Midtown Lunch

Niko Niko on Pearl St. (at Wall) is a little bit grubby, even on the outside, but always a good standby for cheap noodle soup, sushi or bento boxes. It was a surprise to walk down John St. and see a gleaming new location of a familiar name on the block between Pearl and Water streets. There weren’t any signs in the windows of the original telling of an imminent closing, so this is either a second location or they’re a while away from opening and aren’t letting customers know yet. Regardless, this is a nice alternative if Mooncake Foods or the deli next door aren’t cutting it come lunch time.

• Hawaii Cupcake Factory coming to Tribeca. [TC]
• The Bourdain food hall/WTC rumors seem to be true! [EaterNY]
• Westville has some legit-looking mac ‘n’ cheese. [FitR]
• A spicy hint at Lahore Deli. [Eating in Translation]

So far in 2014 I haven’t eaten a lunch that made me super excited to write about it. That all changed on Wednesday when my original lunch idea fell through and I impulsively stopped by Veronica’s Kitchen cart because their roti has been on my “to eat” list for ages. Yes, we’ve sampled the jerk chicken before, but let me tell you, it’s superb in roti form and you get a huge amount of food for a mere $6.  Read more »

Manhattan home to at least two food trucks serving Lebanese food. The first was Toum with its exceptional and gigantic sandwiches and potent garlic whip and the second is Bread & Olives that was spotted at Hanover Sq. (btw. Pearl & Water) on Monday and I’m told they also park there on Wednesdays. It looks like the truck parked in Midtown last year, but this is the first I’ve heard or seen of them parking downtown.

The menu features platters or sandwiches with proteins like falafel, lamb cubes, kafta or two kinds of chicken along with breakfast pies and sides. It was early and there was no line so I was sold, and ordered myself a sandwich.

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Chipotle should be just a tiny bit afraid because there’s a new burrito and taco source opening across Maiden Lane. Tres Carnes, which already has one location in the Flatiron and is opening another in Midtown, is opening where Pret A Manger used to be near William St. before the space was flooded during hurricane Sandy.  Read more »

It’s been hard to track down the You Got Smoked truck since it was spotted in the Financial District back in December. They aren’t great about posting their location on Twitter and I refuse to wander the neighborhood on the off chance I’ll find a certain truck. Long story short: I happened upon them at Water and Wall streets on Friday and as it turned out, I was in need of lunch. While I was not wowed by my lunch, there were some high points. Read more »

• The Seaport has a new food truck for the winter. [DNAinfo]
• This awesome hawker market could come downtown! [ENY]
• An updated vegan cafe opening date. [Tribeca Citizen]
• You can get a veg Spicy Rizzak at Tiny’s. [Eat to Blog]
• Khe-Yo’s takeout spot has a new shrimp banh mi. [Grub St.]