Midtown Lunch

It’s true this site has a bias against the many generic delis dotting the downtown landscape. It’s also true that some of them serve at least one thing that differentiates them from the others, whether it’s roast pork, rare roast beef or Korean food. A while back, someone tipped us off that Variety Cafe on Broadway had a mongolian grill where you pick your fixings and they cook it for you. After an investigation, it seems that you need to employ some sort of strategy to keep your lunch here under $10.

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It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with L&L Hawaiian BBQ on Fulton St. (at Gold), one of the city’s only sources of greasy, carby Hawaiian plate lunch and Span musubi. They were closed by the Department of Health last fall, and then reopened, but I’ve got to say I’ve been a little afraid of returning for another lunch. I may have to though because they now have a $5.99/pound Chinese buffet Chinese food steam table (not by-the-pound, upon further investigation). I think in place of the sushi bar that used to be up front. This price point is on par with Yip’s a couple of blocks away on William St. so there’s a little competition brewing.

L&L Hawaiian BBQ, 64 Fulton St. (at Gold), (212) 577-8888

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. Read more »

I had one of those days recently where come lunchtime all I wanted to do was eat greasy food and get my recommended daily salt intake in one sitting. While I had many options to do that I opted to head over to Oriental Express on Cedar (btw. William & Pearl) to check out the buffet. I haven’t eaten at a by-the-pound buffet since New China Red in Tribeca scared me with its buffet sushi and communal soy sauce. I hadn’t quite committed to the buffet when I went down the stairs into the underground dining room, but it looked pretty good and at $5.95 a pound I wouldn’t be losing a whole lot of money if it did suck. Read more »

If you’ve ever gotten off the subway at Canal and Centre streets, you’ve probably noticed the giant yellow awning proclaiming the five combination for $4.50 deal at Lunch Box Buffet. I know I have! Until now I’ve never tried it because, really, there are so many options in the area for cheap food that I was waiting for a day when I had an intense craving for crappy Chinese and happened to be in the area. Well, those events happened recently and I headed inside to a magical world where you didn’t have to pay by the pound to sample multiple items. Read more »

There are just some restaurants that scream “Midtown Lunch” at me when I see them, and New China Red on Chambers St. (btw. Church & W. Broadway) is definitely one of those establishments. Sure, it has a red awning jutting out onto the sidewalk like a fancy hotel, but it’s kind of worn and there are giant signs in the window on neon poster board proclaiming the cheapness of its lunch buffet, and the fact that no outside food is allowed. It was my first time trying a buffet at a Chinese restaurant downtown, and hey, if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it on the cheap. What sort of delicious things awaited me inside? Would my stomach survive? Answers to these burning questions after the jump. Read more »

I was wandering down West Broadway one day when I walked past two seemingly nameless restaurants, each with the same black and white striped awning.  Then I saw the words “Vietnamese sandwiches” inside the smaller one and may have squealed a little. It turns out the larger place is a sit-down Southeast Asian restaurant Mangez Avec Moi, or “Eat With Me.” They had some tasty enough sounding lunch specials for $7.50, but my heart was after the restaurant’s “Express” take out sandwich shop next door.

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