Category: lunch

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asian lunch

Pongsri Thai’s Massaman Curry

Man, I haven’t had Massaman Curry in so long. I used to to Pongsri Thai all the time with my friends from work. We came to visit Thai Todd. We don’t know if that was his name, but we called him that.

This time I took my out of town friends, John and Alan, to Pongsri for lunch. I got my Massaman Curry (Thai spiced curry paste cooked in coconut milk, peanuts, onion and potatoes $7.95). I love coconut milk curry. Creamy and seemingly easy on the stomach. Tasty! My friends loved their meal too.

Pongsri Thai Chelsea – 165 W 23rd St (btwn 7th & 6th Ave) New York, NY 10011

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lunch sandwich

Num Pang Nomad Sandwich Shop

They just opened up a Num Pang Sandwich shop in my work-hood (Flatiron area). They make Cambodian style sandwiches, which seem to be very similar to Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwiches for point of reference. The first time I walked by it was packed and the line was long. The guy handing out menus outside told me the line goes quick. I didn’t believe him and stood there staring at him.

So this time I came back with Sam and Chris and there were people, but not so packed. We walked in, turned around and instantly 15 people were behind us. It did go quick though. Even so much that right after I ordered, my food was ready. I couldn’t believe it. Sam was like “#230, that’s your number!” I didn’t believe him, but it was true. They must’ve had that sandwich ready already.

I ordered the Five-Spice Glazed Pork Belly sandwich (w/ Pickled Asian Pear $8.50). I took a little container of Sriracha hot sauce and waited for my friends to get their sandwiches and a corn on the cob. Dang, this sandwich was fantastic. I knew that they made pretty good sandwiches, but I was stunned how much I liked it. Definitely one of the best Banh Mi’s I’ve ever had. I don’t know, it was so good. Sam thought his pulled pork one was okay.

Sam had a good joke about about my waiting number. “What time do you go to the dentist? …Tooth-hurty!” Little did I know that that joke would manifest into real life. My tooth hurts like a mother fucker right now. Unrelated to the sandwich. Although baguettes always scratch up the roof of my mouth.

Num Pang Nomad – 1129 Broadway (btwn 26th & 25th St) New York, NY 10010

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lunch

Sunac Fancy Food

I’ve been going to Sunac near my work a lot lately. It’s an easy way to go low carb through their food buffet bar ($6.99/lb). It’s not amazing food, but they usually have lots of meat –two types of fish, sometimes pork loin, roast beef, chicken.

I like to use my credit card, but you have to get over the $7 minimum. It sucks when I’m under, but then it suck more when I overestimate the weight by a ton. For a while, I thought the second scale on the right was rigged to weigh more, but I think I was just paranoid.

I like to pile on the meat and fish to get the most value. Then I put a thin layer of green vegetables on top to cover it up, so I don’t look like a complete asshole when I check out. I’ve told my friends this secret tip to maximize the value, but they think that the cashiers really don’t care.

I’ve also stop by here after work before my improv classes to get a beer and yogurt. You can drink in the deli. It’s cool. It’s so much cheaper and less crowded than a bar. I see a lot of blue collar workers drinking upstairs. I tend to sit at the front and watch people passing in the window.

The only trouble with eating yogurt and drinking beer with a straw is that things get foamy and gassy in my stomach. One time I had yogurt, a tall boy and NyQuil for dinner. I’m so glad I didn’t throw up in class.

Sunac - 765 Ave of the Americas (btwn W 26th & 27th St) New York, NY 10010

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lunch

Banana Leaf’s Sri Lankan Lunch Buffet

Dang. This is a pretty good lunch buffet at Banana Leaf. Close to the Fashion Institute of Technology, serving Sri Lankan and South Asian cuisine.

The lunch buffet is $6.99 takeout and $10 dine in. You can really stack up with the to-go platter. I filled mine up and it felt like I could have packed a quarter more in. Although, it’s probably not a contest …or is it?

The food is really good and interesting. It’s almost like Indian food, but not so spicy …but it is sharp, like onion sharp. Strong flavors.

There’s a salad of collard greens (that taste kinda like kale) and coconut. The Black Curry Pork included slices of pork belly. The mango chutney has a strong balsamic vinegar aroma. I really liked the Shredded Beef with big white beans. The fried Paratha chips were awesome with the Daal. I came back a second time and they had Beets. I’ll be back a third time and surely more.

