Archive for June 2009

Downtown Lunch: Little Ochi Hot Spot

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent. Every Friday he writes up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (insuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.)

Downtown Lunch: Little Ochi Hot Spot

I was drawn to the the Little Ochi Hot Spot cart by a man rattling a fistful of bells, calling out – “It’s lunchtime, come get your lunch!” I really loved that. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone use that approach. Sure the Indian guys on 6th street stand outside and ask you to come in to eat, but this was funny and immediately drew me in.

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Do Downtown Vendors Get Hassled Too?

We’ve posted a ton about the troubles Midtown street vendors face every day, but from the looks of the twitter message the same feuds exist Downtown!  People’s Pops, a fairly newish vendor that specializes in popsicles made from greenmarket fruit, has gotten permission to sell their goods in Battery Park through July 20th.  But apparently even “permission” doesn’t grant you immunity from the Mr. Softee trucks. From one of the People’s Pops folks: “We haven’t been hassled, but when they come around and park illegally, it competes with us and they are definitely less expensive. Plus, those f!@#ers are under a roof! I am so over this rain!!!”  It’s kind of funny to see a hipster vendor threatening a Mr. Softee Truck… usually it’s the other way around.

They probably won’t be out today at lunch, because of the crappy weather- but Downtown Lunchers can follow their whereabouts on Twitter or on their blog.  (Nothing like a nice cool popsicle after lunch on a super hot day.)  And stay tuned for Daniel’s downtown lunch column, which will be up in just a bit…

Chinatown’s Wah Mei Fast Food Will Deliver Pork Chops to Midtown

Mai Wah Pork Chop Fast Food

I’m a huge fan of the newish NYC Cravings truck, which serves Taiwanese style pork chops and fried chicken over rice and pork sauce with pickled cabbage two days a week in Midtown.  But not everybody agrees with me.  There are those who claim it’s not nearly as good as the places in Chinatown, to which I’ve always said: “well, we’re not in Chinatown!”  And even though most of us don’t have the time to trek down to Chinatown for Taiwanese pork chops,  it looks like Chinatown will actually bring pork chops to us!  Got this email from Lunch’er Teresa yesterday:

Just an FYI, my co-workers and I just had lunch delivered from Wah Mei Pork Chop Fast Food (on Hester btw. Baxter & Mulberry.) It was a success.  You just need to order at least 4 items, and do it by 11am, and apparently they will deliver ANYWHERE in Manhattan.  (My office is on 52nd and 7th).

Their “order”, with prices, is after the jump…

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Downtown Lunch: Diwan-E-Khaas

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (insuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.)

Diwan E Khaas

Why should Queens have all the good Indian food? Is it really that hard to get some good spots in Manhattan that aren’t on East 6th street or Murray Hill? This week I hadn’t planned on eating Indian food as I had just photographed an Indian wedding last weekend and got to eat some amazing food there. In other words my once a month Indian craving had been filled. After reading this comment on my Country kebab post, I had planned to check out Koyzina Grill to see if the kebabs there were really that great. Sadly though, the only kebabs I saw on the menu were shrimp, and cost like 14 bucks.

Funk that I said and wondered if I was supposed to check out the Koyzina Cafe, which is across the street on the corner. But the only thing I saw on that menu was a bunch of pasta dishes and regular sandwiches. When I asked, “Do you guys have kebabs?”, I got this reply: “What’s a kebab?” WHAT?! Needless to say, I left without answering him.

I walked back to the street, dizzy with hunger and disappointment, only to find a cheap looking Indian lunch spot starring me down and calling to me, with one of my favorite things in the world… the scent of fresh baked naan.

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Downtown Lunch: Guactastic Burritos From Gloria's Pushcart

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (ensuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.) PLUS there’s a bonus cartoon at the bottom (for those who’d rather watch a review than read it.)

Downtown Lunch: Gloria's

After reading about the Ravioli Faire cart in the ML Forums I went to check out their chicken parm, but was rather disappointed. I also tasted the meatball which was better, but still not worth posting about (IMHO). It wasn’t a complete waste though. That day I discovered Gloria’s pushcart, a Mexican vendor specializing in burritos, just 15 feet away.

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Downtown Lunch: Finding New Options at the Dine Around Festival

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (ensuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.)

Dine Around Downtown Lunch Festival

This past Tuesday was the annual Dine Around Downtown event at Chase Manhattan Plaza. A ton of upscale restaurants pitched tents and served some of their more popular dishes, keeping the costs low enough to sample some of their best stuff.

I went to check it out and ended up stuffing myself silly- obviously spending more money than I normally would on lunch, but isn’t that kinda the point of these things? The lines were crazy long and the scene was mad but people were happy walking around with their bowls of lobster mac-n-cheese and waiting on the long ass line for a $6 Delmonico’s steak sandwich (I just couldn’t fathom that wait).

What I did end up waiting for, is after the jump…

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Downtown Lunch Dine Around

Our Downtown correspondent Daniel Krieger checks in to let us know about a tasting event going on today during lunch in the Chase Manhattan Plaza.  50 restaurants, and everything is $3 to $6. Get all the details in the forums>>