1. Be riding a train, any train, that stops at W 4th St. Since you are on a time budget, (15 extra minutes between appointments is usually my cushion) it will help to be in one of the front cars if heading downtown.
2. Make a speedy exit at the W. 3rd st. end of the platform. Bear left up the stairs by the handball courts.
3. Head to the first door on W. 3rd St.: the Bing* store!!
4. Quickly choose your flavor (spicy pork? Spicy beef? Pork and cabbage? Taro? I haven't had the taro yet, maybe next time) and hand over $2. Get handed change and a warm flat bun full of goodness, wrapped in wax paper.
5. Grab one napkin and snarf down your bing while watching the handball game.
6. Wipe mouth and hop back on the train, thinking that while the Bing-store bings are no Momofuku pork buns (because let's face it: the Momofuku pork buns have no equal. More on these later) they are a pretty tasty lunch for less than two bucks. Added advantages include superior proximity to a major subway stop, and lunch-on-the-run tidiness (it's a one-napkin lunch!).
7. Think also that while there is nothing that can comfort me for the loss of Joe's Pizza (my old W 4th St. lunch stop), the bing store comes as close as possible.
*Bing: Chinese street food that is a cross between a pork bun and a pannini -- a bun stuffed with filling and pressed flat.
Yup, love the bing place. Love the bings. I was so sorry that it was closed for renovations when I stopped by the other day. I'm hoping they are installing extra bing ovens in the back, so we'll have a never-ending supply.
Posted by: annulla | March 28, 2007 at 05:19 PM