Midtown Lunch

Sometimes it feels like the lowest part of Manhattan doesn’t get enough love for its delicious lunches (other than Chinatown). Well, this week Time Out New York devotes its issue to lunch and includes quick bite, business lunch and delivery picks from SoHo, Chinatown and some Financial District spots chosen by me. There are also plenty of Midtown Lunch picks chosen by Blondie, Brownie and Ultraclay for the various neighborhoods in the middle of the island. Downtown Lunch spots Prosperity Dumpling, Bluebird Sky, the No. 1 Banh Mi cart and Toloache Taqueria are included in the lists. They have other picks for best sandwiches and lunch-only dishes as well as those out of ML price range, so basically the issue covers whatever you are craving even if it involves booze.

As you’re probably aware there are two carts serving West Indian food in the FiDi. I knew about both Veronica’s Kitchen and Trinidad & Tobago carts before I became editor of this site but I hadn’t ever eaten at them. Why? Well, I live in a neighborhood where for a long time the only food options other than crappy Chinese were Caribbean places. My very first meal after moving to NYC and unloading all of my belongings was at a West Indian takeout place. So I guess I figured since I could get this food any time I didn’t need to stuff my face with it at lunch. Then the other day I really wanted roti come lunchtime for some reason I can’t explain, and it was a toss up which cart to get this from. Veronica’s has already been written up a couple of times on this site so instead I headed way down to the T&T cart on Whitehall St. (btw. Bridge & Pearl) to see how Ms. Shirley’s roti stacked up.

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We’ve all been there: You go to a by-the-pound buffet and have to hold back on the heavy items for fear of paying $20 for lunch. A couple of Indian restaurants in Tribeca offer all-you-can-eat lunch buffets, including Salaam Bombay on Greenwich St. (btw. Duane & Reade) and Taj Tribeca. But they’re also both a few dollars over the $10 mark that I try to not top unless it involves Russian spa cuisine. So when I saw that in addition to the eat-in buffet at Salaam Bombay, you could also stuff a takeaway container for $10 I smelled a challenge. Read more »