SOUP DUMPLINGS
Joe’s Shanghai!! There has been a line every time I have gone and now I know to go in and get a number instead of standing outside for ever and ever. Soup Dumplings are the obvious dish to order. I also recommend the Garlic Baby Bok Choy.
The Soup Dumplings are just that. Pork or Crab dumplings with soup inside of them. I like to add some hot chili oil from the table into the soy sauce dipping bowls that come with the dumplings. Technique can be tricky as they are hot when they come out and filled with soup. Placing inside the spoon and then using the other hand to hold them in place with chopsticks while you bite off the top and suck the soup out until you can just throw the whole thing in your mouth is the way to go.
All of their other dishes are also good, but $4.50 per serving of 8 or so Soup Dumplings is hard to beat.
9 Pell Street
New York, NY 10013-5134
Menu
I have been slacking on updating SoHo Lunch lately, but am recently inspired again by this Spring weather and the fact that Summer will be here soon. Summer means I will undoubtedly be taking 2 hour lunches and exploring more new places that I can add to SoHo Lunch.
This pizza place is off the chain. Went back here last week with coworkers and I got stuck at work for the first part of lunch. I had to wait to catch up, but so I just texted them to just order away since you cannot go wrong here. Everything is amazing, plus the medium size pizzas are long rectangles that you can mix and match the halves. A lunch medium size pizza will run you about $18 ish and so split with someone else and you have a delicious $10 lunch. $10 pizza would be steep if the ingredients you can choose from didn’t include incredible prosciutto and truffle oils just to name a couple that stick out in my mind.
At first glance there might not seem to be enough food to go around, but after you have finished half a medium there is a comfortable fullness that settles in.
Highly recommend.
192 Mott Street
New York, NY 10012
(212) 219-2353
MENU
Birthday Lunch last Friday at Boqueria in Soho was off the hook.
We started with these spicy green peppers that had been dusted with salt and also with Dates stuffed with almonds and Valdeón, wrapped in bacon. So good, also the special Sangria recommended by the waitress was excellent. I ordered the “Bocata Bistec” (Hanger steak a la plancha, cured tomatoes,Mahón cheese, toasted Stirato bread). A steak sandwich that was just out of this world. So good. The “Ensalada de Remolacha” (Spinach salad with roasted beets candied walnuts, goat cheese) my coworker ordered was for her a little heavy on the beets, but that just meant that i was able to clean her plate for her (a plus). The waitress brought out some small warm churros with a small shot glass of chocolate for dessert. If i had $$ to drop on lunch every day, I would have gone today.Maybe just for the Bacon wrapped stuffed dates.
171 Spring St
New York, NY 10012-3843
(212) 343-4255
Menu
It might not look like much here, but the Bison Cheese steak Wrap I had from Energy Kitchen was pretty delicious. It wasn’t very cheesy since they are a low calorie place. (Everything is under 500 Calories) It was good though and I am going to think of more reasons to go to Home Depot on 23rd street during my lunch. I generally eat garbage on nights i go out, so being able to trick myself into thinking i did something that is more of a credit to my health is always a nice psych out.
18 W 23rd St New York, NY 10010-5208
Get Directions(212) 989-2323
My office does different things for office birthdays. The $10-$15 bundle of flowers is pretty standard. But sometimes two birthdays are just a day apart, or someone has a friend and will go the extra mile for them and order cupcakes for delivery and then run out for some milk. .
This happened yesterday, except my one coworker brought in cupcakes left over from Sunday night (her birthday) and my other coworker’s actual birthday was yesterday. I started the day with two mini cupcakes,(wake and cake) and then was handed two homemade pumpkin donuts and then, mid afternoon, placed an order at Sugar Sweet Sunshine for two dozen assorted cupcakes as a birthday gift from the office for my two coworkers. Red velvet, chocolate, vanilla and the other standards are all good, but my favorites are the pecan ones with the white cake mix. They are the bomb.com also good today after the frosting has firmed up a little bit. This place is way better than Magnolia. Don’t believe me? Think I rarely have cupcakes and only when they are free? Think I am not worth my weight in confectioner’s sugar? Ask my 17 other coworkers who have worked in SoHo for the last decade or more. . This is the reigning champion as of recent.
