Midtown Lunch

If you thought the Financial District didn’t have enough options for bread with holes in the middle, you’re in luck: A location of Simit + Smith opened today on William St. at Platt. They specialize in Turkish simit which are the thinner, lighter cousin of the bagel, and they also have at least one solid sandwich. Between this and Blue Spoon Coffee across the street, this block has some solid carb options. Also, according to their Twitter, if you have a government ID you can get a free simit through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

One of the constants in the food truck scene of the Financial District during the past year or two has been the Ambizza Cafe Truck which came blazing in with claims of the city’s best kofta kebabs. That wasn’t necessarily true, but as that was the only dish I’d tried it was time for a return visit.

The truck has been parking at Old Slip & Water every day, even after hurricane Sandy left all of you Lunch’ers down by Bowling Green with few dining options and many trucks abandoned us termporarily due to a lack of parking spots.

Anyway, the short story is I finally did a repeat visit to Ambizza and am happy to report they do a nice plate of chicken over rice for only a couple of dollars more than the street meat carts.  Read more »

It’s rare that I eat breakfast anywhere but at home since I get to work at a non-early hour, but the other day I happened to be in need of both coffee and something to eat. What to do? Finally check out the Turkish Coffee Cart on Wall St. (btw. Pearl & Water), that’s what. Read more »

If you’ve worked in the Financial District, chances are you’ve heard of Alfanoose on Maiden Lane (btw. Broadway & Nassau). It’s something of an institution in that it’s been there since 1999 and at some point earned recognition for having some of the best falafel in the city. I am not really into their falafel which is in a long cylinder rather than the usual orb, offing the ratio of fluffy inside to crust, and is a couple of dollars more than you’re going to pay at any street cart.

That was the only sandwich I’d eaten there, but then a couple of weeks ago Lunch’er Deep once again recommended the kafta kebab sandwich tweaked to include fried onions. Ground lamb and beef cooked over charcoal sounded pretty great, but would it redeem Alfanoose?

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I know many of you are fans of Alfanoose on Maiden Lane (btw. Broadway & Nassau), but based on the couple of times I’ve eaten there I have to say I just don’t get the hype. Maybe at one point their falafel was phenomenal, but these days I’d rather head over the Crisp for one of their wild concoctions. One place that often falls under the radar and offers many of the same items as Alfanoose is The Country Kebab over at Fulton & Gold. A look at the menu showed something called muchver, aka zucchini patties. I’d had something similar at Pita Press and was interested in how Country Kebab’s version compared. Read more »