NYC in Sep-need nice cheap-mid-range places to eat

[weirdwombat]

Hi folks, 1st post here.

I'm planning a trip to NYC in Sep, planning to stay nr West Village. Does anyone have any recommendations for cheapish places to eat (~£20-30/ $30-45 for full meal, $10-20 for lunch) in the area?

I like most foods, except spicy things. I'm partically fond of fish, chinese food, italian food and breakfast/brunch foods.

Not looking for anything too posh, as will be travelling on my own (recommendations for places where a single woman is not going to feel to out of place would be good!)

[kathryn]

Does your $45 for dinner, $20 for lunch include tax, tip, and/or drinks/wine? Most of Manhattan's restaurants are solo diner friendly because we get SO many business travelers. For fish, do you like shellfish as well? Luke's Lobster is a good casual seafood shack that's take out and not as expensive as other places. For Chinese, you have a wealth of options in Chinatown. Outside of Chinatown, most of the options are Szechuan but you said you don't like spicy food so I would avoid Szechuan Gourmet, Grand Sichuan, Wu Liang Ye, and Lan Sheng, since their strength is in spicy food. For Italian, we have a number of options all around town especially if you like pizza. I guess it depends what kind of Italian food you want: like an old school red sauce Italian American joint or more traditional Italian food. I've also compiled a list of my favorite breakfast and brunch places which I've linked to below. My personal favorites are Prune, Clinton St Baking Company, Locanda Verde, and Shopsin's.

Please help me eat during a month in new york
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/716238

Don't leave NY without eating these foods
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/610739

Pizza in NYC
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/692820#5454962

BTW, I highly recommend RGR's self guided Lower East Side Gustatory tour:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/493333

Best breakfast and brunch:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/707772

Budget friendly, with lots of links to Chinatown places
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/717105

Cool, cheap eats in Manhattan. .
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/696914

Looking for Best Cheap Eats in Manhattan
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/694218

Angeleno in NYC looking for cheap eats
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/635360

Top 3 cheap eats that are NOT street food
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/700760

Time Out New York's cheap eats list for 2010 just came out
http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/r...

[RGR]

Thanks, as alwaysl for including my LES tour. kathryn! We should note that Guss' has closed. The substitution is the Pickle Guy, on Essex St. (The address for Economy Candy is correct.)

Re: Luke's Lobster. The E. Village location isn't totally take-out as there are a few counter seats. Best time to go to avoid lines and get a seat would be 3 - 5 p.m.

Photos of Luke's Lobster, E. Village: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11863391@N03/sets/72157624069151409/

Luke's UES location has much more seating. They are also getting a fryer, which will mean fries and, I presume, other fried stuff on the menu. I don't know if it's been installed yet. Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11863391...

[kathryn]

RGR, is there an updated version of the tour that has the substitution of Pickle Guy for Guss' with the address for Pickle Guy?

Yes, you're right -- Luke's in the EV is counter service/take out/delivery. I was mainly trying to say that it's a bit cheaper and not table service like Pearl, Mary's, etc. Exciting news about the UES location!

[RGR]

Re: Tour update. Not yet. I'm working on putting together a website which will have additional stops and photos.

[gutsofsteel]

I've been to the Luke's UES location a few times and I must admit that I am not a fan of the lobster rolls. I'll stick with Pearl's and Mary's and Ed's.

[kathryn]

Is your preference for more mayo on the rolls? Which out of the three you mentioned is your favorite? Which do you think goes lightest on the mayo? Has the best quality lobster meat?

[duckie]

Hi weirdwombat. I am also a long time lurker, but just recently started posting. I have lived in the West Village for about 15 years, so I am pretty familiar with this neighborhood.

Italian

Otto is a well liked pizzeria by Mario Batali that I think is fairly good. Their olive oil gelato is famous. I happen to like the salty peanut gelato better than the olive oil.

Morandi is very authentic and has great bread, but is maybe too expensive for what it is. It is also very popular for brunch. It should be ok if you order carefully.

Gusto has good house made fresh pastas, but the staff can be a little bit pretentious and snobby. Gottino right next door is a nice place to sit just for a glass of wine and a snack. If you eat a full meal, there, it could be expensive. They serve brunch, too.

Keste is another very trendy pizzeria with good Neapolitan style pizza. Unless you go during an off hour, though, there will probably be a wait.

I almost forgot, Scarpetta is nice choice for Italian. But it is a place where you would need to restrict yourself to just one course.

Fish

Do you like ceviche? Pampa has good Peruvian style ceviche and is reasonably priced.

Annisa always makes very good fish dishes and is very consistent in her kitchen. She may exceed your price range, though, if you order more than a main course.

Mary's Fish Camp and Pearl Oyster Bar are very popular. I personally do not think the fish at these places is all that good. They are ok.

Chinese Food

I would head to the Chinatown for Dim Sum Go Go. The West Village does not have authentic Chinese food. The better West Village Chinese restaurants are also Szechuan, which tends to be very spicy.

Brunch

In addition to Morandi, Blue Ribbon Bakery and Jane have popular brunches.

You can also just pick up croissants at Patisserie Claude and also some cold brewed iced coffee from Joe. Joe is one of the best coffee shops in the city and Patisserie Claude is one of the top five places for croissants.

Lunch

You can do a good, inexpensive lunch at Taim or Hummus Place. I do not eat lunch in my neighborhood very often, though, so I don't know which places have lunch specials.

American

If you sit at the bar in Perilla, you can eat the spicy duck burger, which is very nice.

BLT Burger has some great, juicy burgers, fries and milkshakes.

Westville is decent for a lot of things and has reasonably priced lunch sandwiches.

In general, I do not think a single woman eating alone will be uncomfortable. So do not worry.

[hungryinmanhattan]

Great list. Thank you.