4:00pm walnut cookie crisp

I am completely addicted to this walnut cookie crisp even when it's the height of hot humid summer days and the crisp isn't perfectly crisp. If it weren't for the interest of diversity, I might have one once a week.
Village Tart, 86 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mulberry)

Village Tart, with Sarah

Ever since we tried a bevy of lunch options at Village Tart, I was thinking we should go back with Sarah. It's such a charming and quiet place for lunching with friends in the neighborhood and who doesn't love puff pastry? I pretty much love anything with puff pastry, whether it's my mom's ground pork or Pichet Ong's mushrooms. Or Pepperidge Farm apple turnovers.
Village Tart, 86 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mulberry)

4:00pm marmalade

I'm finding it exceedingly difficult to work when all my waking thoughts are filled with longing for sand, sun and endless beach vistas. Lucky for us working stiffs weather.com promises good beach weather this upcoming holiday weekend.
Village Tart, 86 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mulberry)

Salume

It would be a shame if Salume's cost per sandwich to size of sandwich ratio impedes them from widely succeeding, as their panini are masterful and well balanced creations. I don't mind occasionally spending more for a known end result of deliciousness but I can understand that at $12+ for a sandwich, you want to at least feel fully satiated. And for larger boy stomachs, that's just not going to be possible. Hopefully they have some flexibility in figuring out their menu as I, for one, would miss the delight of their panini.
Salume, 330 West Broadway, NY, NY 10013 (south of Grand St)

4:00pm madeleine

It's too hot to walk very far for dessert. Luckily, Oro, Village Tart and Eileen's are all within a very, very short 2-block radius.
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mulberry & Mott)

Ippudo, with John

M's away this week so I've set up a whole series of lunches with friends, beginning with John. We wanted to beat the lines by meeting up at noon at the always crowded Ippudo, and to our amazement, it worked. A hungry John ordered the pork buns in addition to the bowls of ramen we both had, and I'm glad he did because I'd never tried them before. The iceberg lettuce is a strange garnish but the slightly spicy, very moist pork was pretty nice.
Ippudo, 65 Fourth Ave, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 9th and 10th)

A Sandwich on the road

I can't remember the last time I took a road trip with my parents but
I can tell you the one thing I remember with 100% certainty, my mom
comes well fortified with snacks, fruit and Vietnamese sandwiches on
recently toasted bread. No dessert post today as we are off on
separate summer trips, happy weekend!

4:00pm swiss leaves

Sometimes I open up a post window, stick the photo in and wait for inspiration. It's not coming today so I leave you with the photo only. You wouldn't even have that if not for the loan of a camera from Spencer when both M and my cameras died in tandem. Thank goodness for great office mates.
Caffe Falai, 265 Lafayette St, NY, NY 10012 (below Prince)

La Esquina Taqueria

The last time I tried the pepito torta (steak sandwich) from La Esquina was a woefully embarrassing scenario where I was having lunch with a friend from out of town and found myself trying to have a conversation while navigating a baguette sandwich with large pieces of meat sticking out of my mouth. The whole experience left me hesitant to try again. But today, since I was planning on a solo lunch, I figure I might as well go for it. No one around to see my awkward attempts at eating. Lo and behold they have changed the pepito torta to something much easier to eat although far, far messier. A good change though, the addition of pickled jalpenos catapults the torta into something I would eagerly have again.
La Esquina Taqueria, 106 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Cleveland Place)

4:00pm fruit tart

To his credit Matt did try very hard to persuade us to have some baklava at Pera earlier but we girls had our hearts set on the relatively new Grand Central location of Financier. You just can't beat a smashingly good strawberry tart for $3.75.
Grand Central Market, 87 East 42nd Street at Grand Central Station

Pera, with Matt

It's always a treat to be treated to lunch but even more so when the food is good and the company charming. We don't know much about Turkish food to qualify as any sort of expert but the array of small plates we had today at Pera were pretty enjoyable. I was particularly in love with the Mediterranean Peasant Salad, could have eaten that by the bowlful. And don't let this poor photo of the Spinach and Pine Nut Pidette fool you, it too was good. A perfect lunch for a hot summer day, some small light dishes and one heartier plate of the signature lamb adana. Can't beat that.
Pera Mediterranean Brasserie, 303 Madison Ave, NY, NY 10017 (btwn 42nd and 41st)

