Downtown Vietnamese Truck! - 'Banh Mi Cart'

Hopefully, I will be getting back to my updating moods. Life has gotten really busy this past Summer, between traveling, working (a LOT, Thank GOD!) and being a crazy, I've hopefully calmed down a bit for a little to pop my head in this blog and write about some great foods I've been lucky enough to try.

So one of my personal favorite places to eat is this truck, called the "Banh Mi Cart" on Hanover Square and Pearl Street in downtown Manhattan. (In the Financial District) There are so many stories associated with this little truck. But I've eaten there 3 times and each time has been heavenly goodness.

The first time was with my friend Shelley, who told me about this truck (since she works like a block away). The second time with my friend Alan, which best story ever, we literally ran around the whole financial district looking for this stupid truck in the pouring rain. My blackberry's googlemap really sucked, so we got lost, and I'm not very familiar with that area so yeah, we got lost a lot. The third time was with my sister for a really random quick lunch break, where we both craved it, and I traveled all the way from midtown just to go get it with her. (Yeah, I know..SUCH.. a _long_ way :p) Each time it tasted great, hit the spot and filled me up like a happy child getting a huge gift on Christmas morning.



I always get the sweet pork Vietnamese sandwich. They have things like spicy pork, chicken, vegetable, spring rolls, summer rolls, whatever finger-type foods the Vietnamese have- but no PHO.. sadly. Anyway, the sandwiches are thin, packed with meat, cucumbers, carrots and some other mysterious veggies (which are probably easily named, but I can't think of them off the top of my head right now) - but it all tastes great. The reason why I really love this place is because of how fresh and clean it tastes. It doesn't feel too heavy after you eat it, and it definitely leaves you feeling good after finishing the whole thing. It's not huMONNgo, nor is it too small, it's pretty much the perfect size. What's also pretty great, is that it costs $6, which if you're from queens, you're like WHAT THE HELL, WHY WOULD I PAY SO MUCH FOR A STUPID VIET SANDWICH, because you can get one for like $4, BUT! again, in manhattan, honestly, where can you get a lunch that's less than $8?! (WITHOUT a drink!) This is actually a jewel of a deal! :)

Anyways, if you guys have a chance, go check it out- should be there Mon-Fri from 11am-2pm. Don't call me if you get lost- I still probably can't find it even to this day. Ha!

Thanks to some of those DEDICATED FANS (HA HA WHO AM I KIDDING??) I realized that I forgot to put my proper ratings in, so here goes:

Taste: 5/5
Atmosphere: 4/5
Cost: $6

Baluchi's Indian Restaurant

This blogpost is dedicated to: Alan, Kelly and Justis. For all those good times we drove past Queens Blvd.... :)


So yesterday, I made my way down to South Street Seaport. Before actually heading there, I had lunch with a friend, Shelley (the woman who makes the most amazing Spring Rolls) at Baluchi's. (Yes, Ba-LOOOO-Chees!!!) It's this chain Indian restaurant located all over Manhattan.


This place literally looked like a take-out place, you go, you order, you point at what you want, and they place it all onto a plate for you. I got the Chicken Tiki Masala, which is: tomato & cream sauce, with a side of string bean potatoes. It was a LOT of food and it tasted really good too. I've always thought of Indian food as REALLY heavy- and it really was.. so I advise you to take it easy. It was very rich and super spicy, and you need the NAN (the dough-bread thing on the side) to really sustain you throughout the entire meal (at least for me, I needed it.. because I can only take so much of spiciness...)



I mean this place is nothing to be stoked about, it's kinda like one of those restaurants in which you go to when you crave some Indian food-which was our reasoning for coming here. We just wanted some chicken and potatoes, yo!
If you're looking for a actual DINNER place, try their Spring Street location. I went there like 3 years ago. They have really beautiful/antique looking silverware that they put curry in, and the decor was a lot richer and a better place to go and actually enjoy the atmosphere. The one down here in the financial district was pretty much a take-out place- all self-service.

Taste: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 3
Cost: $10-$13

Rueben's Empenadas

Yesterday was my first day out on the road on my own. Long story short, I'm currently free all day and can wander the lovely streets all over New York City now- and it's wonderful! I went downtown over to where my sister worked, and we had lunch together. Walking around Fulton street, we couldn't really find anything that 'we craved' to eat, until we saw this little empenada shop. It was called, "Ruben's Empenada". I actually haven't had any empenada since I was in High School (NO, not the yellow Jamaican beef patties that they served in public high school, there was this little shop by Queens Center Mall that had really good empenadas...) and so I asked if she wanted to go there. She agreed and we stepped inside.



It was pretty empty, but then again, it was about 2pm, so maybe the lunch-time rush was already over? We ordered 2 empenadas, and an apple one to share. I got the "Argentine sausage" (ground beef with pork, onion sauteed in a red wine sauce). It was pretty good. I mean, you can't go wrong with dough and beef rolled together. Empenadas are like Spanish dumplings- definitely has to be decent as long as you like what's inside. It's $4.00 for a meat empenada. (they also have vegetarian and side dishes like soups and cucumber yogurt??) The meat was spicy and hot, it was pretty tasteless at first, I had to add the hot sauce in order to give it some more taste and deliciousness to it. Overall this place is a good place to eat if you're craving for a dumpling of some sort. It fills you up just enough. The apple empenada that we shared was pretty good too. Flaky and crispy-- it's like toaster strudel. (not anything special that you cant get from Pillsbury).

So yeah, overall it was all right. Its a chain, so theres one on 65 Fulton street, 77 pearl street, 76 Nassau Street, and 149 Church Street.. and they deliver- if you need it.

Taste: 3/5 (only because of the hot sauce..)
Atmosphere: 3/5 (the waitress was really nice)
Cost: $4-10 (depending on how many you get, and what other goodies you want)