love sauces. Mustard, Sriracha, Russian dressing, chipotle mayo, pesto, Peruvian aji (!), ponzu, teriyaki, hoisin, curry, hollandaise, buffalo sauce, chimichurri, mole… I think sauces really make a dish. I’ve also really been on a huge pho kick recently so working within walking distance of Chinatown is awesome for me.

Read more »