Midtown Lunch

Soma By Nature has been a standby for Korean food in the Financial District with sushi and a few other Japanese offerings pushed to the side. On Friday I noticed they have changed the name to BentOn Cafe (of which there is a location in Midtown), although the sign promoting the $6 Korean lunch specials remained outside. What has changed is a rack of grab and go bento boxes and Japanese sweets prominently featured near the Korean food station.

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Last week I wasn’t feeling so great, and come lunch time visions of noodle soup were dancing in my head. Ramen was the first thing to come to mind, but there aren’t many great options down here that didn’t require me to walk many blocks on a cold day. Instead, I honed in on good old reliable Soma by Nature on William St. (btw. John & Fulton) with every intention of trying their ramen or udon soup, but then I saw something called dumpling rice cake soup which was described as “dumpling rice cake, drop egg in beef stock.” I had no idea what this meant, but I ordered myself some and prepared to find out.

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There’s a sign outside of Soma By Nature on William (btw. John & Fulton) that I always pass by but have never investigated. That would be the $5.95 lunch specials that include curry chicken, ma po tofu, udon soup and japchae. Considering that most things there are $8 or more I feel like this is a pretty good deal, but do you get enough food to fill you up or do they stiff you in the name of a bargain? That’s what I headed inside to find out.

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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 »

I am sick.  Sick as defined by Nyquil (I’m not getting any money from these people, but I love this shit), that is with sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, and fever.  I did not want to come to work, but deadlines were looming overhead and duty called.  So when lunch rolled around, I was looking for something that was gonna make me feel better.  Normal people might think chicken soup, but for whatever reason, not me.  Nope, my first thought was “I need to get me something spicy, something hot, something that’s going to make me forget that I’m sick.”  So stumbling down the street I saw Soma By Nature [sic] on William Street, a Korean/Japanese place I’ve been to a couple times, and couldn’t help but wander inside to see what they had to burn my face off.

Walking through the door,  meandering over to the counter, there were, of course, more than a few choices.  The menu board out front was pushing $6 specials which I might go for on another day and the menu inside really wanted me to try their bimibap, but today I felt the need for something a little more hearty.  Amid the bulgogi and soba options, Kimchi Stew jumped out at me and I went ahead and ordered it.  Given the option of either pork or vegetable, naturally I chose pork.  After a solid 10 minute wait, the lady who had taken my order came around the corner with my tray of steaming Kimchi Stew and a small bowl of rice.  This looked like just what the doctor ordered.

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