Midtown Lunch

I’m always on the lookout for new carts and it’s not often I spot a new halal one in the landscape of the Financial District. The bright signs on the Don Halal Cart at Pearl St. & Hanover Sq. beckoned me, and while the menu is mostly street meat they also have chicken curry and an interesting-sounding falafel plate involving curried vegetables. The very nice woman working there told me the name of the cart was “Don, like the man’s name,” but just look for the bright yellow signs on the side.

Forgive me lunchers, for I have eaten at a generic deli. I felt a little dirty walking into Stir Cafe at the bottom of Broadway (btw. Whitehall & Exchange Pl.), as most of my lunches come from carts, trucks or places that don’t have a make-your-own salad station. My reason for being here was that a friend tipped me off that Stir has legit roast pork sandwiches (or a platter if you want to spend $10), and since most generic delis only serve a pathetic attempt at a Cubano, I decided to check it out. Fatty pork on pork action straight ahead.

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I haven’t been into Hot Clay Oven, the healthy Indian fast food place on Maiden Lane (btw. Gold & Pearl) but I noticed the other day that in addition to chai tea they also sell a bunch of soups. The offerings include an Indian chicken chili and sweet potato shorba and since it’s a block closer to my office than the nearest Hale & Hearty I might be trying this on a cold day when I’m feeling lazy.

The world can always use another good sandwich shop, and if that shop also sells churros then I think we can all get behind that. La Churreria, next door to parent restaurant Socarrat Paella Bar on Mulberry (btw. Prince & Houston), opened on Monday after some delays, and I happened to get there about an hour after they unlocked the door. There are three different kinds of sandwiches: Breakfast varieties on a roll ($6), bikinis which are toasted on regular bread and comes in four triangular sections ($6), and the larger bocatas ($9.50) on baguette which was the category I ordered from.

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