Saleya Visited 3/29/2013 3.5 Forks

Saleya 65 W Broadway (between Murray St & Warren St), New York, NY 10007

Work was super slow on Friday (it was Good Friday), so Allison, Anuja and I decided it would be fun to taking a nice leisurely lunch.  Allison and I had walked past Saleya a bunch of times and always commented on how cute the outside looked.  Since it's more of a sit-down restaurant vs. take-out, we don't usually have a lot of time on a regular work day to sit down, so we picked a day where we knew it would be slow to check it out.

We got there at 11:45am and there was literally no one there.  The inside decor matches the bright outside with lots of brightly colored tables and paintings inside.  With the floor to ceiling windows, there was tons of natural light inside and it's just a very lovely and inviting interior.  My initial glance at the menu was a bit underwhelming and limited.  It wasn't a huge menu and I couldn't really figure out what the cuisine or theme was.  But no matter, I can usually always find something to get there.  I opted for the chicken breast sandwich ($11) and Allison and Anuja split the Wild Mushroom and Truffle Oil pizza ($12) and each got a soup ($8).  I gotta say despite how boring a chicken sandwich sounded this one was pretty good.  It was served with fresh tomato, arugula, and lots of herb aioli mayo.  The bread was a soft foccacia type bread and the chicken (which there was lots of) was very juicy and moist.  It was a super hearty sandwich and despite the mayo, I did feel like I was eating something health-ish.  My one disappointment with the meal was that it was served with potato chips and celery remoulade.  I would have preferred a salad or even fries.  I know it's kind of bratty but there's just something cheap about serving chips on a dish in a restaurant.  I also tried the pizza and it was more like a flatbread and there was no sauce (but lots and lots of cheese).  Anything with cheese and truffle oil is delicious and this one was no exception.  Since it was a leisurely lunch, we also opted to get dessert.  The one thing that was screaming our name was the cinnamon bun bread pudding ($8).  When they brought out the dish, it came with its own side bowl of fresh whipped cream.  How amazing is that?  It was incredibly sweet and perfect to share because for one person it would have been just too much.  It was a very moist and not overpowering with the cinnamon flavoring and it was awesome to have an overload of whipped cream to go with it.  It was a nice way to end our long lunch. 

By the time we left the place was completely packed.  I would come definitely come back here again if I was looking for a nice casual sit down lunch near work.  But I do wish that they would expand their menu a bit more.  Total bill: $20/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit: Yelp