Upland, with Hong

345 Park Ave South, NY, NY

Rating: 3 - Feeling Good
Visits: First time
It's surprising we have not yet been to Upland, considering what a lovely restaurant it is and that Obama had lunch there when he was in town last year. It's right up the street from Doberman, where my sister works, so we met her for a charming lunch of caesar salad, addictively good french fries, a pretty amazing porchetta and egg sandwich and equally delicious bucatini cacio e pepe. It's not a cheap lunch, though not prohibitively expensive. Definitely a place to go if you want to impress.

Chop Shop

41 W. 24th St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 4 - Just Fine
Visits: First Time
We're never going to say no to new Asian options in the 'hood but sure do wish Chop Shop could be better. They were swamped today, so swamped back of house brought out dishes to front, which was kind of cute. The dishes we had were just shy of good. The cucumber salad too sweet. The pork buns a little skimpy and the salt and pepper baby chicken not enough salt and pepper. Still this neighborhood is so lacking in Asian food that I'm quite sure we'll be back to try something else. Maybe they'll have improved by then!

Tacombi Cafe El Presidente

30 W. 24th St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 3 - Feeling Good
Visits: Once in a while on its way to regular
We stuck to one breakfast taco each plus a plate of guacamole but even that was a bit too much. We left stuffed. It could really use a small side of something tart of citrusy, a cabbage salad maybe. The breakfast tacos are too irresistible to give up. We're going to keep going until we find the perfect accompaniment.

Yakitori Totto

255 W. 55th St, NY, NY 10019

Rating: 4 - Just Fine
Visits: First time
We had a work errand near Columbus Circle so we stopped at Yakitori Totto for lunch. M. forgot to take a photograph of the yakitori don (rice bowl) she ordered but did somehow strangely remember to get one of the salad? It's a very affordable and filling lunch for midtown though we wouldn't say extraordinary from a taste point of view.

Homes Kitchen

22 E. 21st St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 3 - Feeing Good
Visits: Often
Sometimes when you're having a lame morning and your friends all stink, the best thing to do is have a comforting lunch of fish fillet, green beans and rice at Homes Kitchen. I assure you, it does quite the trick.

Barn Joo, with friends

893 Broadway, NY, NY

Rating: 3 - Feeling Good
Visits: Regularly
Our book club friends, George and Bill, met us at Barn Joo for lunch, along with Nancy, for a fun lunch of bibimbap, summer plans and miscellany. We all ordered the bibimbap, per usual, but George went out on a limb and had the spicy momil, a cold soba noodle dish, topped with sashimi that looks divine, as you can see here. He said he could eat it every day, it was so nice. Something to try next time!

Hill Country Chicken

1123 Broadway

Rating: 4 - Just Fine
Visits: Regularly
Hill Country Chicken was surprisingly not crowded today, maybe no one wanted to leave the comfort of their air-conditioned offices for lunch out? Three blocks was our limit.

Inidkitch

25 W. 23rd St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 5 - Disappointed
Visits: Sometimes
I'm ok, sometimes, with food deliveries taking awhile but much past an hour and my tolerance sinks rapidly. Especially when it's coming from a fast causal place less than a block away. I'm talking about Indikitch, a place notorious for its long lunch line snaking the length of the restaurant. It shows you how desperate we are here in the Flatiron District for cheap Indian food that people are still willing to wait in line, but man, whatever you do, do NOT order delivery. Or do but be prepared to wait over an hour. Sorry there's no picture of delicious food today, we were too hungry to remember to take a photo.

Rafiqi's Food Cart

North-West corner of Union Square Park

Rating: 2 - Super Happy
Visits: Regular Rotation
There are several things we can never say no to - all Asian food, fresh donuts, Pio Pio and street gyros. There is something so tantalizing about paying $4 for a warmed, soft pita stuffed with spicy, salty grilled lamb and garnished with a mess of lettuce, tomatoes and onions. I love asking for a little bite of hot sauce, because everyone's interpretation of "medium spicy" varies so greatly.

