Tag: lunch

Categories
breakfast lunch

Chock Full o’Nuts – The Original Nutted Cheese Sandwich

Before being a coffee brand, they used to have Chock Full o’Nuts lunch counters all around NYC dating as far back as the 1920’s. This is their first lunch counter/diner in about 30 years.

Sam got breakfast and I got their signature Nutted Cheese Sandwich (date nut bread & cream cheese). It tasted like what you would think date nut bread and cream cheese taste like. A simple sandwich. Makes you realize how much lunch portions have grown from back in the day.

A big plate of fries is only $2 more with a sandwich. Although that simple Nutted Cheese Sandwich is a whopping $6. Used to be a nickle for a nutted cheese sandwich and a coffee. Inflation.

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

Categories
indian

Apna Punjab Restaurant

I’ve been waiting for this place to open up for a while …I guess because I’m missing the hole in the wall Indian spots around the Curry Hill area. They’ve all become trendy. Well Apna Punjab is a little hole spot. Not a whole lot of selection compared to say Chadni or La.Sani. I got the Goat Curry with Chicken Biryani ($8). I don’t think that’s a common combination, but he gave it to me anyway. I think a meat and veggie over regular rice is $7.

The meat was tender. Maybe dry overall, but the green sauce helped that. The flavors were good though. The Biryani was flavorful with spices and dates. Much better than the Biryani I got from a street cart a week before, which I swear was the same exact thing as halal chicken over rice with maybe ground pepper for an extra dollar more than chicken over rice.

In the end, I feel like Jerry Seinfeld wanting to help Babu succeed. I want the little guy to win. But dang, it’s hard to give an endorsement. $8 lunch at a tiny hole and with so many good Pakistani restaurants a few blocks away. That being said, I feel like a very very bad man. … The food is good enough though. If it was next door to my office, I would eat there again.

[update: I just found their business card in my back pocket. They are open 24hours 7days a week. I’ll give them an extra star for that]

Apna Punjab Restaurant & Grill – 203 E 25th St. (btwn 3rd & 2nd Ave) New York 10010

Categories
lunch

Thakali Kitchen’s Pumpkin Gravy Pharsi Goat

It’s probably hard to get to Jackson Heights for a weekday lunch for most folks… but I was able to try Thakali Kitchen (Nepalese/Tibetan) on one of my days off and ordered the Pumpkin Gravy Pharsi Goat $5.99 lunch special. The pumpkin sauce is so good –Perfect flavor for the season. Unfortunately, only half of the meat was tender. I could do with just the sauce over rice. Nice red hot sauce on the side.

Thakali Kitchen – 74-14 37th Ave. Jackson Heights, NY 11372

Bionic Bites has some awesome photos of this place.

Categories
lunch

Ciao!! Bella Napoli Restaurant

Sam asked where to get pasta. I mentioned Bella Napoli. I’ve never had it. I’ll come along. He got the rigatoni. I got a nice portion of Lasagna for $6.50. Pretty good stuff. It took me about two hours to eat it. But a lot of that time was accounted for talking to one of the interns at the office. It was his last day. He asked for my advice on work. Instead I gave him advice on life. That could have been a life changing moment for him. For better or for worse, I don’t know. The food kept up. Cold lasagna, still good.

Bella Napoli – 257 7th Ave (btwn 24 & 25th St) New York 10010

Categories
lunch

Resto’s Pig Face Sandwich in the Park

The U.S. Open is being screened at Madison Square Park right now and I went to check out the food vendors. There’s some good options like banh mi sandwiches, fancy wings and beer, but my eyes stopped at “Pig Face Sandwich” from Resto. Mostly cheek meat with pickled onions on ciabatto ($8). I can’t remember if I’ve ever had pig face. At least I remember really wanting to.

My first bite was all bread and it was chewy. The meat was a light spread and had a bit of a cooked alcohol aroma to it. Right around the middle of it, it started getting real good when the pig face juice started soaking in the bread. I didn’t realize how much pig face juice there was. I got it all over my pants. I found a few pieces of meat after I finished the sandwich, which tasted kinda like liver and I likee. It made me think how the bread was just in the way. If I had to do it again, I’d open face it. They also have a Sloppy Goat Sandwich that sounds good. I love sloppy meats.

Resto @ Madison Square Park, NYC 10010 …until Sept 12th

Categories
lunch

Milanes’ Oxtail Stew

I got hungry when I saw this Oxtail Stew on Serious Eats. But instead of getting the $11 one at Sophie’s, I went for the $8.50 one at Milanes. They gave me a full cup of pinto beans on the side. So smart when getting it to go –it doesn’t sog up everything on the walk back to the office. The Oxtail was tasty, but sometimes I wonder if Sophie’s green sauce is worth the extra $2.50. It probably is.

Milanes Restaurant – 168 W 25th St (btw 6th & 7th Ave) New York 10010

Categories
lunch

Johny’s Melissa Munchie Sandwich

I haven’t returned to Johny’s Luncheonette since I tried their disappointing Famous Sloppy Johny (grilled chicken, bacon, onions, cheese and coleslaw on a hero). Sounds amazing, but didn’t work for me. It says a lot when you put “Home of the Sloppy Johny” on your awning, so I didn’t expect much from anything else on the menu. I was dead wrong. The Melissa Munchie (Hot Roast Beef, Sautéed Mushrooms, Onion Rings, and Melted Mozzarella on Garlic Bread) is frickin’ awesome. They even threw in a few fries in there. All the ingredients work together and melds into one hell of a trucker-style sandwich.

I feel bad that I wrote off Johny’s after that first sandwich. Now I have to eat my words …and I’d be happy to.

Johny’s Luncheonette – 124 W. 25th Street (btw 6th & 7th Ave) New York City, NY 10001

Categories
burger lunch

Lillie’s $10 Burger & Beer Lunch Special

Walked around with Matt & Sam and ran into a $10 Burger & Beer lunch special at Lillie’s. I’ve seen this place before and was always too intimidated by how fancy it looks, but we took a chance. I ordered my burger medium-rare, Matt had his rare. The cute waitress asked if she should just bring out the cow live. That’s the kind of playful waitress flirting that makes a man feel attractive. I bet so many guys walk away thinking she’s into them.

The burger was okay and came with plenty of fries. With a Stella, it’s a pretty good burger & beer deal. You don’t even have to get a burger. You can get a Grilled Ham & Cheese like Sam.

Lillie’s Victorian Bar & Restaurant – 13 E 17th St (btwn 5th Ave & W Union Sq) New York, NY 10003