5:25pm peanut butter cup

The nicest thing happened the other week. We posted about Justin's dark chocolate peanut butter cups and they followed up offering to send us more cups to make sure we were eating the freshest possible ones. Not to be greedy, I asked for one package of 2 cups for M and I and one package of 2 cups for our lovely friend over at CPB Gallery. A couple days later a box shows up. Inside are two full containers, one of a dozen milk chocolate and one of dark. The office mates were informed and I swear to you the entire contents were gone in less than an hour. Good thing we grabbed 2 for ourselves beforehand! Justin's Nut Butter,  we heart you here on Lafayette St.

Toby's Public House

It took Toby's Public House a long time to set up shop on the corner of Kenmare and Mulberry but they made it. Lunch service just started the other week so we stopped by on a perfect day, windows wide open to a slight breeze. I liked the low key vibe, totes casual. We couldn't decide, in the end, if the DOC pizza was on par with L'asso, slightly better or slightly not as good. They seem of a similar level of quality, which is to say good to eat on a regular basis but not necessarily blow your mind fantastic.
Toby's Public House, 86 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mulberry)

4:05pm apple and quince tartlet

It was just a tiny bit soggy, but everything else about the apple and quince tartlet from Grandaisy Bakery was super nice. The flavor of the fruit, the texture and taste of the pastry, yum yum and more of that. This is where our oven-twitter alert would come in handy so that the next time a fresh batch comes out, we would be notified.
Grandaisy Bakery, 73 Sullivan St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Broome and Spring)

Ba'al Cafe & Falafel

It's been two months since our last lunch at Ba'al and I'm happy to report the 3 sides platter is still $7.75. Combined with a Boylan ginger ale, that came to $9.90. A rather filling and satisfying $9.90. I'm always really boring and get a combination of humuus, falafel and fatouche salad, while M. likes beets.
Ba'al Cafe and Falafel, 71 Sullivan St, NY, NY 10012 (above Broome)

4:09pm chipless wonder

I followed my stomach to the Red Hook food trucks this weekend where we ran into Saha and Co. After a lot of food and a couple passes of a frisbee, we gave them a lift to the water's edge by Fairway. We were nearly to Atlantic Ave when I realized we had forgotten to return the frisbee. Back to the water's edge where I looked fruitlessly around for a gang of 4 friends. I gave up after a short while and headed into Fairway instead. There I found Saha's brother and our favorite Tate's cookies, the chipless wonder. Success.
Fairway, 480-500 Van Brunt St, Brooklyn, NY 11231 (at the pier)

La Esquina Cafe

We love the pollo rostizado torta from La Esquina but I must have had a so-so one last time because I haven't felt the craving. M. was in the mood though so we went anyway. And it's good again! They changed the spices a little, it's a spicier than we remember, and every bit just as tasty. The tacos dorado we got to supplement our sandwich half was so-so.
La Esquina, 106 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Cleveland Place)

4:15pm doughnuts

The sun came out just in time to herald the procession of horns making their way out the Holland Tunnel on Broome. It's official, summer time! Bring on the beach, we are ready.

This week we've been obsessed about trash, including pneumatic systems like the one they have installed on Roosevelt Island.

Have you seen Shay Aaron's miniature food sculptures? They are stunning. And tiny. Stunningly tiny.

We like how John Scalzi tries to describe the privilege of straight white men in our society as starting out on the lowest difficulty setting in role playing games.

Some lunch time humor from Pret a Manger USA.

The weather has been in constant state of flux this past week, I got caught inadequately prepared in downpours more than once so hopefully the sun will hold out for a beach day tomorrow. Happy Memorial Day!

Cocoron

The weather cleared up by lunchtime, making it the perfect day for a short stroll over to Cocoron where we were rewarded with a table right away. There are some new cold soba's on the specials menu, it is summertime after all! M. tried the one I really wanted, the yude dori, though mine, the ban ban ji, was delicious anyway.
Cocoron, 61 Delancey St., NY, NY 10002 (btwn Eldridge and Allen)

1:50pm salted caramel apple pie

Maybe my disappointment about lunch at Untitled really stems from the Four & Twenty Blackbirds pie we had for dessert. After all, lunch wasn't all that bad, but the pie, alas the pie. A fresh Four & Twenty Blackbirds pie is one of the most divine things you can consume, but a not so fresh one is not worth mentioning.

