I was prepared not to like Earl’s Court, the new Fi-Di food court anchored by Earl of Sandwich sandwich shop. To me, the concept screamed “airport.” Besides, I was skeptical of Earl of Sandwich, an international chain, supposedly co-founded by a Planet Hollywood scion teaming with a “direct descendant of the original Earl of Sandwich.” But the idea of a pick-and-choose lunch place with selections from several interesting vendors housed under one roof was tempting enough to try on a recent cold afternoon. Earl’s Court features eight different brands: Earl of Sandwich, The Original Soupman, Billy’s Bakery, Sushi Express, Greens, ShakeBar, and Lavazza coffee and Libations 101—a relative myriad of choices, a few blocks north of Wall Street. This, the second Earl of Sandwich location in Manhattan, features a very nice space, roomy and clean, high-ceilinged and bright, with lots of windows, plenty of seating and decent music playing.
My lunch companion and I started with the Original Soupman. I had been a patron of the original Original Soupman storefront and couldn’t wait to try this….but it is a different animal. At $3.49 a cup (the only size available), soups are priced fairly and taste decent for a chain, but not the off-the-charts homemade soups I remember. The butternut squash was the best of the lot, thick, tasty, and seemingly homemade—not overly smooth and processed or too sweet and cloying. In itself, it is a really good soup. But the Italian Wedding Soup was underwhelming and the corn chowder was strangely spiced and not good, with odd curry undertones and a murky taste.
Earl’s Court offers a fun chance to combine selections from different brands, so we next hopped to sushi. Sushi Express was fine; a sushi chef prepares rolls and has a good selection of pre-made rolls ready for pick-up (and I, for one, appreciate the smaller-sized eight pieces per tray rather than six larger). The spicy crab was just spicy enough and the rice and seaweed were fresh and tasted good. But if the salmon and cream cheese roll had to have cream cheese (I’m not a fan), the chef could have used less—the cream cheese overwhelmed the rest of the roll.
We didn’t get salads at Greens but the ready-made salads did look fresh and inviting, with a nice selection ready for pick up. The make-your-own salad ingredients were perhaps not as adventurous as some salad bars, but looked fine, and there was certainly enough staff to accommodate customers needing to get in and out quickly—a peeve of mine at make-your-own salad places. The big surprise, however, awaited us at the Earl of Sandwich.
We started with the The Original 1762 sandwich, composed of “Freshly Roasted Beef, Sharp Cheddar Cheese & Creamy Horseradish Sauce.” Earl of Sandwich’s distinction is that meats are roasted on the premises and breads freshly baked. It was a fantastic sandwich. Totally unexpected! For $5.99 (priced the same as all the other sandwiches), I expected an Arby’s experience, but this was really, really good. Plenty of meat, good yellow cheddar (not cheese food-type) and just enough of the horseradish sauce to give it zip without glopping it up (another pet peeve). My companion and I made short work of it while marveling at a sandwich, here in the Wall Street area, at this price. We then had an Earl’s Club, turkey with bacon (great bacon, and several strips of it), cheese, lettuce and tomato–it was also a winner. The bread—all sandwiches come on the same bread, a kind of cross between a roll and Texas-toast—was warm and freshly baked (as advertised) and just crusty enough, another thing that we didn’t expect. At these prices, I had expected Subway-type bread.
We finished with a Caprese, the classic mozzarella-basil-tomato combination that was jazzed up with a balsamic spread, and again marveled at the quality for the price-this sandwich had pretty high-grade mozzarella, actually good-tasting Roma tomatoes (a surprise in January) and whole leaves of fresh basil. An enthusiastic thumbs-up on all three sandwiches.
We couldn’t leave without dessert. Since I have enjoyed Billy’s Bakery cupcakes in the past, I was so happy to see them represented at Earl’s Court. We enjoyed the two we tasted at Earl’s, red velvet and banana, but they seemed a little dry and I was a bit underwhelmed—could I just be over the Cupcake Thing? I don’t think so; they were good if a bit sweet. The last dessert we tasted was another unexpected winner—a Triple Chocolate Brownie ($1.99 and made with Ghirardelli Chocolate) that had been baked on the premises, like all the desserts in the “Cravings” section of Earl’s, where they also offered brownie/ice cream sandwiches, cookies, big cups of bite-size blondies, several types of brownies, and other treats. Don’t let the shrink wrap fool you. This brownie hit all the scoring points: chewy and dense with a soft fudgy center. Earl’s Court also has some great-looking Lavazza coffee selections, but we couldn’t fit another bite or sip—and I have to admit I looked regretfully when I realized we had passed on the milkshake bar selections.
The final option at Earl’s Court is also a drinking one. Libations 101 is a unique idea. At Happy Hour curtains are drawn across the space to separate the bar area from the eating area. The result is an intimate and inviting bar atmosphere with walls softened by wood cut-out screens, plants, and dimmed lighting. A DJ spins on Thursdays and Fridays and the house serves top-shelf liquors at very reasonable prices–martinis and a specialty drink of the day are half-price. Besides cocktails, snacks and small plates are available.
The Financial District has sprouted many new eateries in the last year, but for a pleasant atmosphere, a chance to “mix it up” for lunch, and, best of all, a great price point, Earl’s Court has made a great debut. Everybody in the office will get what they like.
Earl’s Court
90 John Street
New York, NY 10038
212-227-6899
