Cheap on the Upper East Side
Greetings! So, unfortunately my hounding is leaving me dangerously low on funds, and I need to start finding some good food that is cheap. I'm thinking around $10 a plate is the ideal. As for cuisine types, I'm not overly picky (except I'm not big on veggies), but I do need it to be impressive enough to satisfy the lady...I can't be taking her out to McDonalds or Subway for dinner.
She lives up there, and I don't...so I don't know the area. I've been struggling a lot, checked out most of the pizza places, but am looking for any hidden little gems. Can you help?
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there's a new authentic ramen joint Naruto Ramen around 93rd and 3rd, and the ramen is around $8.50.
I also like the Kinsale Tavern for good solid Irish american standards like great burgers, Irish bacon/sausage panini, shepherds pie, and most are under $10.
Buddha BBeeq around 90th and 2nd has nice fresh pan-asian standards and again most entrees run around $10 or less.
Ottomanelli Grill serves nice Italian American standard comfort food and most entrees are around $10.
El Paso Taqueria on 97th between Park and Madison has delicious authentic Mexican food and again most entrees run in the $10 range (you could just get 3 tacos which are filling for around that amount).
I second Beyoglu and Pio Pio above. not so keen on lili's or jasmine or vermicelli which seem to be very ordinary and mediocre Asian food to me.
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re: jeanki
Thanks again! Hugely helpful. I actually used to go to Kinsale years and years ago when I was in college (and I didn't live in New York), and haven't been able to get back since moving to the area 6 years ago. Maybe I just need to go back. I do remember that fantastic beer selection though, and they poured a mean Guiness.
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Let me suggest Sotto Cinque on 86th bet 1st and 2nd. This is my Italian food delivery standby, and the actual restuarant is very nice looking. Don't misunderstand me... this is not Babbo... but the food is as good or better than other spots in the immediate area that charge almost double for similar dishes.
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Try the Mansion Diner on the corner of York Ave and 86 Street. The dinner specials are usually very good and some of them are within your budget. I highly recommend the beef stew on Tuesdays. The chicken noodle soup is great. Don't go for breakfast or for hamburgers, neither of which they do well.
The place has a loyal neighborhood following that have been eating there for years.
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I haven't been for a couple of years, but my husband and I used to like Pinocchio on First Ave. between 90 and 91. It is very small, even a little cramped, but very romantic. I remember we thought the prices were insanely cheap; there was a prix fixe three course dinner for under $20. The food is not mindblowing but it is appetizing and the ambience and service belong to a pricier place.
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You don't say how far uptown on the UES you want to go. But, perhaps, Pio Pio? It's on 1st Av., b/t 90th & 91st Sts. I haven't tried it, but my daughter and her fiance rave about the chicken. Looking at the menu on Menupages, it appears to fit your budgetary constraints. Maybe Hounds who live in that area and have experience with Pio Pio will chime in with some info re: the atmospherics and how appropriate it might be for your purposes. (Paging MMRuth!)
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Everything on menupages.com unless I say otherwise:
If you can order in with her, Hunan Delight on York & 78th is the best chinese up there (I live around there and have tried everything), but I've never been there and have heard that you don't really want to dine in there.
Vermicelli is Veitnamese and reasonable, nice enough for a date, I think they fit the bill price-wise, too, depending on what you get.
Delizia on 73rd and 1st has great pizza and other stuff is decent, too, and I hear they have a dining room in the back that is cute.
Finnegan's Wake on 73rd and 1st may be one of the best-kept secrets in the area -- they are a typical Irish pub, but not dark or stinky inside, and they have a burger that, in my opinion, beats JG Melon. Everything else is good there, too, including their Caesar salad that you can get w/ chicken, or sliced steak. Besides Hunan Delight, it's probably the only place that my fiance and I can go in the neighborhood and walk out after dinner and and a drink for each of us for $20 or so, including tip!
Finally, Beyoglu on 82nd and 2nd (I think) is Mediterranean and AWESOME. The food is delicious, and you can do dinner (including apps, I'd say) and wine for under $40 for two people.
Happy dining!
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Jel212
Oct 29, 2007 01:26 PM
Lili's Noodle House has a definitely decent atmosphere - open space, modern, and reasonable Chinese-food prices, good quality. I also like Al Forno for pizza and sometimes pasta. Vermicelli also has a nice atmosphere (great in the summer b/c you can eat on the sidewalk) with reasonable prices. Mustang's has a good burger, but that's a loud place for drinks, too. I like Jasmine for Thai, as well.
