Midtown Lunch

Just when I think we’ve discovered every lunch secret in the Financial District on this site, another one comes out of the woodwork. While doing some online research for another post I stumbled upon a place called Dovid’s Kosher in a building on Exchange Place (at William) that I’d never heard of. I’d reviewed two other spots on this same block and wondered how I’d never noticed a kosher deli. It turns out it’s because it’s inside a building, basically in a hallway, and you can’t really see it from the street. This called for an investigation.  Read more »

Have you ever thought, “I wonder what my pizza would taste like on a puff pastry base?” Well, wonder no more, because Bravo Pizza on Trinity Place (nr. Exchange Alley) has you covered with its malawach pie.

We’ve seen our share of types of pizza in this city, but the kosher spot doesn’t seem to be flaunting its flaky take on the Italian standby.

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Whenever a craving for something tasty and vegetarian hits, the usual suspects flow into my brain, namely any number of carts serving great falafel. Sometimes I want more than fried chickpea orbs, and the other day I decided to revisit Pita Express on Ann St. (btw. Nassau & B’way) because I remembered I’d had a phenomenal chicken pita sandwich there last year and had vowed to go back to try the delicious array of Israeli salads and dips behind glass at the counter. The glatt kosher restaurant wasn’t as busy as normal but that may have been because it was Friday heading into a long weekend. I ended up ordering a vegetarian sampler platter and despite telling myself I wouldn’t be able to eat everything and still function after lunch, I did anyway and it was worth it.

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Across the street from perpetually mobbed La Esquina you’ll find Hoomoos Asli on Kenmare St. (at Cleveland Pl.) which is the area’s answer to Crisp (that is until Taim opens its new flagship shop in Nolita) or a go-to falafel cart. The restaurant serves Israeli takes on pita sandwiches and platters and although the falafel and other vegetarian sandwiches are the cheapest options on the menu that’s often over $10, I zoned in on the chicken schnitzel sandwich and decided to make an fried addition for an extra $1.

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A couple of weeks ago we reported that kosher food hall Milk Street Cafe on Wall St. (nr. William) was on the verge of closing after a sharp decline in people eating there, and now it looks like that’s becoming a reality. They’ll close the doors for good after today. There was a whole lot of fanfare when the place opened in June, giving those who keep kosher a place where they could actually sit and eat lunch and didn’t only sell falafel. In the months since then the presence of barricades has increased on the street outside the restaurant due to Occupy Wall St., and Milk Street’s owner said that was the main reason for a 30% drop in business. Now the massive space will be empty, and hopefully not filled by some terrible chain restaurant. I only ate at Milk Street once when it opened, but were any of you regular customers who are going to miss this place?

A couple of weeks ago a sign popped up in a window on Nassau Street announcing the forthcoming (and terribly named) Kortako coming soon from the people behind Bon Chon on John St. I’d never eaten any of their non-Korean fried chicken items so headed over with a co-luncher for an investigative look into whether we had any right to be excited about them bringing us a taco and sandwich shop. Read more »

Up until Milk Street Cafe opened on Wall St. last week the options for kosher food in the Financial District (OK, and most of the area this part of the site covers) was limited to glorified generic delis, a place that consists of a take-out window and another place with not a whole lot of seating. Milk Street is the classiest option that the kosher among us have, and nearly everything on the menu is more than $10. If you don’t keep kosher then you might not eat here just because the prices are higher than you’d normally find, but the food seems high-quality and there are options galore. Read more »