Gammeeok, with Christian

9 W. 32nd St, NY, NY

Rating: 3 - Feeling Good
Visits: Regularly
We were pleased to see more of a crowd at Gammeeok today though I was slightly disappointed with the food. There was something a little off with both the kimchi and soellongtang, not quite up to snuff. The company, however, was marvelous. We talked non-stop, not letting the food or haphazard service deter us in anyway.

Schnippers

23 E. 23rd St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 2 - Super Happy
Visits: Often
We had our usual split lunch of the Schnippers fried chicken sandwich, sloppy joe, onion rings and a side of fries. I have also been quite addicted to Orange Fanta lately (is it making a comeback or have I only just started paying attention?) Schnippers is so goddamn democratic. You can find every type of person there.

Lenwich

16 W. 23rd St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 3 - Feeling Good
Visits: Often
Is Lenwich committing sandwich suicide?! They've changed the bread for the hero sandwich! It still doesn't totally ruin the Italian we had today because the ingredients are so good, but it really doesn't go anything to enhance it either. We're imploring you Lenwich, please let today's bad bread be a fluke and not a habit.

Live Bait

14 E. 23rd St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 3 - Feeling Good
Visits: Regular spot
Dear Live Bait, PLEASE BRING BACK THE BLACKENED CATFISH lunch entree. It's been 3 years. We've been making do with the blackened salmon, it's not bad actually, but that blackened catfish, a little spicy, served with a side of fries and vegetables was a pretty great lunch. Also, we tried the she-devil eggs today, which were extremely interesting in the way the spiciness hits the back of the roof of your mouth a couple seconds afterward.

'wichcraft

11 E. 20th St, NY, NY 10003

Rating: 4 - Just Fine
Visits: Once in awhile
We deviated from our usual pole caught tuna sandwich at 'wichcraft today. M. tried the bristol bay wild salmon torta which she says "too canned salmon, the ciabatta was better than it looked but still heavy on the bread". I picked a tuna avocado salad and discovered that I was basically eating the tuna sandwich but without bread, in a salad form. It wasn't bad, though I don't know that I would get it again.

Koa

12 W. 21st St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 2 - Super Happy
Visits: Often
Koa has quickly grown into one of our regular lunch spots. They recently revised the lunch menu to include a page of $10 ramen bowls and cold noodle dishes that can be turned into lunch sets for an additional $4. The best part of this is not just the quality of the meal, I love the yuzu dressing on the salad and the ramen is quite fine, but that there is always a table waiting for you. Don't be turned off by the nightclub-esque decor. Put Koa into your lunch rotation, you won't regret it.

PN Wood Fired Pizza

2 W. 28th St, NY, NY 10001

Rating: 4 - Just Fine
Visits: First Time
There is no shortage of Neapolitan style pizza in the surrounding neighborhoods and today we tried a newcomer, PN Wood Fired Pizza. The initial write ups make it seem like you can choose from an array of flour types, but actually our choices were regular organic or multigrain. We chose the Bufalina with multigrain dough and a salad. The pizza was quite lovely with a yielding crust that hinted barely of multigrain. The salad, on the other hand, could have used some pep in the dressing because despite fresh ingredients, it was pretty much the most boring salad we've eaten in a while. Oh well, sometimes that happens.

The Bao, with Gordon

13 St Marks Place, NY, NY 10003

Rating: 1 - Wonderful
Visits: Several times
We initially made plans with Gordon for lunch in Chinatown but then my sister, drats her, sent an article titled "A Shanghai native in Search of New York City's most authentic soup dumplings", and well, after that there was nothing I wanted for lunch except for The Bao's xiao long bao. Gordon had never been so of course I over ordered: two racks of crab meat soup dumplings, rice cakes with pork, cold tofu and scallions and our favorites - sauteed green beans and wontons in spicy sauce. Sometimes I think we go more for the wontons than the soup dumplings. The three of us walked out satiated and full.