4:00pm peanut butter ball

Portland's Stumptown Coffee is slowly meandering its way through the city. Its only NYC based cafe can be found in midtown at the Ace Hotel but I've noticed it showing up more and more frequently in the downtown establishments, from the East Village to the west. Most recently at the City Girl Cafe in Soho.
City Girl Cafe, 63 Thompson St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Broome and Spring)

Excellent Pork Chop House, with Gordon

Having a fried pork chop after a root canal might be tempting fate so I settled for the very worthy fried chicken leg over rice. Gordon and I both agree that the Excellent Pork Chop House makes a great and cheap lunch option, regardless of whether you opt for the signature pork chop or the fried chicken. I especially enjoyed how serene and calm it was today, maybe because we had a late lunch and missed the regular work crowd.
Excellent Pork Chop House, 3 Doyers St, NY, NY 10013 (near Bowery)

4:00pm donut

After such a non-lunch lunch yesterday and a thoroughly disappointing one today, I needed something that I knew, with 100% certainty, would be good. For that I turn to Dreesen's doughnut. Unlike yeast donuts which quickly turn stale if left too long, the sugar coated Dreesen cake doughnut remains fresh all day long.
Balthazar Bakery, 80 Spring St, NY, NY 10012 (near Crosby)

Peep, with Hong

Hrmph, a rather disappointing lunch for sister and I at Peep today. Normally they reliably provide a decently priced lunch, certainly nothing to write home about, but dependable. Something was off today though. It must have been the extremely poor service clouding our memories or the fact that the deep fried tofu looked like leftover bits of lumpy dough drowning in a bland sweet and sour sauce. The semolina fritters were the only moment even worth noting.
Peep, 177 Spring St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Thompson and Sullivan)

green tea lunch

Not exactly what I was expecting for lunch but I wasn't really thinking about lunch when I scheduled a root canal for earlier this morning. Until tomorrow when lunch resumes! Albeit softly.

4:00pm chocolate

Today's dessert comes courtesy of Spencer via Tim who left a box of Leonidas chocolates in the fridge. If anyone else would like to leave dessert in the fridge for me to consume, please feel free!
On unrelated lunch news, some announcements:
Front Studio has been selected to participate in Bldgblog's Quarantine Studio. We'll be in some truly stellar company so keep watching Bldgblog to see those developments. And if you're in Brooklyn next week check out the soon to be reopened Armando's, a New York institution from back in the day, gone briefly and now returned to us. We spent the summer working with the Byros family, designing and updating the space.

Num Pang, with John

It's a good day for lunching with good friends, here or there. On this side of the ocean, good friend John hopped on the 4 train for some yummy Num Pang sandwiches in the park. So far everything has been stunningly delicious, starting with a toasted bread yielding to a slight chewiness and ending with a lovely mix of tastes and textures. Both the pork and steak are well flavored and well balanced by a combination of something spicy, something mayo and a bit of fresh cucumber and carrots. The overall sandwich is not that big, but then again neither am I.
Num Pang, 21 East 12th St, NY, NY 10003 (btwn University and Fifth)

Remote Post: Cafe Madu w Yuko

It's not very often I get told that friends have been counting the days till they see me. It's really quite heartwarming, though I guess it comes with the territory of being away most of the time. And so after being in Tokyo for nearly 5 days, I finally get to see my dear old friend Yuko. We meet and spend hours at one of our favorite record shops, and decide to find some place to eat nearby. Cafe Madu, a French inspired cafe, had a nice lunch special for about $10, which included a small salad, a main dish (stewed pork belly in red wine sauce), a small dessert, and tea or coffee (iced or hot). Nothing special, but totally just fine and a pretty good deal, I think.
Cafe Madu, 1F Scene Akira 5-8-1 Minami Aoyama, Minatoku Tokyo

4:00pm espresso and cookie

Our lovely espresso machine has been packed away all these months we have been in transit so it's with great joy we welcome it back into the afternoon rituals once again.

