Midtown Lunch

This happened a little while ago, but Jou Jou Cafe on the corner of Maiden Lane and Nassau St. has closed. It used to be my go-to for a sandwich or soup when it was cold or the weather was bad and walking too far for lunch was out of the question. However, in the past year it seemed like no one was eating there anymore, and a couple of the sandwiches I bought were less than excellent. Thankfully, the excellent French Cafe Gourmand up Maiden Lane will more than fill the void.

I can’t always offer a good explanation of why I like a place, and Jou Jou Cafe on the corner of Nassau and Maiden Lane is one that stumps me a bit. It’s not the tastiest or the cheapest or the nicest or the most creative, but I still find myself coming back.

Maybe it’s the always-very-friendly staff, or maybe the consistently interesting selection of sandwiches. Or maybe it’s just that while Jou Jou is not superlative in any one category, it does well in all of them. Whenever I go – which is pretty often – I feel like I’ve gotten a good meal for a good price.

You’ll find drool-inducing photos of two such meals after jump.

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Egg Salad does not get a whole lot of love here on Midtown Lunch. In fact, there’s little about this old lunchtime workhorse on the site beyond this post on the forum sending those seeking egg salad to Ess-a-Bagel or Eisenberg’s.  And I can understand why. Bad egg salad is truly awful, and most egg salad out there is bad egg salad. I love egg salad that I’ve made myself when I can keep the mayonnaise level under control, but I almost never order it when I’m eating out.

Unless there’s a really good reason to, and the relatively new Jou Jou Café at Nassau St. and Maiden Lane offers up just such a reason: Their egg salad is not just any egg salad. It’s Israeli egg salad.

Hell yes.

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