4:00pm cookies

$2 will buy you 3 eternally delicious cookies from Eileen's. You might find yourself spending more as you try to decide between the 5 or 6 options, all of which are equally superb. We get 2 of the same and a third to share for a bit of spice in life.
Eileen's Special Cheesecake, 17 Cleveland Pl, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Spring and Kenmare)

Welcome to India

It's hard to resist the scrolling LED screen tacked outside the little hole-in-the-wall, Welcome to India, takeout joint on Broome, especially when it says chicken sandwich for $3.95. It's technically not a sandwich, it's a kati roll, and it's well worth the money. We were worried it would be too small to be truly filling so we ordered additional samosas in case but they proved unnecessary. The food is nothing special but decent enough and the guy manning the counter is super nice - all rational reasons to return.
Welcome to India, 369 Broome Street, New York, NY 10013

4:00pm gingersnaps

I swear the Chelsea Market gets fancier and fancier each time I go, but it doesn't much matter as long as the stalwarts remain. Especially when the gingersnap cookies that I bought yesterday from Amy's Bread were STILL good despite being a day old AND having the snap taken out of them by the intense humidity.
Amy's bread @ Chelsea Market, 75 9th Ave, NY, NY 10011 (btwn 15 & 16)

Fiat Cafe

Cafe Fiat could easily be one of those nothing special lunch places but instead it's cute and friendly with super reasonable prices and a menu to match. It hasn't been open that long but already there is a steady crowd and a constant lively atmosphere. The food is not spectacular, but it's good enough and with panini prices hovering around $6-6.50, the place becomes an irresistible bargain.
Cafe Fiat, 203 Mott St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Kenmare and Spring)

4:00pm sweets

There are no half day Fridays here but there are Balthazar breakfast pastries upon coming into work in the morning and Grandaisy chocolate cookies in the afternoon after lunch. Not quite the same but happy happy nevertheless.

Double Crown, with John

We've been begging our friends to have lunch service, first when they opened Public, then with Double Crown but apparently the only thing that can entice them to open up doors before evening time is the World Cup. That's cool with us because we like the footie too. We especially like it served with burgers and a crunchy skate sandwich. Head over now because you only have until the end of World Cup mania. Good food, a casual crowd, soccer and doors thrown wide open to the summertime, ain't nothing better.
Double Crown, 316 Bowery St, NY, NY 10012 (at Bleecker)

4:00pm banana almond cake

Not the best thing we've had from Falai, the almond cake part was a bit too over soaked or over laden with something. The banana slice on top, however, was pretty delightful. Too bad it was just a wee sliver.
Caffe Falai, 265 Lafayette St, NY, NY 10012 (below Prince)

Congee Village, with everyone

It's a lunch lady's birthday today and to celebrate, I decided to take the agony of decision making out of the birthday celebrant's hands. In the grand tradition of Harvest birthdays, everyone in the office was invited to join us, Chinese family style at Congee Village. It's not entirely straightforward to order for 2 non-seafood eating vegetarians, 3 fish eating vegetarians and 5 meat eaters, but we managed nonetheless. In no small part due to Congee Village's willingness to make beef chow fun without the beef. It was a good lunch. The house chicken was particularly succulent today, the salty squid delicious and vegetarian accompaniments of fried tofu and snow pea leaves hit the spot.
Congee Bowery, 207 Bowery, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Rivington & Spring)

La Nueva Conquista

Really quickly because we are running out the door. The platter price has gone up but even at $8 it's still a good deal. We still share one tin to-go container stuffed right up to the brim with rice, beans and a pile of meat. The pork stew we had today was yummy in taste but also rather bony. I think it's meant to be enjoyed by those who love gnawing on bones, which can be fine but I tend to prefer straight up taste.
La Nueva Conquista, 236 Lafayette St, NY, NY 10012 (above Spring)

4:00pm maple walnut coffee cake

It's contradictory, I know, to prefer desserts not too sweet - but that's the type of gals we are. Consequently this maple walnut coffee cake suits us admirably.
Village Tart, 86 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mulberry)