Banana Leaf – 227 W 28th St (btwn 7th & 8th Ave) New York 10001

Categories
lunch sandwich

Meatloaf Sandwich @ Chock Full o’Nuts

I went to the Chock full o’Nuts diner with my friends from work. This is where I got their signature Nutted Cheese Sandwich. This time I was surprised how much a big shot my friend Roland was here. I guess he’s a regular and they all know him. I felt like I was dining with a mob boss.

I got the Meatloaf Sandwich. Dang, this thing is heavy duty. It was like eating a loaf of bread. I wonder why I got it, since I’m sorta on a low-carb diet. Although you wouldn’t have guessed from my posts. I ate the whole dang Meatloaf Sandwich anyway, because it was kinda good with the cheese …and I like mushy things. But now that I look at my photos, I should’ve dunked it in that bowl of gravy that was in front of me.

Chock Full o’Nuts – 25 West 23rd St (btwn 5th Ave & Broadway) New York, NY 10010

Categories
lunch

HIT Deli & Korean Food

This tiny deli is inside a building. I guess most are in New York, but I mean you have to go inside the building and down a hall to get to it. The thing that interests me is that they have Korean food. So I gave it a try.

I got the most expensive meal – Bulgogi Deopbap Beef Box $12. The other Korean boxes are cheaper at around $9. It came in a hefty platter sectioned off neatly –with potatoes, cellophane noodles, salad, rice and the Korean sliced marinated beef.

The food was alright. Looked pretty, but didn’t impress me. It got me stuffed though. The soup was too salty, but I’m not sure if it’s one of those things that you pour over the rice? I don’t know. That makes more sense.

The people were nice in there. They seem to have regulars like this old guy who apparently gets coffee all the time. In my photo, it looks like he doesn’t have a head. No photoshop.

HIT Deli & Korean Food - 150 W 28th St (btwn 6th & 7th Ave) New York, NY 10001

Categories
lunch

Nasha Rasha Russian Restaurant

Sam took me out to lunch because I won a sports bet. We went to a relatively new Russian restaurant in our work area –Nasha Rasha. From the outside, I thought it was a little too intimidating for a lunch spot. But on the inside, it’s sorta kitschy with neon red communist signs, walls of vodka and cute waitresses in folk uniforms.

They also have a decent sounding lunch Prix Fixe for $15, which turned out to be pretty awesome. Came with soup, salad, drink and entree. The Borsch beet soup was great. Olivier Salad (famous russian salad of potatoes, vegetables & bologna& mayonnaise) was decent potato salad. The drinks were awesome. Sam had the Kompot and I had the Uzvar. Both fruit drinks. Both delicious. I haven’t drank fruit drinks since Hi-C.

Then the waitress brought out our dumpling entrees with these big Russian dolls on top. I didn’t know what was going on when they came out. Cool presentation. I recommend the Pelmeni over the Vareniki. The meat texture was better. Vareniki filling was cat food like. I ate it all because it tasted good with the melted butter at the bottom of the bowl and sour cream. Maybe I like cat food.

Very filling all in all. I’m glad I won. The bill came in a neat box.

I’m trying to think of a good way to finish this post off. All I can I think of is that time Rusty and I let some Russian girls stay over because they Myspaced our band page. Now that I look at that old post, I guess it was a little racist. But it’s probably fine. They locked Rusty out of his room.

Nasha Rasha Russian Restaurant & Vodka Bar – 4 W 19th St (btwn 5th & 6th Ave) New York 10011

Categories
lunch

H Mart’s Korean Lunch Box Meal

I was strolling back and forth on 32nd Street trying to decide on which Korean restaurant. Only thing was that I didn’t want to sit down to eat …wanted it to go. Main option seemed like Woorijip, but it was packed.

I walked into H Mart (Hanahreum Supermarket), thinking I was just going to get a container of kimchi …but they had some prepared food in there. Looked like some omelets and this lunch box I got for only $3.99. It’s like the complimentary sides you get when you eat at a Korean restaurant. Sometimes when I dine in, that’s really the only thing I want to eat.

The box had kimchi, greens, ham & green beans, and pollock fish. All good and spicy. Fish had them bones. I should have taken photos of that, because it looked cool.

Surprisingly, I was stuffed. I didn’t think I would be. Nice lunch for $4 …with none of the hassle.

H Mart – 25 W 32nd St (btwn 5th Ave & Broadway) New York, NY 10001