Midtown Lunch

I’m a little bit late in trying out the new source of falafel in Tribeca, Nish Nush, on the corner of Reade St. and Church. After reading one glowing review, and walking by and seeing indeed how nice this shop looked, curiosity got the best of me and I wanted to know if it was true that this place was serving falafel that could be compared with Taim‘s. After eating there once, I’m mentally kicking myself for waiting more than a couple of days to check this place out.

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It seems it’s been two whole years since I’ve written about Takahachi Bakery which sits quietly on Murray St. (at Church) baking up all kinds of Japanese-inflected goods both sweet and savory. They also have sandwiches, salads and soup some of which I’ve already tried, but when I stopped in recently I was drawn to the hot case which has little lunch boxes containing a sandwich that’s heftier than it looks and a little side of some sort for $8.25. I was mighty pleased with the meaty, gingery beef concoction I grabbed. Read more »

The section of Broadway on the fringe of Tribeca has two options for $1 pizza slices – Roll And Go (at Franklin, and Canal & W. B’way) and Joey’s Pepperoni Pizza (at White)- but did you know there’s another option? Alif Deli & Salad Bar on Church St. (Thomas & Duane) has a sign outside proclaiming there are 99 cent slices within or you can get toppings for extra. And you can get a whole cheese pizza for $8 (or is that $9? Red lettering on a tan background should be outlawed). Maybe it’s time for another cheap slice comparison.

Alif Deli & Salad Bar, 200 Church St. (btw. Thomas & Duane), (212) 537-0362

Sure, we’ve all seen Thanksgiving sandwiches on the menu at places downtown including Toasties and Lenny’s, but what about turkey and stuffing-filed crepes? Cosmopolitan Cafe on Chambers St. (at W. Broadway) has you covered through the end of November with its buckwheat crepe filled with white and dark meat turkey, stuffing, gravy, lingonberry sauce and mashed sweet potato. I’d have to say this sounds kind of awesome if you’re willing to pay $9.50 for a crepe. I’m just happy that restaurants are starting to think outside the Thanksgiving sandwich or turkey plate box.

Cosmopolitan Cafe, 125 Chambers St. (at W. Broadway), (212) 766-3787

There aren’t a lot of Puerto Rican food options downtown unless you count Sandra’s Food Spot Cart on Nassau St. in the Financial District, or lump West Side Coffee Shop or Sophie’s Cuban together in that vague category of “Latin food.” There is, however, Sazon on Reade St. (btw. Church & W. Broadway) in Tribeca. Yes, it’s a fancy take on Puerto Rican food, but the lunch menu has a few options at the $10 or below mark. I decided to try out their take on the jibarito – the sandwich with fried plantains in place of bread – and was pretty happy with what I got.

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On a recent non-rainy day (seriously, why does it always start pouring at lunch time?) I finally was able to take a walk up to the All Good Things market on Franklin St. (at Church) to see what they had to eat for an actual lunch. Some of you don’t think doughnuts or ice cream count as a real meal, so I was after something of the sandwich or soup variety. There aren’t a ton of options, but three of the vendors – Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, Cavaniola’s Gourmet Cheese Shop and the fish purveyor/farm stand – have a small selection of sandwiches and soups. Dickson’s has started serving chili for the colder months, but I decided to save that for winter and instead grabbed a baguette sandwich from Cavaniola’s.

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Tip of the hat to Lunch’er Justin who wrote in to tell us that the location of Sophie’s Cuban on New St. in the Financial District no longer had its under $10 sandwich combo that included a sandwich, side and soda, and now if you order all of those things it will run roughly $14. Well what about the other two downtown locations on Chambers St. and Fulton St.? You probably won’t be happy to hear that only one of those three locations will still hook you up with this deal.

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