Leah McCann Smith | Writer & Editor

MealPal Day 8: ‘Essen

Address: 100 Broad St., New York, NY

Day of the week: Monday

Order: Cobb Salad

Mixed lettuce with grilled chicken, smoked bacon, avocado, hard boiled egg, artisan blue cheese, and red wine vinegar

Value: $8.50

It’s Monday and we all feel like we need a binge from a weekend of booze, carbs, and pizza, so…carbs. So I was really looking forward to some greenery on this Monday MealPal trip. But I gotta admit—the photo ‘Essen used to promote its cobb salad looked way better than my version. Probably tasted better, too. Now I usually like a good cobb salad, and the added avocado on this puppy made it all the more appealing. But ultimately, I was disappointed in this MealPal order and found myself picking up some bread and cheese just two hours later. My coworker Matt also came with me and decided to order a Korean BBQ bowl. I couldn’t help but salivate at his order—so lesson learned.

Pro: literally no wait time. Good on ‘Essen.

Pickup Process (Wait Time): 

Amount of Food:                    

Food Temperature:                

Taste:                                        

Restaurant/Atmosphere:       

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Not my best MealPal experience, but I’m glad I found this place downtown. They have a ton of options, and next time, I’ll be trying something different. FYI: if you plan to go here between the hours of 12 and 2, prepare yourself for madness.

ICYMI: Here’s my intro post as to what I’m doing (MealPal) and why I’m doing it (to eat good food in New York City without spending a fortune).