Hi, everyone! I’ve been going to Union Square a lot lately for physical therapy on my feet (they’re improving, and I can walk to a decent degree but not yet an hour and a half per day like I used to). A few days ago, I figured I’d try getting lunch takeout close to there but not too much of a detour for the direction I needed to head in (I live in the East Village). I thought I’d get some kind of Middle Eastern platter, so I looked up places on Yelp; Taboonette was highly rated, but their sabich pan was very disappointing - I ordered it on a salad base and it was mostly totally undressed salad, so different from Taim, who provide a lot of tahini and so on. And even their eggplant wasn’t that great to me, somehow. I would not recommend Taboonette and don’t plan on going back.
Anyway, my parameters are: within about 5 blocks of Union Square, but favoring directions south and east somewhat (so I’d say nothing west of 5th Ave or north of 21st St. for these purposes); good for takeout or even better, with outdoor dining that’s really outdoors (not some outbuilding with closed doors and air conditioning); and less than $25/person, all in for food (I almost never drink anything alcoholic before dinner). I’m pretty flexible in terms of cuisine, but as per the original Chowhound credo, it has to be delicious.
Hi Pan, So sorry to hear about your problem. I hope the physical therapy gets you healed and walking long distances again soon.
For take-out in that area, we like Daily Provisions, 19th St., off Park Ave. S., adjacent to Union Square Cafe. Our favorite thing to order there is the roast beef sandwich, big enough for us to share for a light lunch along with the North Fork Potato Chips. However, now that you’ve added the caveat re: low carbs, they do have lots of options other than sandwiches.
I know you said nothing above 21st St. Still, I’m going to mention another place we really like. Milu is on PAS, just off 24th St. Frankly, I usually don’t care much for Chinese; (though Mr. R. loves it); however, the Chinese food here is not ordinary and is quite delicious. The young woman who opened Milu used to be one of the cooks at EMP. Her talent and creativity are definitely on display here. One can dine inside (very nice interior) though as you know, like you, we are not doing indoor restaurant dining. There is an open hut outside, but we do take-out since our apartment is only two blocks away.