Also I did go running after spending the day eating pastries, and no my stomach was not happy with my decisions.
126 Rivington St
New York, NY 10002-2300
(212) 995-1960
Bomb. These Gringos from SoCal have had so much success with their street carts that now they have even opened up a restaurant location in Brooklyn. I like the pork burritos for $7.00. .They also have bomb chicken burritos and carne asada. And the occasional $6.00 gringo special for ground beef burritos. Also last year they won the acclaimed Vendy Awards.
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2008/10/calexico-cart-vendley-brothers-vendy-award-winners-2008.html
The cart location I hit is at Crosby and Broome and the only let down is going too late. Go at 1:30 to 3:00 and there will be a 30 minute wait time. Or at 3:00 they may be out of rice and beans if a lot of people ordered Veggie burritos.
Not as bomb as Ocean Taqueria in SF or numerous LA spots. But definitely amazing for SoHo/NY. .
Definitely recommended. Also see more positive reviews :
Yelp
Here is the signature Olive’s hero (half size here) which is an awesome sandwich made up of sweet and spicy coppa, genoa salami, aged provolone, olive tapenade, marinated onions, romaine and tomatoes on sourdough. I am also a huge fan of the Smoked Turkey with bacon, avocado, mayo, lettuce and tomato on sourdough bread. Basically the crowd inside this little shop should point out how good this place is. A small counter with almost as many people working behind it as customers squeezed in the front, but the line move very fast and they deliver for free in SoHo, and also to the west village. Their delivery area is massive. My friend had the roasted shitake mushroom sandwich with roasted tomatoes, cress and herb ricotta on sourdough and that was an amazing one as well. I haven’t tried much else here yet, but these 3 are home runs. The price of $8.00 - $8.50 hits me a little harder than I would like, but definitely worth it, if it’s not the last few days before payroll.
120 Prince Street, New York, NY10012
(212) 941-0111
Menu
(Some site navigation required - see links at bottom of the page)
I started going here through a friend and it is a must eat spot for lunch. I have been stuck on the chilli chicken lemongrass rice dish since i first went here, but everything else i have tasted has been delicious. They have the sriracha hot sauce and also this other hot sauce with pepper flakes that is so bomb. Also the food comes out within a few minutes as they are always busy and you can get in and out within 30 minutes.
My friend and her coworker’s are partial to the chicken chilli lemongrass as well as the beef dishes and we all like a newcomer who orders and shares egg rolls.
Can’t beat a $5.50 lunch that is delicious and fills the plate.
87 Baxter St New York 10013
(Btwn Bayard & Walker St)
(212) 233-5948
Menu
First time here today. I got suckered almost as bad as my trip to Sizzler in Daly City, CA. I got a classic cheeseburger and that’s all it was for $7.00, and it was small, so I got another hamburger. Both were delicious, but as you can see above my friend who threw down $12 off the bat got the deal. Steak sandwich that was delicious. The burgers I got were delicious high quality meat and so was the steak sandwich. Ordering first and then sitting down with a bent license plate as a marker reminded me of my tenure in San Francisco at Asqew Grill. The salads on the menu looked good in person, althought they cost more than the burgers. Something I am going after next time are the fries, and all of the assorted dipping sauces - basil mayo, red pepper aioli, garlic aioli, black olive mayo, curried mayo, spicy sambal ketchup and a smoked paprika aioli all sound incredible.
Also saw a friend there about to order as we were leaving and she was raving about the zucchini sticks. Next time i may explode trying to eat a steak sandwich, dipping fries in all the sauces and chowing zucchini sticks.
Small down side, only hot sauce available was Tabasco. And the $$ vs. amount of food (since I try and do lunch for under $8 or so).
62 Prince St (corner of Lafayette)
New York, NY 10012
(212) 219-2129
Menu
