What's For Lunch?

All I seem capable of eating for lunch lately is mozzarella + protein. And usually that protein is roast beef or chicken cutlets. What I am getting at is that I've become completely beaten down by my lunch options. If you're in Park Slope you can usually see me wandering aimlessly up and down 5th Avenue between 1-2PM. Nothing sounds overly appealing to me (taste + price) and when I do decide on something specific I seem to get foiled a lot (Palo Santo & El Pollo, I'm looking right at you!).

I had a hot roast beef with mozzarella and roasted red peppers yesterday and a chicken parm the day before. I limit myself to half a sandwich because they are pretty big and filling. I have eaten whole ones in the past and come to regret that choice. DMR usually takes the uneaten half with him to work the next day so it works out well. Both were from A&S Pork Store, which I like quite a lot and will totally miss when we move. The butchers always mistake me for someone else and recently asked how the baby was. I don't have a kid nor am I pregnant, so that was amusing. I nearly got another mozzarella + ? sandwich today but decided against it. Then I decided I wanted El Pollo and hooray, they were open for lunch! They had a few lunch specials written out on a board outside, including a 1/4 rotisserie chicken combo with curly fries. Curly fries? I wanted tostones to accompany my meal but didn't feel like checking in to see if the substitution was possible so I just kept walking.

North of Union Street, I began to feel really stressed out. I had done this exact same quest for lunch route a few days before and settled for something I really didn't want. Today I decided on Nana before I had a breakdown on the street. DMR and I will order delivery from Nana once in a blue moon. They aren't a go-to for us, but it's where we get our roti canai fix. I ordered a lunch special combination of wontons with balsamic soy and a chicken curry laksa. The dumplings were encased in a nice thin skin and stuffed with chicken or pork. I wasn't really paying attention but it wasn't a typical meat + chive/green vegetable mixture. It could have been a chicken meatball even. The dipping sauce came applied to the dumplings (boo!) which unfortunately made all the crispy shallots that were sprinkled atop soggy. Other than that, these were pretty good.

The laksa seemed promising. There was a little fire symbol next to this dish on the menu to indicate its spiciness. I'm still waiting for the spice to kick in. I do give them credit for packing up the sauce/broth separately from the noodles and chicken, but overall the laksa was a disappointment. The curry lacked spice and flavor for that matter! I liked the thick egg noodles, which reminded me of skinny udon. I wasn't expecting fried potato chunks but those were in the container along with Japanese eggplant, scallions and bean sprouts. I don't like eggplant in non-babaganouj form, but have learned to accept it. Maybe potatoes aren't uncommon in a laksa, but these looked like home fries, hence the confusion.