Midtown Lunch

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, we have Zachary who has an interesting food dislike and would rather dig into a plate lunch.

Name: Zachary Lerner

Occupation: Program analyst

Where you work: Broadway & Worth

Age: 31

Favorite kinds of food: Now that it’s feeling a bit more like Fall, I’m looking for soups and stews with a thick wedge of bread. As long as it’s not cream-based there’s no need for a second course.

Least favorite foods: Thai food.  This is probably my own fault, I have a really hard time finding standout Thai restaurants in the city.  One blends into the other and it ends up a sugar, basil, lemongrass and chili blah.

Favorite lunches downtown: The takeout pho at Thai Son on Baxter (btw. Bayard & Walker), where they give you the broth in one container and the meat and noodles in another.  The banh mi is a good value at $4.  Yeah, I know I said I don’t like Thai food and the place is called Thai Son.  It’s a Vietnamese joint, trust me. Church near Canal St. may be my favorite area.   The Spanish-American place (West Side Coffee Shop ) next to Sea World is very filling even though its best dishes breach $10.  If you don’t overeat it’s two meals for sure. Where else…the Pane Panelle sandwich place that opened off of Stuzzicheria on Church St. (at Walker) is good too. The first time I went there I was irritated with the small portions.  The sandwiches are 1/2 to 2/3 the size of what you might find at a typical deli.  However, about ten minutes after eating I was full so it may turn out to be the correct amount of food.  Also, the complimentary caponata served on the side is delightful, caramelized eggplant and pine nuts. When I’ve really earned it, I’ll walk up to Salume on West Broadway (at Grand).

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A couple of weeks ago the Bongo Brothers truck deviated from its normal parking spots in the Flatiron and other areas and came down to the Financial District. Now it seems they’re parking down here once a week so I thought I’d go try some of their food since we’re not exactly brimming with Cuban options, mobile or not. In fact, ever since the Qba Cuban Kitchen truck went back to New Jersey permanently, we’ve had to make do with Sophie’s or the odd generic deli that sells pernil. While I’m no Cuban food expert, I was pretty happy I went out of my way to eat here.  Read more »

Two fancy Italian meats, one tasty sandwich. Courtesy of Lunch Studio.

• Yet another bakery serving lunch is opening in Soho. [Grub St.]
• A new peel noodle shop has surfaced in Chinatown. [Fork in the Road]
• Salume’s sandwiches are still killing it. [Lunch Studio]
• Pret is currently invading Tribeca. [Tribeca Citizen]
• Eating everything on the menu at Saigon Vietnamese Sandwich sounds deliciously hard. [Serious Eats NY]

Last week word on the street was that Vietnamese sandwich shop Baoguette was moving into a location on Nassau St. between John & Fulton but it was unclear what would happen to their current location on Maiden Lane. That question was answered this morning as signs have appeared in the windows of both locations. As you can see above, some sandwich porn is all it takes to advertise what’s going into the former dry cleaning shop. Click through to see what the hastily-written (I hope) sign in the current location says.

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Summer is the ideal time to enjoy a lobster (or shrimp or crab) roll from Luke’s Lobster on S. William (at Broad) although really you can’t go wrong with one in the colder months either. No matter how much we try to deny it, freezing cold is on its way and with that comes soup weather. A little bit lost amid all of the seafood stuffed into hot dog rolls is the chowder and bisque section of Luke’s’ menu. It’s a good way to enjoy some seafood without breaking your lunch budget.

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