Village Tart

Our friends at Village Tart invited us over for a lunch consultation today as they're working out some exciting changes to the lunch menu and who better to discuss lunch with than us? They'll be rolling out some refinements to the menu including take-out options and lunch combinations that should definitely appeal to the local working crowd and everyone else around. We were treated to a table laden with corn salad and pickled vegetables, 3 varieties of mushroom tarts, a delicious salmon and avocado croissant sandwich and weather-perfect summer salads. Village Tart has quickly become a neighborhood tour de force of desserts so we're looking forward to them settling into a strong lunch rhythm.
Village Tart, 86 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mulberry)

4:00pm rhubarb and berries

Normally I automatically love anything rhubarb, but I have to say this rhubarb and berry tart from Cafe Select is a bit odd. The plainly visible greenish stalks look more savory than sweet but the taste is decidedly more tart than salad. Odd. Very odd.
Cafe Select, 212 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 (at Kenmare)

Lovely Day, Hong

We wanted to eat at Lovely Day but weren't in the mood for an extra long lunch. Fortunately Hong was out and about and offered to pick up a take-out order of 3 ginger fried chicken lunch sets with 1 fried tofu appetizer. Brilliant solution, the tasty reliability of their ginger fried chicken without the unreliable service.
Lovely Day, 196 Elizabeth St., New York, NY 10012 btwn Prince & Spring

4:00pm desserts

No need to go buy dessert this afternoon, as there's plenty left over for me from today's Walkabout NYC event. What should I eat??? Too many choices.
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mulberry & Mott)

La Esquina with Harvest

There's a lot going on around the office today - the Harvest team are part of the exciting Walkabout NYC - open house for startups and we've got lots of visitors. To show off that lunching is an important part of their office culture, we all together ordered from La Esquina for a nice group lunch. It feels like Friday.
La Esquina, 106 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Cleveland Place)

4:00pm taro mochi

Taro filling is perhaps my favorite Chinese pastry filling, and who isn't drawn to the mysterious purple hue? This goopy ball of mochi and taro, was a bit off in it's proportions and a bit wet for my taste, however the flavors were right on. Slightly sweet and filling with a dusting of chew from the coconut flakes.
Fay Da, 191 Centre St, NY, NY 10013 (at Hester St)

Hoomoos Asli

The quality control of this place just hasn't been very dependable. But I was craving a falafel sandwich today, and there's still no other place better in the nabe that we know of. Today's falafel was about "just O.K.", a little too spicy (I asked for it spicy, but have never gotten it this spicy), and not as fresh as it could have been. But it satisfied my hunger, and today that was all that I needed.
Hoomoos Asli, 100 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Centre St)

4:00pm walnut cake

It's our own damn fault for letting this walnut cake sit an extra day before consumption. Despite the wrapping it was a bit dry although the nuts were in abundance and lightly complimented by the cake.
Bakery M, 315 5th Ave, NY, NY 10016 (on 32nd St)

Arirang, with Hong and Rich

When two trusted palettes rave about one hand pulled noodle, you can be sure it goes on our list. M's had her eye on Arirang ever since Robyn first wrote about it on SE:NY; and then when Kathy chimed in, we had to go. Luckily certain events conspired in our favor today and we found ourselves conveniently half a block away. As per their suggestions we had the seafood pajun and the chicken kar-jeabe, with a seafood kar-jeabe thrown in for kicks. The noodles are simply extraordinary. They're fresh, slightly yielding, and floating in a lightly seasoned broth. By the end we were overstuffed on starch.
Arirang, 32 W. 32nd St, NY, NY 10001 (btwn Fifth and Broadway, on the 3rd floor)

4:00pm oatmeal raisin

City Bakery gets the importance of texture to dessert, as evidenced by the perfect chewy to crispy ratio of this oatmeal raisin cookie picked up earlier today.
City Bakery, 3 W. 18th St, NY, NY 10011 (btwn 5th and 6th Ave)

Pret a Manger, with Hong

Sometimes the hardest part of lunch is not finding the time to eat, but deciding what to have. It's too bad Hong leaves this weekend back to Berlin, it's been really enjoyable having our lunches decided by her whims. Today she brought us back some sandwiches from Pret a Manger in midtown, which meant even less decision making than usual for us. That's a good lunch.
Pret a Manger, 630 Lexington Ave, NY, NY 10022 (below 54th)