La Esquina Cafe, with friends

Earlier this morning Dave called. He's an old college friend in town from Boston on work and desperately craving the ejotes (grilled green beans) at La Esquina. Never one to say no to impromptu lunches, especially when they involve green beans, I joined them for a chatty meal of school gossip. Since M and I only recently discovered the hamburger, long touted by fellow food addict Jim, I had to try again. Here you see it with the array of condiments which make it so very wonderful: something mayo, thin slivers of pickled, spicy jalepenos, avocado slices and thin red onions.
Cafe de La Esquina, 106 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Cleveland Place)

4:00pm banana cupcake

You may be surprised to see an array of cupcakes, considering yesterday's dessert and Monday's too, but I promise you that I ordered the moist banana bread with cream cheese frosting that just happened to look like a cupcake. The afternoon was too perfect for any of us to resist a short walk on the High Line where Butter Lane just happened to have a little concession stand. Revised opinion: less dry, still too sweet for me.
Butter Lane, on the High Line, NY, NY 10014

The Standard Grill, with Thu and Tam

It's not possible to compete with M's remote post from Tokyo earlier, especially when you see the set of images she uploaded. Not that I thought The Standard Grill could compare, no matter the pedigree. To top it off, the strip steak I split with Tam was neither hot off the grill nor rare like ordered. At least the taste was decent and I quite liked the not-quite shoestring fries. The weather was perfect for outdoor dining, with a view of a steady stream of Escalades dropping off, picking up, dropping off, picking up.

The Standard Grill, 848 Washington St, NY, NY 10014 (at West 13th St)

Remote Post - Musashino

Blogging from Tokyo: Today to celebrate my granfather's 88th birthday (which is considered a special one) the family gathered at a japanese restaurant for a traditional seasonal lunch. After 8 courses, everyone was more than stuffed though none of the dishes were heavy. Pictured was the "full moon" tofu and mastutake in a clear broth. The company and the food were wonderful to say the least; as such things will make it hard for me to leave this place.
Musashino, @ Hotel Cadenza Hikarigaoka

4:00pm vanilla cupcake

I know, I know, two days in a row of street food and vanilla cupcakes makes for rather boring blog posts, unless of course I was able to maintain that particular combination for one full year in which case I could go for the annualism affect, write a book and make a movie.
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Mulberry & Mott)

Calexico

You're probably thinking how can that girl eat street food two days in a row? If I worked in midtown, I could do it for months in a row. Today I tried the "burrito bowl" which Calexico describes as a naked burrito and a bit of salad tossed in there. Somehow I thought it would be more of a salad than exactly what they describe but nope, it's exactly what they say. Tomorrow I promise a proper sit down lunch.
Calexico, Broome St near Broadway, NY, NY 10012 (north-east corner)

4:00pm vanilla cupcake

It's entirely my fault this vanilla on vanilla cupcake from the esteemed Butter Lane is a bit too dry one day later. The girl behind the counter did tell me to put it in tupperware. And it's also my fault for randomly happening on the bakery without committing Kathy's review on SE to memory so that I would know to order the French buttercream over the slightly too sweet for me American frosting. There shall be a next time!
Butter Lane, 123 East 7th St, NY, NY 10009 (btwn 1st Ave and Ave A)

Halal Cart on Spring

The guys manning this street cart on the south-east corner of Spring and Broadway did not exactly inspire confidence. But lunch hour had come and gone and I was starting to feel lightheaded. Blame it on my woozy mind for not recalling that we had already tried this cart AND found it to be a praise worthy option. Good thing because my tired self really needed some intense refueling in the form of a spicy lamb gyro sandwich.
Halal Food Cart, south-east corner of Spring St and Broadway, NY, NY 10012

4:00pm pb cookie w/ chocolate ganache

Finding new dessert items at you local go-to spot is gold! Especially when it's delicious.
The carrot cake couple days back was a hit, and today, the peanut butter sandwich cookie with chocolate ganache is also a success. And to top it all off, at $1.25, the price was more than right and made the cookie even more delicious.
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Mulberry & Mott)

Sunrise Mart

Another hectic day with barely any time to eat. Today, Sunrise Mart's, chicken kara-age (marinated fried chicken pieces) bento to the rescue. The not particularly delicious, but totally edible food doesn't bother me at all today because I, (M) will be heading out to Tokyo for the next couple weeks. So please keep your eyes peeled for a remote lunch post one of these days. In my opinion, there's really not much to do in Tokyo but to immerse yourself in the vast metropolis, shop and eat; and eat I will.
Sunrise Mart, 494 Broome Street near West Broadway

4:00pm honey apple cake

I know this could be considered heresy in many circles, but we haven't been that impressed lately with the desserts coming out of Bouchon Bakery. One would think Thomas Keller, the perfectionist, would not be a proponent of such over sweetness. Granted we picked up this honey apple cake at Dean & Deluca's so it's probably not 100% fresh but still.
Dean & Deluca, 560 Broadway, NY, NY 10012 (at Prince)

