Midtown Lunch

Tribeca isn’t exactly teeming with crappy Chinese takeout restaurants, although if you want a slightly alarming by-the-pound buffet experience, that can be had. A generic deli on Chambers St. (btw. Broadway & Church) with a buffet morphed into Sunny One restaurant recently and a look at their menu showed that they have a pretty sweet lunch special for $6. You not only get to choose from a wide array of Americanized Chinese dishes, but you get rice (fried or plain), and your choice of soup or a soda. Another bonus is it’s not scooped off a steam table, but made to order. I was sold. The place has retained its by-the-pound buffet which is about 75 percent Chinese carbs and 25 percent salad bar. At $5.99 per pound, it’s no bargain, so you’re almost certainly better off ordering the lunch special or something else off the menu.

Although I ordered the chicken with peanuts (kung pao chicken?), I ended up with cashew chicken. I’m not that discerning with my Americanized Chinese cuisine, but if you are you might want to crack open the container before leaving and make sure you got what you wanted. It was dark meat chicken, for which I was thankful, and was actually pretty good. The pork wonton soup contained two giant wontons in chicken broth and was skippable. This time of year going the soda route might be best. When I opened up my bag I was surprised to see a little bonus bag of what at first looked like french fries but were actually fried pieces of wonton or egg roll skin. Weird, but tasty.

I was pretty impressed by what $6 got me in Tribeca – even on a stretch of Chambers St. populated by fast food and dive bars. I’d definitely stick to ordering off the menu over the buffet, though, or go down the street to China Red where the buffet’s $4.50 per pound.

Sunny One Restaurant, 94 Chambers St. (btw. Broadway & Church), (212) 385-2188