Hale & Hearty Soup
I don’t usually go to the soup chains for lunch, but as the weather gets colder, of course soup comes to the front of the mind as a way to warm up. Especially when recovering from the “welcome to the cold season” hack.
If I’m honest about it, I am not a big fan of Hale & Hearty. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing bad about them, but I think they’re a bit expensive and their quality isn’t exactly through the roof. I think of it as a soup version of McDonald’s. That may seem a bit harsh, but, I’m not convinced there’s a lot of healthy whatnot going on over there.
Either way, I really enjoy one incredibly childish and (I’m guessing) wildly unhealthy soup they serve. Let us look.
What lurks under that bizarre, bruised orange surface?
As you may (or may not) know, I am a HUGE fan of Mac & Cheese. Imagine my surprise to see that they had a “soup” called Mac & Cheese with beef. That’s pretty much a chocolate & peanut butter moment to me. Ever since that discovery (several years ago) I occassionally get a hankering for this dish.
Maybe it's not so pretty... .
It’s very sweet, and overall has a very mushy texture. The pasta is soaked, has little character, and the beef isn’t what you’d call high quality – it’s like cafeteria taco meat.
There's a lot of good to it, though.
OK, I’m not sure it has much to do with Mac & Cheese, but there’s something wildly pleasing about it. There’s a subtle tomato note in the flavor, which might described as sharp cheese-esque. I suppose it’s cheesy, err, I guess. To me, it tastes like an adult version of a Chef Boyardee product. And I love Chef Boyardee, even if I don’t eat it anymore. The soup could use a bit of hot sauce, perhaps.
All in all, even though it can’t possibly be dietectic, I like it, and think you might too.
Hale & Hearty
Multiple locations, for more information check their website. www.haleandhearty.comPure Thai Shophouse
The Pure Thai Shophouse storefront.
I have to confess a good deal of the subtlety and nuance of Thai food is usually lost on me. Generally, my previous experience is that Thai food is often consistently peanut flavored. That’s testimony to my inexperience in this culinary tradition, but it’s what I’ve found thus far.
Hello Pure Thai Noodles! This time tipped off by Grubstreet (via Midtown Lunch), I decided that despite noodles being made of the dread white flour, nemesis to all diets, it was time to give it a run.
Boy, that looks good, doesn't it... .
I ordered the Ratchaburi crab & pork dry noodle. It’s handmade egg noodles, roasted pork, lump crab meat, yu choy and scallion. Yu choy is a leafy green stalk.
Wow!
The meal – clocking in at $7.62 – was delicious. The homemade egg noodles are very rich and sweet. The roasted pork was smoky and hearty. I realize it looks a bit purple in the picture, but it was beautiful. Pouring a bit of the pickled jalapeno(?) added a sour note to the whole thing.
All in all, if I’m honest, I’m not really sure what was happening in my mouth. But it was awesome. Definitely going to return. Delicious!
Pure Thai Shophouse
766 9th Avenue (between 51st &52nd street) New York, NY 10019 (212) 581-0999 www.purethaishophouse.comHallo Berlin
Behind this door, you can enjoy the best of the wurst.
Every now and again – and perhaps even more frequently that that – some German soul food is called for. And when you get that hankering for some delicious wursts and sausage, go to Hallo Berlin Express in Midtown and get the Democracy Special. Come hungry.
Ordinarily, that sausage would be two meatballs.
For $13, you get enough food for lunch and dinner. But it is so tasty you’re liable to eat it all in one go. The Democracy Special is two wursts, cut into small pieces, potatoes, kraut, cabbage, mustard sauce and two meatballs. On this occasion, there were no meatballs, so they added in a third succulent wurst.
Hungry yet?
It is a poem of meaty goodness. A treasure hunt as your plastic fork skewers the bed of kraut and cabbage to come up with a chunk of wursty happy. The mustard sauce lightly glazes the food, adding an oh-so-faint spicy note to the otherwise hearty (and tremendously filling) meal. You can also enjoy one of several different German beers – they even serve it in the dreaded glass boot, if you’ve got the stamina for that.
As for the wursts themselves, they offer a wide selection, which inexplicably they nickname after cars. In addition to a standard (and comparatively unimaginative) wienerwurst, which is essentially a hot dog made of beef and pork, you can also indulge in bratwurst (pork), knockwurst (beef/pork), bavarian wurst (veal), bauernwurst (beef/pork) and more. With the Democracy Special, you can pick the two you like. I usually go with a brat and bauernwurst.
Minus the boot of beer, it’s one of my favorite lunches, which I highly recommend.
Hallo Berlin Express
50th and 9th Avenue New York, NY (212) 333-2372 www.halloberlinrestaurant.comSal and Carmine’s Pizza = Perfection
Sausage slice from Sal & Carmine's.
There is perhaps no food item more New York than the slice of the pizza. So why the hell is it so damn hard to get a good slice anymore? When I was growing up here, there was an understanding of what good pizza was: thin, crispy, flavorful. However, the explosive popularity of Ray’s led to a million imitators hanging shingles and serving up gushy, cardboard-flavored sponges that defile the sensibility of the pizza purist. In that context, I thank God for Sal & Carmine’s.
Behind this storefront, tremendous pizza awaits.
Sal & Carmine’s have been dishing it up every since I was a kid. I’ve literally grown up on their slices, and I openly admit my unwavering, unflagging loyalty and devotion to this place. That said, it is not unearned. They have been consistently cranking out what I consider to be pretty much the definitional slice of NYC pizza.
Do you see that? That's what NYC pizza should look like.
What do I mean by “definitional?” It is thin, crispy, hot and delicious. I am not contending there is no other, better pizza in NYC – I am saying that this is the essential archetype of the NYC slice, a standard bearer. The torch they carry illuminates the dark of the pizza wasteland, and they should be viewed with honor and respect by fressers out there looking for an authentic slice of NYC pizza.
It looks perfect. Admit it.
I don’t know why it’s so hard to find a decent slice of pizza anymore in Manhattan. There are numerous places that make one, but they are few and far between – and usually packed. Then there’s the whole movement towards brick oven pies (many of which are flavorless, alas).
Either way, I can’t say enough about the Sal & Carmine’s slice. It’s a wonderful, wonderful thing. I lament the passing of Sal and am grateful Carmine can still be found pounding out pies behind the counter. Their family appears to be poised to carry the tradition forward, which is thrilling and encouraging. Their slices are perfect. Highest recommendation.
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