Untitled

My expectations might have been too high for Danny Meyer's cafe at the Whitney, Untitled, because I wasn't that impressed, but M. thought it was as expected. It's better than most museum cafes I suppose, and I love the setting and atmosphere. But the lauded pastrami sandwich was just alright and the kale salad nothing particularly special. Still, for a museum, it's pretty nice and for a diner, it's very, very nice.
Untitled at the Whitney Museum, 945 Madison Ave, NY, NY 10021 (at 75th St)

4:00pm oatmeal raisin cookies

For no particular reason, I have this little guideline for buying cookies at Eileen's Special Cheesecake, I always ask for 2 for the 2 of us, but if they tell me it's 3 for $2, then I take 3. If they don't tell me that, I leave with just the 2 for $1.50.
Eileen's Special Cheesecake, 17 Cleveland Pl, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Spring and Kenmare) 

Prince St Pizza

There's nothing spicy about the spicy spring square pizza at Prince St Pizza, it's a fancy name for what seems to be regular pepperoni pizza. But who cares what it's called when you can point to it in the window and when it's decidely delicious - having that crack-like quality of bad junk food that is just so good you can't stop eating. We got 3 slices to share, but that last half we could have easily done without. I especially love the chewiness of the dough followed by dense crunchy crust.
Prince St. Pizza, 27 Prince St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Elizabeth and Mott)

Madison Square Eats

After walking past the first 5 booths at Madison Square Eats, I wanted to stop. The sheer number of awesome sounding choices was overwhelming. In the end we paired a lobster roll from the Red Hook Lobster Pound with sandwich and fries from Ilili. It was a good pairing, the sumac fries are crack-like in nature, we could have eaten just that alone. I continue to enjoy the Maine style lobster roll, though one of these days we should really try a Connecticut one.  We went at 1:30 so the lines were not too bad though it was still crowded enough. I can't even imagine what it's like at noon.
Madison Square Eats, 24th St and Fifth Ave, NY, NY 10011 (west of Madison Sq. Park)

4:05pm red velvet cake

This is more funny if you know my last name is Ha. It's also funny if you heard M. trying to explain to the girl behind the counter what she wanted on the cake, which I didn't, but her retelling of the tale was funny enough. The red velvet cake was dense, not cloyingly sweet and all around pretty damn good. Lulu's changed their name to Empire, for reasons unknown to us, but so far the baked goods seem unaffected. We will, of course, keep you posted.
Empire Cake, 112 Eighth Ave, NY, NY 10011 (btwn 15th and 16th)

Fiat Cafe

I was having one of those classic everything goes wrong rainy Monday mornings so I knew I should have let M. pick instead, but no, I had to go and suggest Cocoron. Which is, of course, closed on Mondays. Which, of course, we didn't remember until we were standing outside the shuttered gate. We headed back west with no particular destination in mind and found ourselves at Fiat Cafe, cozy and comfy with large piping hot bowls of pasta.
Fiat Cafe, 203 Mott St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Kenmare and Spring)

4:50pm strawberry cheesecake

It's going to be a glorious weekend, followed by showers on Monday, so I hope everyone has plans to be outside. Some things we have been talking about here at LUNCH over the past week:

Neither of our mother tongues is English, which may explain our fascination with language and translation, or we're just funny that way. If only we could learn these 25 handy words that don't exist in English, how helpful that would be in expressing ourselves.

Sometimes when I need a pick me up, we take a walk up the street to McNally Jackson. M. peruses books and I smell them. Though, as much as I love the scent of books, I'm not sure the "In the Library" perfume by CB I Hate Perfume is going to do it, though I'm tempted to try.

I'm a sucker for New York stories, like this brief one by Montea on cowbird or this long one about 5 girls in the late 50s starting in the publishing industry, The Best of Everything, by Rona Jaffe.

What will happen to us when the old grandmothers making varenykys in the basement depart this world? Who will fill us up with dumplings and stuffed cabbage?

