Midtown Lunch

The string of Vietnamese restaurants on Baxter St. between Bayard St. and Walker are among my favorite places to eat in Chinatown and although I’ve tried the pho at Nha Trang, I’d never eaten at Thai Son . Since it was a sweltering summer day, I bypassed the pho section of the menu and instead went for some bun with a mix of Vietnamese spring rolls and grilled pork on top. The generic “grilled pork” on the menu sounds pretty basic, and it is, but calling it pork candy may be more accurate.

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A while ago one of my friends persuaded me to eat at Dim Sum Go Go on E. Broadway (at Chatham Sq.), and it wasn’t bad. No, you don’t get the charm of the carts going by, but if you’re looking for a somewhat quick dim sum lunch near City Hall and the government buildings and courthouses it’s a good option. While there I noticed they had a 10-piece dim sum platter on the lunch menu for precisely $10 and decided to go back and see if it was worth bypassing the cheaper options in Chinatown.

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The stars aligned one day when I had to head up to Little Italy/Chinatown, and just so happened to be right across the street from Banh Mi Saigon Bakery on Grand St. (btw. Mott & Mulberry). It turns out this site has never done a proper review of the place, although it did fare well in a Banh Mi Battle Royale that Daniel conducted. I am never one to turn down a cheap sandwich, especially if it’s from a combination jewelry store/banh mi seller. This works way better than combination Pizza Hut/Taco Bell. Read more »

It’s that time of year when everything smells like hot garbage and cold lunches start to sound good. Yesterday was a scorcher and at first I was thinking a sandwich sounded good for lunch. But then I remembered that a new location of Xi’an Famous Foods had opened on Bayard St. (btw. Mott & Elizabeth) and that they had a few cold noodle dishes. This immediately sounded like a way better idea than a sandwich so I made my way to the J train for the first time in a long time and headed up to Chinatown.

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It is definitely hearty, carb-filled food weather but I have grown tired of the options down in the Financial District. Sure, there’s the Hot Soup Cart when something warm sounds good, but I’ve found that hit or miss, and I can only eat the pho at Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches so many times before that too becomes boring. This is when I look for an excuse to head to Chinatown and I found that with a Serious Eats post on the food at Bo Ky on Bayard (btw. Mulberry & Mott). The shrimp rolls looked like something that needed to be consumed (by me), and I am always OK with noodle soup in its many glorious forms. Read more »

I know it’s strange to head up to Chinatown or Little Italy to eat at newish Bluebird Sky instead of eating at one of the million cheap Asian or Italian places there. But this cafe on Baxter (btw. Canal & Hester) came highly recommended by lunch’er Mark and also lured me in with its promise of a muffuletta listed on the menu. And since it’s right by the Canal St. subway stop I decided it was time to if their sandwiches were up to the task of being my lunch.  Read more »

As you guys may know by now I like dumplings. Any kind of dumplings. And when you give me 5 of them for $1, and throw in a sesame pancake on the side I couldn’t ask for a better carb-explosion of a lunch. I hadn’t been to Prosperity Dumpling on Eldridge St. (btw. Hester & Canal) in a while because it’s not exactly close to where I work. It’s well-known among those who love cheap, delicious Chinatown treats, but shunned by those who would rather walk up the street a couple of blocks to the larger (and more expensive) Vanessa’s Dumpling House. I actually discovered Prosperity after going to Vanessa’s one day and seeing how packed it was. Read more »