I missed my pickled watermelon.
The awning reads simply "Spa 88," and on the banner above it, "restaurant" appears in a supporting role to "Russian Turkish bath." The smell of chlorine, which introduces itself as you clamber down and up steps, around corners, and past (mostly) closed doors, disappears by the time you take a seat in the boxy restaurant, but on my visit, one table accommodated customers with damp hair, still wearing their robes. That's not an unusual sight, I understand; no matter to me, except for the suggestion that Spa 88's heart is with the shvitz, not the shish kebab.
The lunchtime set menus ($11.95 and $15.95) offer bread, choices of salad, soup, and entree, and a glass of the berry drink called compote. I homed in on lagman soup and potato latkes, but both had been permanently 86'ed ("old menu," our young Russian waitress apologized); for that matter, my pickle plate lacked the advertised watermelon (I didn't have the heart to point out their absence). Shown, above and below: pickled vegetables; fish soup; chicken strogonoff; and fatty "Uzbek style" lamb.
Bonus points for a mosaic that doesn't try to time the market; bull or bear, it plays no favorite.
Wall Street Bath & Spa 88
88 Fulton St. (William-Gold Sts.), basement
212-766-8600
www.WallStreetBath.com
