There’s no denying the charm of the single digit. A dollar sign followed by just one number is a beautiful thing right about now. Especially when the dollar amount in question buys excitement, deliciousness, adventure, satiety, or all four. Single Digit Suppers may or may not become a recurring feature on Salmaland, but here’s the first installment:
1) Mikey’s Burger: A tiny new Ludlow Street diner from the suddenly megalomaniacal Michael “Bao” Huynh (of Baoguette, Bia Garden, and a fast-expanding slew of others). Given its minuscule size and relatively limited ambitions, it’s incredible how much buzz Mikey’s has gotten since it opened a couple of weeks ago. And frankly there are many better burgers in NYC. But if you’re in the area, $5.50-$6 gets you a small-ish but thick and filling burger topped with just cheese or ratcheted-up with Asian toppings like Chinese bacon, sausage, and kewpie mayo; the lamb burger comes with jalapeno, mint, and spicy peanut sauce. Drop another $3 for a classic egg cream made with Fox’s U-Bet chocolate syrup, or $5 for a milkshake (chocolate, vanilla, Vietnamese coffee, or flavors like avocado and black sesame for the adventurous). P.S.: For the burgered-out, $5 buys an exceptional Vietnamese banh mi sandwich at one of the Huynh-owned Baoguettes. In a year when everyone tried to cash in on the banh mi trend, a sandwich that’s supposed to cost $3 max shot up to $10 or more all over town. But Vietnamese-born Huynh nails the banh mi better than most (just the right balance of pork terrine, pate, herbs, and a fluffy-crisp baguette) and keeps prices closer to the sweet spot.
2) T Poutine. If you’ve spent any time in Quebec you know what poutine is—and you’ll either stop reading now or snap to attention. To bring the rest up to speed, poutine is a pile of fries slathered with cheese curds and gravy. The four-month-old Ludlow Street spot T Poutine, just down the street from Mikey’s Burger (above), is among the first in NYC to dedicate itself to this polarizing snack. (Is it disgusting? Is it heavenly? You decide.) For $7.50, you get a giant order of fries swimming in gravy and topped with big snowy white-cheddar cheese curds—perfect for soaking up a hangover or maybe even preventing one. One problem at T Poutine is that the fries vary from flabby to crispy, and good poutine really needs the latter; but the curds are fresh and pleasingly cloud-like. In truth, $7.50 feels a bit high for fries, no matter what’s on them, and no matter that T-Poutine’s stated mission is “French fries as meal.” (Intriguingly, the poutine topping choices here—where another house slogan is “pimp your fries”—range from sliced steak and caramelized onions to bacon et al; I didn’t try those.) Poutine-phobics can go for a burger instead, or choose from a half-dozen $5 grilled-cheese sandwiches.
3) Crosby Connection. This strange sandwich spot started up in a cramped, hectic Crosby Street space about a decade ago, and through a combination of truck-stop attitude and sandwiches that always magically defied expectations, owner Joey and his lunch skills quickly built up a cult following. Now the shop is operating out of the Bleecker Street Theatre lobby, and the vibe in here midday still feels like you’ve pulled into a roadside diner off the interstate. Distracted service, seemingly slapdash preparation sometimes—but fantastic results. The place seems to have zero relationship to the rest of Noho/Soho, and that obviously counts for at least a point or two. But the Italian-sub-style sandwiches (all huge; all $6) are still outstanding.
My favorite here is the Suzy Special, loaded with fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, avocado, roasted peppers and basil and drizzled in balsamic and olive oil; sounds pretty basic, but somehow no one does it like Crosby. Note: You can only buy sandwiches here from noon until 4 on weekdays (in the evenings it turns into a concession stand for the theater) so the “Single Digit Suppers” headline above is a little misleading in this case. But hey, buy a sandwich in the afternoon and toast it up later. It gets even better after the juices have soaked in, and it’ll be the best six bucks you’ve spent all day.