Midtown Lunch

Sure, we’ve all seen Thanksgiving sandwiches on the menu at places downtown including Toasties and Lenny’s, but what about turkey and stuffing-filed crepes? Cosmopolitan Cafe on Chambers St. (at W. Broadway) has you covered through the end of November with its buckwheat crepe filled with white and dark meat turkey, stuffing, gravy, lingonberry sauce and mashed sweet potato. I’d have to say this sounds kind of awesome if you’re willing to pay $9.50 for a crepe. I’m just happy that restaurants are starting to think outside the Thanksgiving sandwich or turkey plate box.

Cosmopolitan Cafe, 125 Chambers St. (at W. Broadway), (212) 766-3787

Note: I wrote this before hurricane Sandy messed up the Financial District and its lunch options. And because I’ve been unable to work at my office due to lack of phone or Internet service I haven’t been able to confirm if this truck has continued to park in its usual spot. If nothing else, you get to read about a pork sandwich.

After a couple of failed attempts at catching Tacos El Idolo in its spot off of Whitehall St., (usually on Pearl St. but I think they’ve been on Bridge too), I finally caught up with them late last week after spotting a crowd of be-suited guys waiting on the sidewalk. The menu is similar to the Tacos Morelos truck that parks at Wall & Water everyday, but if you work at the bottommost reaches of the Financial District, Tacos El Idolo is the closer option. While I was tempted by the tacos (as I always am), instead I ordered a cemita and was not disappointed with what I got. Read more »

Most people looking for Malaysian food in Chinatown head to Nyonya on Grand St. which is slightly classier than other places in the neighborhood. If you’re looking for a more bare-bones experience that requires walking down a steep flight of stairs, you may want to consider Sanur which serves some Americanized Chinese food, but specializes in Indonesian and Malaysian food. At first it was unclear if I was walking into a travel agency or restaurant due to the number of travel posters in the stairway. I can confirm that cheap Indonesian food can be found at the bottom of those steep stairs leading to Sanur, and it’s a nice change of pace from all of the Chinese options in the surrounding area.

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It’s officially giant bowl of soup weather. Via Lunch Studio.

• Eating soup in Chinatown is just one way to help downtown businesses. [Lunch Studio]
• A new cafe has opened in an old Bangal Curry space. [Tribeca Citizen]
• 100 reasons to eat downtown (not that you need any). [Fork in the Road]
• A look at what food trucks did to help Hurricane Sandy victims. [SENY]
• This guide to Tribeca cheap eats is random. [Citysearch]
• A look at newly-opened Aamanns-Copenhagen. [Grub St.]