Midtown Lunch

First things first: Pakistan Tea House is up to a B rating from the Department of Health! The Pakistani standby on Church St. (at Reade) was saddled with the dreaded C the last time I ate there, not that I care about such things when there is a cheap, quality steam table lunch at hand.

I was here to try their three-item vegetarian combo, which we’ve somehow not reviewed on this site, instead focusing on the chicken dishes. They have several vegetarian items on offer every day and while none of them were labeled, I found that pointing and asking “What’s that?” worked just fine. I ended up with two hits and a miss using this system.

Read more »

I’m probably late to the party in noticing this but the Pakistan Tea House was hit with a C grade from the Department of Health. The grade probably comes as a surprise to no one, and likely won’t stop any cabbies from eating there, but it was the first one I’ve seen downtown. I guess we should all be thankful they didn’t get shut down by the DOH like Win Won and then close for good.

Midtown workers shouldn’t have all the fun, so to even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (ensuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food.) If everybody else on the site is given the opportunity to vent, I figure Daniel is entitled too. Here’s a little story of what happened to our Downtown Lunch reporter when he bypassed his goto Pakistani lunch spot, in favor of a cheaper option down the street.

Who doesn’t get the craving for Indian food every once in awhile? Spicy, flavorful lamb mixed with vegetables I never knew existed before moving to NYC. And of course the Naan… one of my greatest third-wordly pleasures is a fresh piping piece of naan peeled off the inside of a red hot tandoor.

A few nights ago I decided to save myself a buck and eat at Taste of Tandoor on Church street, walking past my normal go-to, Pakistani Tea House. The food is similar, good cheap steam table Pakistani/Indian food. Neither place gives you what you can get in Jackson Heights, but it works.

Then things went all wrong…

Read more »

Making Downtown office workers jealous is something this blog has been doing for awhile now. To even the score, I’ve brought on Daniel Krieger as an official Downtown Lunch Correspondent to write up some of the tasty stuff you can get in the lower half of Manhattan. He’s a great photographer (insuring good food porn), but more importantly he is a lover of cheap, unique and delicious eats (or as I like to call it- Midtown Lunch’ish food), and seems to be particularly fond of Chinatown (my dream lunch location).  This week, he ventures away from Canal St. to hit up the Pakistan Tea House, (Paki to those in the know) a favorite of many Downtown lunchers that can’t help but remind me of that Seinfeld episode where Jerry convinces the restaurant owner to stop calling his food Indian, in favor of his native Pakistan.  I think I found it extra funny because my best friend from Junior High was Pakistani, and his family owned a restaurant called “House of India”.  Hilarious!

Pakistan Tea house, on Church street (btw. Duane+Reade) is a downtown stalwart. The place has been there over 15 years and the recipes haven’t changed (a good thing), but neither have the tables, chairs, and decor (not so good).  Just like most of the food in Midtown, if you want the best you are going to have to travel to the outer boroughs.  And for Pakistani food, it’s no different (the best in New York can be found in Jackson Heights, Queens).  But for those of us stuck in Downtown for lunch, there isn’t any better, fresher food, from this part of the world, and at these prices, than the Paki Tea House. Read more »