Pret a Manger

A proper lunch was definitely not going to happen today. There's too much running around - from Union Square, West Village, Koreatown to Brooklyn Heights. Pret a Manger to the rescue! Quick, easy, tasty and just filling enough, the roast beef with parmesean and arugula on a baguette is pretty close to perfect.
Pret a Manger, 857 Braodway, NY, NY 10003 (at 17th St, Union Square)

4:00pm carrot cake cupcake

There is not much more we can say about Eileen's except we love almost everything that comes out of her bakery, including this non-cheesecake newcomer, a carrot cake cupcake. It's nice when a bakery produces consistently good desserts to the extent that you know you could try almost anything and be guaranteed a certain level of quality.
Eileen's Special Cheesecake, 17 Cleveland Place, NY, NY 10012 (at Kenmare)

La Crepe Parisienne

We're totally down with a "Parisienne" crêperie started by three brothers from Mexico but if crêpes are going to be the mainstay, the staff should be getting some lessons in crêpe making technique. It's all in the wrist folks! None of this shuffle shuffle action. Technique aside, we both found the classic ham, guyère and egg decent enough. A bit heavy on the guyère, as if the proportions were made for an American audience, not a French one. It's also unclear whether they're using two separate batters for savory vs sweet and it's a little disconcerting to be eating a savory crêpe in a triangular format vs the more typical square one. Final verdict: not genuine Parisian but not so terrible we wouldn't try again.
La Crêpe Parisienne, 51 Spring St., nr. Lafayette; 646-484-6897

4:00pm cornucopia of desserts

Saha must have walked into Balthazar this afternoon and said one of everything please! A bevy of desserts accompanied by a chilled bottle of Wolffer sparkling wine does seem like the proper way to celebrate the finally operational new headquarters of Harvest. What a pleasure.
Balthazar Bakery, 80 Spring St, NY, NY 10012 (at Crosby)

Caffe Falai

A picture perfect afternoon for outdoor lunching. Caffe Falai's tall shrubbery concealed us from the street, lending a particularly charming European air to the whole affair. Coupled with intensely small portioned pasta dishes and attractive looking couples, we could have been anywhere but here. In keeping with civilized dining, we ordered an antipasto of baby octopus before our main courses. The only thing lacking was a chilled glass of Prosecco.
Caffe Falai, 265 Lafayette St, NY, NY 10012 (below Prince)

4:00pm blueberry scone

Cooler temperature, means cooler kitchen, equates to desire to bake. Wanting to use up some ingredients sittin' in the fridge and some seasonal fruit, blueberry scones seemed like a good idea. Out of the oven, they were delicious! 2 days later, the textured sogged up a bit, but we'll be sure to put them in the toaster for breakfast tomorrow morning. Where can I get some clotted cream?

Red Egg, with Suj & Heimi

Two friends from Switzerland unexpectedly popped up in town today, so in keeping with our philosophy of eating food not to be had in your home country, we took them for dim sum at Red Egg. 10 plates between 4 people is the perfect amount for full satiation. To recreate our meal, start with a table of good friends, add hot tea, and order: shrimp dim sum, stuffed tofu, shrimp sui mai, cilantro dumpling, red egg's puff, steam shrimp rice roll, stuffed green peppers, pan fried turnip cake, sticky rice and finish it with a sweet crispy green tea rice ball.
Red Egg, 202 Centre St, NY, NY 10013 (at Howard)

4:00pm nilla wafers

A childhood classic, nilla wafers. Should only be eaten fresh! crunchy! Stale ones are the pits.

8 Mile Creek, with Thu

You might think after 2.5 years of writing about lunch every single working day we might know all there is to know about eating lunch out but sometimes things slip by even the most intrepid of eaters. To be fair I don't think Eight Mile Creek has always served lunch, it's always seemed more of a bar/tavern, but we should have gone sooner. The meat pie, mashed potatoes and gravy was yummy and I think we've got a new fish and chips standard. Don't let the emptiness turn you away, this is a lunch spot worth exploring further.
Eight Mile Creek, 240 Mulberry St., NY, NY 10012 (btwn Spring & Prince)

4:00pm plum tart

The last time we happened upon this plum tart from Once Upon a Tart was in the summer of 2007. Two years later, we offer the same assessment, more like fruit with a side of pie crust, but still a cheery afternoon treat.
Once Upon a Tart, 135 Sullivan St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Prince and Houston)

Pho Sure, with sisters

A strange affair, Pho Sure, another Michael Huynh take-off on his mini collection of Baoguettes. We wanted to try their pho but by 2pm they had already run out of the signature dish. All that remained were chicken dishes, one over noodles and one over sticky rice. They're a bit heavy handed on the proportion of chicken to rice and the service seems uneven and untutored but all in all an ok experience. Enough to try again, maybe a little earlier next time.
Pho Sure, 120 Christopher St, NY, NY 10014 (near Bedford St)

