Midtown Lunch

Some proteins are more forgiving than others – namely those containing a lot of delicious fat. But I cannot live on fatty meats alone without my heart exploding, and when I saw Big D’s Grub Truck was making its weekly stop in the Financial District with a special of chili sesame chicken I decided to go check it out. I was also curious to see what these grinders they’re serving would be like. I’d had the tacos the first time they parked down here, and was impressed by two out of the three I tried and by the impressive price-to-size ratio. Would the grinder be a success or failure? To the analysis!

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I was a little surprised at how much interest my post about the $8 lunch special at The Copper Barrel on Murray (btw. Broadway & Church) got from all of you lunch’ers. Then it was pointed out that there’s not much in that area for lunch, either good or bad, although if you go up to Chambers St. there are at least a few options. Most of those are fast food, though, and sometimes you just don’t want to order your meal by number. The sign outside gives no clue as to what the lunch special is, so I decided to step inside yet another dark bar in the middle of the day to find out.

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Good news if you were a fan of the NYC Cravings truck and work in the FiDi. Its reincarnation, Bian Dang, announced on Twitter that it’s going to be on Water St. The ML Downtown Twitter Tracker also shows that Wafels & Dinges truck will be on Wall St. and also has a cart on Greenwich in Tribeca, and Rickshaw is on Wall. Big D’s Grub Truck is debuting its sesame chili chicken downtown on Hanover Sq. and in Soho, Frites N Meats is on Hudson. Is that enough for you? No? Good, because Korilla is parked on Governour. Photo courtesy of Ultraclay.

No idea how long they’ve been selling it, or who’s making it, but now you can get some baklava to go with your insanely strong coffee at the Turkish coffee cart on Wall St. & Pearl. The sign on the side says it’s $2, and I’m guessing that’s per piece. Your move, Alfanoose.

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 Jen who is seeking all of the vegetarian delights the lower part of the Financial District has to offer.

Name: Jen Kaminsky

Occupation: Project manager

Where you work: The Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB)

Age: 34

Favorite Kinds of Food: Middle Eastern, Indian, Mexican, fresh, local, vegetarian

Least Favorite Foods: Chinese, French, places with limited vegetarian options, mushrooms as meat substitutes.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: The 99% Vegetarian Food Truck at Wall & Front is my definite favorite, but I also like the edamame dumplings from the Rickshaw Dumpling truck, sides from Veronica’s Kitchen cart at Front & Pine, the hongas burrito at Toloache Taqueria, the eggplant sandwich at Fresh Salt on Beekman (btw. Front & South), the eggplant parm sandwich from the pizza truck at Wall and Water (Jiannetto’s?), the “Oreo” cookies at Jack’s Stir Brew on Front (btw. Beekman & Peck), falafel at Alfanoose on Maiden Lane (btw. Broadway & Nassau) or that Kosher hole in the wall on Fulton by Gold St. (Kosher Luncheonette), Pakistan Tea House on Church (at Reade) , Xi’an Famous Foods on E. Broadway (at Forsyth), and well, I wish I had more favorites but the Wall Street area doesn’t offer too much.
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