Midtown Lunch

I’m a big fan of the falafel sandwiches at Nish Nush on Reade St. (at Church), but I hadn’t branched out to any of the platters yet. There are a few platter options including falafel, shakshuka and hummus either plain or with various toppings. I decided on one of the topped hummus options, and provided you get some extra pita, it was enough for more than one meal.

Read more »

Late last week I stopped by the bank just as a cart on the corner  of Greenwich & Murray streets outside was being readied to be driven away at the end of the day. That cart was BIA Best Food, and it had an intriguing menu that included biryani, chicken curry, teriyaki chicken, sweet chili chicken (they must really like chicken) and then there was dal for the low price of $4.

Carts are sometimes lacking in vegetarian options outside of falafel or vegetables over rice, and so I was intrigued that they had another cheap non-meat option. At only $4, it was a cheap gamble to take to see if it was any good.  Read more »

When last week Lunch’er KD1005 commented that we should check out a cart being run by a former worker at the venerable Sam’s Falafel, my ears perked up.

For you see, Sam’s is one of the longest running carts in the Financial District serving some of the best falafel platters and sandwiches, and anyone who worked there must have absorbed some of that awesomeness. Sure enough, a visit to the two-month-old Yummy Fawl & Falafel cart at Church & Barclay streets yields a similar falafel platter but there’s no line.  Read more »

I realize Super Linda on W. Broadway (at Reade) has been open for some time, and they began serving lunch soon after. A look at the menu at first wasn’t promising with all of the tortas more than $10, and a single taco running from $3.50 to $5. That did not sound like a good deal.

But then they added a taqueria lunch special for $10 which nets you two tacos from their full lineup along with rice and beans. Now this sounded like a lunch.  Read more »

When I was a wee Lunch’er, my go-to order when eating out was chicken fingers accompanied by some sort of potato product. I would not say I was an aficionado, but did definitely favor the higher meat to breading ration than you find at somewhere like McDonald’s.

It occurred to me the other day that I had yet to check out the version at Dirty Bird To Go on Chambers St. (btw. W. Broadway & Greenwich). When I went on opening day, the fingers weren’t ready yet so I instead tried the delicious bone-in fried chicken. I had high hopes for these organic, fancy pant chicken fingers and they did not disappoint.

Read more »

This site has already checked out some of the more traditional lunch options at Tribeca’s Takahachi Bakery on Murray St. (at Church). There was the Japanese pizza and fried cream gravy sandwich (aka, croquettes), and then the ginger beef sandwich. The one thing we hadn’t really tried was the large variety of savory and sweet buns offered on a daily basis. With fillings like ham and cheese, red bean and curry beef, clearly these had to be sampled.

Read more »

The faded red awning of China Red Gourmet is still intact on Chambers St. (btw. Church & W. Broadway), and the inside of the place is exactly the same as it was about three years ago when I checked out their awesome by-the-pound buffet.

You can still look at yourself eating in mirrors that line the wall, and you’re still not allowed to bring in outside food. What has changed are the prices which are a bit higher than when I was last here, with the buffet now $4.75 per pound. This time I ignored that buffet in favor of one of their lunch specials, and I think the former is the way to go here.

Read more »