There is only one week left to the Whitney Biennial so do put it on your list! We're trying to fit a visit and a meal at Untitled for sometime next week.

Have a fabulously sunny weekend! 

Nyonya, with the NYPL

There is something about the NY Public Library that floods our hearts with love and reverence, so when they recently contacted us about an upcoming exhibition, Lunch Hour NYC, we were in seventh heaven. It turned out to be a mutual love affair. They were super excited to get away from the paucity of lunch options in midtown, and we were thrilled to be talking to someone who works in the stacks daily. And, our favorite kind of people! - will eat anything and have no allergies. We ordered some Nyonya favorites, roti canai, stuffed fried tofu, mee siam noodles, the hainanese chicken and a dish I hadn't had there before, the very delicious spinach in a preserved bean curd. We left filled with smiles and happiness.
Nyonya, 199 Grand St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mulberry and Mott)

Miss Korea, with BB and Gordon

Something about Miss Korea BBQ today, more than other Korean BBQ joints, seemed like it was sucking all the volume out of me. I could barely hear Bionic Bites across the table and it was an effort just to talk with Gordon next to me. Still, we all enjoyed a lunch where Tia orders for the table, we trust her judgement so. I love Korean lunches where the entire table is completely covered in a myriad of dishes, large and small.
Miss Korea BBW, 10 W. 32nd St, NY, NY 10001 (btwn Broadway and 5th Ave)

1:50pm rhubarb upside-down cake

Maybe all the waiters at Locanda Verde are trained in the art of food recommendations. We had already decided on the spumoni when somehow he convinced us to add the rhubarb upside-down cake. Again, he was right! We're partial to rhubarb desserts anyway but this one was especially nice. If I hadn't already stuffed my face five plates earlier, I would have kept eating.
Locande Verde, 377 Greenwich St, NY, NY 10013 (at N. Moore)

Locanda Verde, with Mags and David

We had an indulgent two hour lunch today at Locanda Verde with some very close friends to celebrate life events. After a champagne cork pop, we told the waiter we'd take one each of the antipasti (appetizers) except for the ricotta and the salad, one pasta, one secondi and all three contorni (side dishes). After he adjusted a bit for some gluten intolerance, he furthered advised us to definitely order the ricotta (he was right), drop the grandmother's ravioli (too boring) for a recently debuted spaghetti and try the roasted chicken instead of the sea scallops. I'm glad we listened, it was a beautiful meal, perfect for feting life events.
Locande Verde, 377 Greenwich St, NY, NY 10013 (at N. Moore)

4:26pm lemon cookie

The cookie I picked up from Cafe M was so crumbly, M. didn't dare take it out of the bag for a picture. We gently slid it onto a plate and reluctantly picked at the pieces. It was so good! Despite falling apart in our fingers, the texture was really nice and the lemon a pleasant surprise. Now we will definitely have to try another or at least find out if it's meant to crumble as eaten.
Cafe M, 315 Fifth Ave, NY, NY 10016 (on 32nd near 5th Ave)

Rubirosa

Rubirosa is really making inroads into my lunch heart. $10 is such a reasonable price to pay for a small but filling braised beef panini accompanied with a salad, perfectly dressed. I get the best of both worlds, hearty and hot sandwich, light and lovely greens. The spaghetti, which M. had, is unassuming with a pleasant tart sauce and at $12, well priced.
Rubirosa Pizza, 235 Mulberry St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Spring and Prince)

3:50pm peanut butter cup

I love Reese's Peanut Butter cups but processed candy bars tend to be rough on those of us intolerant of lactose. So when I came across Justin's organic dark chocolate peanut butter cups at Jack's the other morning, I couldn't really resist. Especially when the ingredients are so straightforward. M. felt like the peanut butter interior got a bit lost but I was quite happy with this organic alternative.
Jack's Stir Brew Coffee, 222 Front St, NY, NY 10038 (btwn Beekman and Pike Pl)

Cafe Select

The service at Cafe Select is never that efficient, it's part of the Euro charm, slow waitresses made more for cute smiles than quickness of hand. It was a little more frustrating today than usual, but in the end we got our chop salad and bratwurst to share for the perfect proportion of green and meat lunch.
Cafe Select, 212 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 (at Kenmare)

4:10pm baby mangoes

We're having one of those Fridays where the only type of concentration we're capable of is the mindless kind. Good thing the weekend is nigh.

