Midtown Lunch

I wasn’t sure what to expect when walking into Maid Cafe NY on Centre St. (at Walker) in Chinatown. Would I be accosted by ladies dressed as maids? Would the food be terrible? Neither of these turned out to be entirely true, although the cafe is probably better used as the source of Japanese sweets than a solid lunch.  Read more »

Last week the Banh Mi Cart at Hanover Sq. and Pearl started serving beef noodle soup (aka, pho) which was a departure from their roster of sandwiches, spring rolls and drinks. This is kind of great news for the winter months when a heart soup may sound better than a sandwich, but could pho from a cart be any good? The answer is yes, but with some caveats.  Read more »

This place got an A but its neighbors may not have.

An article recently came out saying that only 51% of the restaurants in Chinatown have earned an A grades from the Department of Health. This doesn’t sound so bad until you compare it with the statistic that 80% of restaurants in the rest of NYC have gotten an A. I’ve noticed that ethnic eateries in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations often have a B, C or Grade Pending displayed in the window, but it doesn’t really bother me. However, changes are being made to try to reverse the trend.  Read more »

• The FiDi’s now home to a creperie with strange fillings. [DNAinfo]
• Blue Planet Grill serves pizza now? [Tribeca Citizen]
• The best tourist-friendly spots on the LES. [SENY]
• How to help out the last holdout at Pier 17. [Eater]

Did you know there is a culture in Japan where you go to a cafe and are served by a woman dressed as a maid? Well, this exists, and apparently we have one of these eateries called Maid Cafe NY downtown on Centre St. (at Walker). Based on reviews online the place has been open for a few months, but we just heard about it, and hey, it’s not often that you get a press release about a lunch spot where the workers wear maid costumes. They mostly have desserts (green tea cheesecake seems to be the thing here), but they also have breads like curry pan along with Japanese curry, rice balls and a beef bowl for Chinatown-like prices. This is the place for you if Takahachi Bakery seems too pedestrian. Photo via Maid Cafe NY.

The South Street Seaport businesses are slowly coming back to life, but there are still many that are closed for good or still under construction. Along Front St. are many eateries that have managed to reopen. Some got lucky because they are raised up off the street, while others like Barbarini Alimentari struggled. News came that the dual owners had parted ways, but one opted to reopen Barbarini as Barbalu. The menu is somewhat the same with reasonably-priced sandwiches and more expensive pastas. They had good food before and I had faith that the sandwiches would remain tasty. I was right.

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The Old Traditional Polish Cuisine truck started trolling the streets of the city a while ago and has been consistently parking at the World Financial Center north food truck lot on Wednesdays. I finally caught up with them, now that it’s not humid or warm enough to make eating a plate of Polish classics sound as appealing as standing on the subway platform at rush hour. The good news is that no matter what you order you’re not likely to go away hungry.

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