Yes, You Can Eat Well Downtown!

It has often been noted that there is a paucity of dining options in the Wall Street area. However, a few bright spots exist among the dubious delis and unrefrigerated salad bars.

At $7 a plate, the Sophie’s lunch special is one of the best bargains in town. (If you happen to venture in after 12 p.m., you will find that the entire population of New York has already discovered this. Therefore, I recommend arriving at 11:45.) Your choice of meat (fried pork chops, breaded chicken cutlet, beef stew, fried fish, shrimp in garlic sauce, etc.) arrives on a giant bed of buttered rice, garnished with boiled yucca and spicy onion salad. As if that weren’t enough, you are also blessed with a separate bowl of soupy beans (pinto or black). I am addicted to the small containers of green herb sauce at the counter.

Another tasty option that is easy on the wallet is Tokyo Lunch. This lunch counter is tiny; don't be surprised if you find yourself accidentally drinking from your neighbor's cup. But without spending more than $6-$7, you can enjoy Japanese dishes such as salmon teriyaki and tempura soba. Afterwards, for old-fashioned boardwalk-style candy, go over to Evelyn’s and ask for a quarter-pound bag of chocolate raspberry marshmallows.

My favorite place to eat lunch is the authentic and delicious Ise, which now has a fancy new location on Pine Street after a temporary stint in the basement of Zeytuna’s. Ise’s sushi is fantastically fresh, and there are several daily lunch specials. My recent lunches there have included a glistening chirashi-zushi topped with salmon roe, hokke, a sea-bass like fish from Hokkaido, accompanied by diced mackerel sashimi and assorted root vegetables, and grilled eel with the requisite sansho pepper. Oishii!

For the best coffee downtown, I recommend the Manon Café, the Europhile java bar located at the Leonidas Chocolate Store. Each coffee beverage comes with a free chocolate (you can choose from white, milk or dark). I am usually tempted to buy extras.

(To learn about how you can stimulate the growth of the downtown economy as well as your girth, visit Downtown for Dinner $20.02.)

Sophie's: Pearl St. location now closed: new location: 96 Chambers St., (212) 608-9900. Tokyo Lunch: 10 John St. (212) 608-1394. Evelyn's Chocolates: 4 John St. (212) 267-6178. Ise Japanese Restaurant: 56 Pine St. (212) 785-1600. Café Manon: 3 Hanover Square. 1-800-900-CHOC.