For the past week or so we've been seeing these small miniaturized mango's at the Chinatown fruit stands. They're similar in taste and texture to champagne mangoes or ataulfo mangos, but seriously half the size, maybe 3 inches tops. They're itty bitty! Anyone know what they're called?
 
We want to go to Texas. Imagine walking in Yasuaki Onishi's installation at the Rice Gallery, it would feel like you were in the inside of a rain cloud.

Exciting news from our friends at Specht Harpman, their coffee lid collection is going in The Smithsonian! 

Did you know that in addition to our passion for donuts and kimchi (although not necessarily together), we are also quite addicted to gummy bears? Which makes us super heart love Jason Freeny's scientific anatomy charts of gummy bears and other inanimate objects.

There is a new nuoc mam (fish sauce) that is all the rage among the Vietnamese community here, it's several times more expensive than ordinary fish sauce, but the purity of Red Boat's extra virgin fish sauce is in a class by itself.

Happy weekend lovers of food!

Xe Lua, with Hong

You don't often see Vietnamese summer rolls made with fish, but it exists. We discovered some today at Xe Lua, accompanied by a tart and slightly spicy mango sauce. The sauce is kind of odd, at first it tastes like candy but then it dissolves into blandness. The fish summer roll itself was nice, maybe ask for nuoc cham or a peanut sauce instead.
Xe Lữa, 86 Mulberry St, NY, NY 10013 (below Canal)

3:50pm sticky bun

M. waited for 10 minutes in the perpetually slow line at Bouchon to bring us back a sticky bun for dessert. I don't know that it was worth her time, it's good, but unless you're a extreme nut lover, the inside hid too many crushed pecans. Maybe a dollop of vanilla ice cream would help.
Bouchon Bakery, 10 Columbus Circle, NY, NY 10019 (in the Time Warner Center)

La Churreria, with John

Work has been rather intense lately, with no signs of slowing so we don't really have time for lunch these days, but that's not stopped us before. John too was swamped but equally undaunted about popping down to La Churreria to meet us for a yummy lunch of hot pressed bikini's. They have added some 1/2 sandwich lunch specials to the menu, which I always think is such a nice option to have.
Churreria, 284 Mulberry St, NY, NY 10012 (below Houston)

3:50pm chocolate chip cookie

I didn't think there would be too much left of the chocolate chip cookies Sri brought back from Smile to Go by the time we made it around to afternoon dessert, especially since they were pretty good, but fortune smiled upon us today.
Smile to Go, 22 Howard St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Crosby and Lafayette)

Paris Sandwich

I think you know when you see banh mi for lunch, it means we needed a quickie. And quickie it was. We split one grilled chicken and one grilled pork. I don't know if it was because I kept looking at my watch but somehow I found neither particularly appealing.
Paris Sandwich, 213 Grand St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mott and Elizabeth)

4:54pm chocolate chip cookie

We love the crispiness and the Tate's-like quality of the cookies made at Nolita Mart. However, they tasted a little funny today. Maybe a little like butter that tastes of the refrigerator. I guess that is the downfall of butter, an otherwise most perfect creation by man, that it is susceptible to absorbing the odors of what keeps it from spoiling.
 Nolita Mart, 156 Mott St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Broome and Grand)

Shanghai Cafe w/ Phi

When one of the Ha sisters are in town, it means lunch at Shanghai Cafe Deluxe. We realized today that one of them is around often enough that we rarely go there just the two of us? How did we figure that one out? Because we almost always order the exact same three dishes, and it would be extremely difficult to choose which two of the three to eat, were we just the two of us. And somehow we almost never have to make that decision. Hence we almost always come with three people. And only when there is a fourth person, do we even delve into the rest of the menu.
Shanghai Cafe Deluxe, 100 Mott St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Hester & Canal)

4:46pm apricot tart

We are so in love with the desserts at Petrossian, especially the fruit tarts. They are just simply perfect.
Petrossian, 911 Seventh Ave, NY, NY 10019 (btwn 57th and 58th)

Chipotle, with Hong

71 Spring St, NY, NY 10012

Rating: 4 - Just Fine
Visit #: 1
In brief: Utterly reliable, the proportions are almost as regular as Subway and the lines move fast.