4:00pm donut

We're convinced that sugar granules are one of the most photogenic items in the food world. But in all honesty, these tasty-licious donuts from Dreesen's are as good as they look (or better), and don't need any delicious looking photos to back-up their wonderful-ness. We are so dying to try them fresh out of the fryer!
Balthazar Bakery, 80 Spring Street near Crosby

Saha Thai

It's no surprise that we are still unpacking today, following yesterday's impromptu move. Saha Thai to the rescue! Easy and economical lunch specials available for pickup around the corner. One brief phone call, one short outdoor stroll and one quick lunch in the new space, overlooking our brand new western vista.
Saha Thai, 227 Centre St, NY, NY 10013 (above Grand)

4:00pm chocolate cupcake

Don't worry fellow food lovers, we did not forget to have dessert today. Despite the impromptu move and subsequent unpacking, we did manage to take a little break for something sweet.
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Mulberry & Mott)

La Esquina Cafe, with Jordi

I had forgotten San Gennaro was coming to Little Italy, so this morning, on the spur of the moment, we decided to move out of our temporary digs into the new ones without any further fuss or ado. Tucked in the middle of this last minute kind of day arrived Jordi from Spain. We caught up at La Esquina where I learned that huevos rancheros is commonly served over fried corn tortillas and smothered in tomato-chili sauce.
Cafe de La Esquina, 106 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Cleveland Place)

4:00pm mini madeleines

The crazy thing about these supposed madeleines from Le Pain Quotidien is that they don't look anything like madeleines should and the texture is too airy, but if you close your eyes and use your imagination, they do actually taste like madeleines.
And now for the long weekend!, see you Tuesday.
Le Pain Quotidien, 100 Grand St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mercer and Greene)

Soho Park, with John and Rich

The last days of summer are nigh on us. We can think of a good handful of places serving better beach shack style burgers than Soho Park but none so close. Luckily their burger has gotten tastier over time and with doors thrown open to the street, this corner eatery makes for a perfect waning days of summer lunch.
Soho Park, 62 Prince St, NY, NY 10012 (at Lafayette)

4:0pm vanilla vanilla cupcakes

Beginning at 8th Ave this afternoon for a meeting, followed by lunch, we wandered north a block or two and then started walking east looking for dessert. We just kept going and going until, like magic, Cupcake Cafe appeared before our eyes.
Cupcake Cafe, 18 W. 18th St, NY, NY 10011 (btwn 5th & 6th Aves)

La Taza de Oro

Just so you know, deep frying anything almost always automatically makes it delicious. Like the time we had a deep fry party and everyone had to bring something to deep fry, like canned stuffed grape leaves, hot dogs and even soft-boiled eggs. And then we fell into a deep and lasting food coma. Unlike lunch today where we smartly split a plate of fried pork chops, yellow rice and black beans. La Taza de Oro really knows their comfort food, we could probably spend a week eating there and not be bored.
La Taza de Oro, 96 Eighth Ave, NY, NY 10011 (btwn 14th and 15th)

4:00pm chocolate chip cookie

We now include chocolate chip cookies to the list of desserts we like from Oro. A list that starts with vanilla cupcakes, madeleines, cranberry scones, apple tarts, apple puff pastry and pumpkin cake (just to name a few).
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Mulberry & Mott)

Mì Quảng

Mi Quang is a particular specialty of Đà Nẵng in central Vietnam, and until someone made it for me I'd never even heard of it here on the East Coast. Aside from the usual assortment of meats that characterize many Vietnamese noodle soups, a bowl of Mi Quang is garnished with whole peanuts, shaved banana flowers (bắp chuối bào) and sesame crackers. It's a world of flavors, tastes and textures all in one hot meal.

4:00pm blackberry apple tart

All the girl had to say was oats and we were sold. That in combination with blackberries, apples and candied walnuts with a touch of sweetness makes for a uniquely non-American dessert. I suppose one should say very Swiss instead. We are fans.
Cafe Select, 212 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 (at Kenmare)

Cafe Select

Normally when we're looking for a simple and efficient lunch we do not go to Cafe Select, but at the same time I was really craving bratwurst. It was chancy but miraculously we got both good food and good service today. It could have been the light lunch crowd, or as I prefer to imagine, their service has gotten better and more attentive.
Cafe Select, 212 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 (at Kenmare)