Midtown Lunch

I went back to the basics this week to try and find the Financial District’s equivalent of the street meat all-stars reigning over Midtown we hear so much about. It’s always “Famous Halal Guys” this and “Trini-Paki Boys” that. Well when’s it gonna be our turn? When are we gonna have a Halal cart to make the Midtowners drool? This is the mission I’ve taken upon myself: to find the best Halal cart downtown. It will be difficult, but I am willing to sacrifice many a lunch break in this treacherous journey. And I shall not rest until I have found that cart.

*Ahem* Right. So, the cart that caught my eye this round is called Ruchi Cafe on Maiden Lane between William and Nassau. I’ve been keeping an out for any stirrings at the downtown Baoguette location at 9 Maiden Lane and when I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary a couple weeks ago, I took a wander down the road and stumbled across this cart. I didn’t remember seeing it there before so I took a gamble on a rainy day to see what I could come up with.

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Some news for our Downtown Lunch’ers about the Frites N Meats Truck… not only are they now open until 7pm, and will take orders over the phone (917.292.9226), but they’ve also added a new “Burger of the Week”.  The first one gets introduced on Monday and it’s called the “Mediterranean Burger”, featuring “Ground Lamb, Goat Cheese, and Figs Marinated in Port”.  Oh my.

Related:
Downtown Lunch: Your First Look at the Frites N Meats Burger

Yips could be a Manhattan restaurant empire, or “yip” could just be a Chinese word for restaurant. I am absolutely clueless. Either way, there are a lot of them. There’s the Yips that Zach wrote about in Midtown (plus Ho Yip), and The Google has listings for three Yip’s downtown as well a Yip’s Dragon Style Kung Fu on the Lower East Side. So while there’s nothing apparently “Dragon Style” about the Yip’s Restaurant on Beaver St. between Broadway and Broad, its sprawling pay-by-the-pound buffet is chock full of ways for cheap Chinese addicts to get their fix.

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I hate decisions. Quite frankly, they’re one of the reasons I avoid pay-by-the-pound lunch bars because I want a little bit of everything on display. And I’m no different when it comes to choosing a place to eat every week or two to write up for Downtown Lunch. So on Wednesday when we heard about the Frites N’ Meats truck opening, it was like the clouds had opened and the sun was shining on my little cubical. And the best part? The menu was just two items! Burger + Fries. And I had to write about both of them? No choices? The heavens were definitely smiling… or so I thought.

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Earlier in the month the Schnitzel Truck threw competition to the wind, and hipped everyone to a brand new vendor hitting the scene called Frites N Meats. One would assume burger and fries from the twitter account, but it’s all been pretty shrouded in secrecy… until today. The Frites N Meats has been spotted setting up on Greenwich and Chambers this morning- and from the looks of their website they’re serving up burgers and fries. They’ve got two kinds of burgers from DeBragga (grass fed angus, and wagyu), three different buns from Balthazar (brioche, potato onion, and sesame seed), and 5 different kinds of cheese from Murray’s (gruyere, goat, brie, cheddar, and blue.)  Uh… that sounds pretty great.

We found out that their permit is only for that location in Washington Market Park… so sadly there will be no Frites N Meats for Midtown. (Boooooo!) I guess I take a little bit of solace knowing that our Downtown Lunch’ers are incredibly happy right now (but not much.)

Check out the menu, after the jump.

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The Ravioli Fair cart outside One Chase Plaza got no love in the forums, and I know Daniel was not a big fan, but I think the place is getting a bad rap. I remembered having some great food there in the past… not only their Italian heroes, but also their pasta dishes. I decided to try it out once again.

Admittedly the results were mixed. You guys were right about the sandwiches, which are pretty underwhelming. Decent, just not anything I think I couldn’t get from one of the half-million pizzerias down here. The pasta, however, was even better than I remembered- and more than justifies this cart’s presence on downtown’s crowded streets.

The lasagna alone should put this place on the map, and even if you’re in the market for a hero, you could do a lot worse than Ravioli Fare.

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Rickshaw Dumpling is selling their new Szechuan dumplings down in Hanover Square, and the Schnitzel & Things Truck has got goat cheese spaetzle (wha!?!?) on Water and Broad.  When are these guys back in Midtown again?!