Don't be shocked, but we went to the new Chipotle on Spring today for lunch. The infiltration of a up and coming chain to this particular neighborhood is a bit surprising, especially given the many options for good Mexican food around here. But still we wanted to check it out. Aside from the insane pace of the factory-like ordering line, about as nice a fast experience as can possible. Their signature bowls are filling but not heavy, the spaces are design-y and efficient. The space has had some frequent turnover of restaurants over the past several years, but judging by the hoards of lunchers there today, Chipotle will probably stick around for awhile.

4:30pm donuts

 I smell spring in the air! And it looks like we might have a nice weekend of more or less sunny skies and no socks needed.

Chopsticks are my preferred kitchen utensil and tool, I've never made scrambled eggs with anything but chopsticks. You should try, it works wonders!

It's not entirely surprising to me that breastmilk falls into the umami flavor category.

I love what Bollywood star and overall hottie, Shah Rukh Khan, says about being detained at the border: “Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself, I always make a trip to America. The immigration guys kick the star out of stardom".

This cardboard box office is beautiful but I would be scared to work in it.

Have a glorious weekend, I hope you can spend it outside.

Pho Tu Do

Pho Tu Do, when we first moved to the city, used to be on the east side of the street. My sister and I always got a giggle out of the name, because it basically means Freedom Pho. This was waaaay before freedom fries. Now they're on the west side of the street, still serving totally fine, unremarkable Vietnamese food.
Pho Tu Do, 119 Bowery, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Grand and Hester)

4:10pm chocolate truffles

Yesterday Brigid passed on to us some chocolates made by a woman she met by chance at the copy center. They struck up a conversation and later a little package of chocolates was handed over. It turns out the woman, Sandra, is just setting up her shop, Baseema Chocolate. I hope she succeeds because who wouldn't want chocolates thoughtfully dusted with blue glitter?

Once Upon a Tart

Lunch was a crushingly sad affair today. Once Upon a Tart changed the bread of our favored roast pork loin sandwich from baguette to ciabatta! Hélas mes amis, it changed everything. The ciabatta was way too soft and sweet, completely overwhelming the pork and rosemary aioli. Maybe if it had been toasted or a slightly denser bread, maybe it would be ok. Maybe. Until then, we remain your heartbroken lunch ladies.
Once Upon a Tart, 135 Sullivan St, NY, NY 10011 (btwn Prince and Houston)

4:00pm peanut butter cookie

I walked out of the subway in Brooklyn over the weekend and lo and behold a Milk Bar before my very eyes. I bought 2 crack pie slices, 2 candy bar pie slices, 2 peanut butter cookies and 2 cups of coffee. I debated, because I was taking the pies to a dinner party of 6, between buying only 2 slices versus the 4 but it seemed kind of cheap of me, though I knew we would only manage to finish 2.
Milk Bar Carroll Gardens, 382 Smith St, Brooklyn, NY 11231 (at 2nd Place)

Otto, with Brigid

We had a lovely lunch with our lovely friend Brigid at Otto today. It's not in our regular dining radius, though not so far away either, but since we don't go often I can never resist the chance to have the carbonara that I love oh so much. Brigid ordered an array of small vegetable dishes so we ended up sharing pretty plates filled with romaine salad, asparagus, cauliflower and brocoli rabe.
Otto Enoteca Pizzeria, One Fifth Avenue, NY, NY 10003 (entrance on 8th St)

4:12pm chocolate frosted donut

In this office when you hear the faint whisper of someone saying "donuts", it is always accompanied by a sudden beeline for the kitchen because the rule of the land is first come, first serve for donuts and if you don't get there fast enough, no one will be saving you one.
Donut Pub, 203 W. 14th St, NY, NY 10011 (near 7th Ave)

Menkui-tei

The summer menu is up at Menkui-tei and we eyed it longingly but in the end, hot bowls of ramen prevailed.
Menkui-tei, 63 Cooper Sq., NY, NY 10003 (near Astor Place)