4:00pm walnut cookie crisp

I think this walnut cookie crisp, or whatever its official name may be, is my favorite new cookie. It has the taste of homemade but with walnuts. On muggy humid days the crisp becomes more like soggy but that's kind of true of all pastries that require crunch.
Village Tart, 86 Kenmare St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mulberry)

An Choi, with Hong

We always have a hard time moving past the deliciousness of the bánh mì thịt heo quay (roasted crispy pork) to try the other tempting dishes on An Choi's menu. But after the oppressive humidity of the weekend, the cool weather today seemed just right for some chả cá, grilled fish over noodles served room temperature. An Choi's additional dining room provides the perfect complement to the original, darker space. As Huy says, there is night dining for those who prefer darkness with their meals and day dining for those who like open skies with their bánh mì.

4:00pm banana pecan donut

Haha, we didn't read the fine print on the free doughnut offer from Dunkin Donuts for National Donut Day because we did in fact go to get a free doughnut but apparently you have to buy a beverage to get the free doughnut. So we went to Balthazar instead and paid for better goodness.
Balthazar Bakery, 80 Spring St, NY, NY 10012 (near Crosby)

Shanghai Cafe, with Hong

After a week in Berlin and Gdansk we really craved Asian foods and Shanghai Cafe was on the top of the list. But we put it off until Hong got back into town because inevitably it is on her list of must-eats when home. Sadly for us our favorite dish of rice cakes was a little under-flavored and the sauteed string beans were even more bland. It made us all want Hong's description of the real thing all the more desperately.
Shanghai Cafe, 100 Mott St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Hester & Canal)

4:00pm apricot danish

The apricots were particularly juicy and made up for the slightly dry danish portion. With the humid heat outside, we couldn't get ourselves hungry for sweets unless it was something fruity. That being said, I can't help but see the face of a marmoset whenever I look at it. And today, I took a knife to it and cut it down the middle. How macabre.
Oro Bakery, 375 Broome St, NY, NY 10013 (btwn Mulberry & Mott)

Cheeky Sandwiches, with Karen

Aside from the humid heat, we had the loveliest ladies lunch with Karen from Harvest today. It's a bit of a hike over to Orchard and Hester but well worth what we discovered at Cheeky Sandwiches, thanks to friend Lauren's recommendation. Not only were the sandwiches fairly divine, but they were served by a madly handsome, tall gentleman with dark rimmed glasses, carefully handling the sandwiches with rather lethal black latex gloves. The chicken, beef and grass were all good but the word on the street says po' boy and beignets. We are definitely going back.
Cheeky Sandwiches, 35 Orchard St, NY, NY 10003 (below Hester)

4:00pm peanut butter cookies

I happened to be near this coffee shop out in NJ yesterday and could not resist the beautifully crinkled peanut butter cookies. Personally we are of the camp that peanut butter cookies should have a slight resiliency to the texture instead of dissolving in your mouth, but the taste was still nice.
Small World Coffee, 14 Witherspoon St, Princeton NJ 08540 (near Nassau St)

Lombardi's

Pizza napoletana is all the rage, and there are no shortage of NYC options lately, but sometimes it's necessary to remember the old timers. Which is why an occasional lunch at Lombardi's is a good idea. The crowd is largely tourists, but our standard order of pepperoni and mushroom is always reliable and the atmosphere fun and festive.
Lombardi's Pizza, 32 Spring St, NY, NY 10012 (at Mott)

4:00pm zoku pop

I think we'll be getting a lot of use out of the Zoku frozen pop maker this summer. Thanks Saha for making delicious apricot and strawberry pops this afternoon!

Welcome to India

We hadn't been back here since this place first opened. While the people were super charming, the food left something to be desired. Well, today was the day to go back. And frankly, I'd still have to say the food is kind of boring. But that said, the rice was good and firm, the curries light and non-greasy and the people still friendly. Due to the lack of Indian joints in the neighborhood, we'll definitely go back again. And next time I want to try the kati rolls.
Welcome to India, 369 Broome Street, New York, NY 10013