Best Value in Manhattan
My wife and I are coming to NYC for our anniversary in October. Food is going to be a big part of the trip. We've been prowling the board, but are overwhelmed by all the choices. We are still trying to set our budget. So we are looking for the best values in Manhattan.
We are looking for lunch and dinner recs. Anything from super casual to tasting menus. We'll probably do one tasting menu for our actual anniversary dinner. After that we are open to just about anything. Two exceptions though: we don't do Indian food (bad experience in the past) and while we're not opposed to seafood, it's not very high on the list.
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I'm not opining as to quality for all of them, but these are all restaurants that have lunch deals that are considerably less costly than the dinner prices.
Jean Georges $28 2 Course
Nougatine (Jean Georges) $24 3 Course
Alto $36 2 Course
Gotham $31 3 Course
Feledia $30 3 Course
Aquavit $24 3 Course
David Burke Townhouse $24 3 Course (don't know if this is stil the case)
Bar Boloud $24 3 Course
Chanterelle $42 3 Course
Del Posto Enoteca $32 3 CourseAlso, Devi, Cafe Boulud, Petrossian and L'ecole all have lunch deals,but I don't have the prices handy.
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Cafe Boulud
20 East 76th St., New York, NY 10021Jean Georges
1 Central Park W, New York, NY 10023Del Posto
85 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011Petrossian
182 W 58th St, New York, NY 10019Nougatine
1 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023›1 Reply -
Bar Boulud offers a nice prix fixe lunch for about $30, and Telepan is even cheaper. As for bang for the buck, at Annisa dinners run about $75 with many "gifts" thrown in and several wine choices under $50/bottle, which is not true of EMP. Plus an intimate experience with great people-watching.
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Telepan
72 W. 69th Street, New York, NY 10023Annisa
13 Barrow Street, New York, NY 10014Bar Boulud
1900 Broadway, New York, NY 10023 -
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I had a great lunch at Bouley for $36 last month, with amuse bouche, three desserts and petit fours.. I don't know if this is a special summer price as I believe it is usually $48, but still a good deal.
Also The Post House maybe old fashioned steak house but the $24.07 Restaurant week special is going on until the end of 2010 - superb ingredients but not the most imaginative cooking I will agree but hard to see how they make any profit.-----
Post House
28 E 63rd St, New York, NY 10021 -
For lunch I suggest the Bhatti Indian Grill at 100 Lexington Ave. For $10 you get a salad, a small chicken plate, several pieces of Naan bread, chicken tikka masala, spinach, beans, curry potatoes, eggplant, and rice pudding! I could not finish it all! The food is tasty and the decor nice.
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Bhatti
100 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10016 -
Get thee to Brooklyn! The neighborhods near Manhattan are now populated by smaller restaurants opened by younger chefs who are not backed by outside investors. You'll find incredible diversity and great quality. The Good Fork in Red Hook is a new favorite of mine, if you are willing to trek a bit. Do check out the Outer Boroughs board, then you'll really be overwhelmed by choices!
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Might I point you to the last article Frank Bruni wrote as the Restaurant Critic of the New York times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/din...
Of particular note, and I quote:
WHERE CAN I FIND GREAT VALUE?
At some of the more expensive, extravagant restaurants in New York, that’s where. Value doesn’t mean a low price: it means you’re getting a lot for what you’re paying.
At Eleven Madison Park, for example, the $88 prix fixe includes five one-bite amuse-bouches per person, terrific gougères, unlimited bread with both goat’s milk and cow’s milk butter, an appetizer, an entree, a dessert amuse-bouche, dessert and petit fours. Plus you’re sitting in comfort in one of the city’s most beautiful dining rooms, with many polished servers attending to you.
At Momofuku Ssam Bar, where you’re encouraged to build a meal from a sequence of small, medium and large plates, you’d probably need five selections, including dessert, to match that amount of food, and you could easily spend $68 in the process. And what you’ve given up, for a $20 savings, is the ability to make a reservation, a real chair (the restaurant is all backless stools), comparably pampering service, etc.
I’m not denigrating Ssam Bar: I love both of these restaurants. But you could argue that Eleven Madison is the better value — and there’s a larger point here to keep in mind before dismissing expensive restaurants.
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Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010Momofuku Ssam Bar
207 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003›12 Replies-
re: songexe
For most of us, $88 is not "affordable" or "value". Sure you get a swanky experience and some bang for your buck, but I don't believe this is what the OP is looking for. I believe, like others, he's asking how to save money on food while still eating well and getting something tasty.
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re: NewYorkNewHaven
In general, I agree. But value is defined as (Amount of Enjoyment) / (Price), and that is exactly what OP asked for.
Plus, while I agree that many of the restaurants the NYTimes reviews are beyond the reach for most, their opinion is still highly valuable. I'll trust Frank Bruni's palette over most people on Chowhound, including my own.
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re: thew
jacquelines
Aug 12, 2010 01:03 PM
Exactly; I'm pretty sure Frank Bruni (I'd hope so) would agree with you, thew.
His job is not to tell us where to eat and where not to eat, but to enlighten us and share experiences.
According to my taste buds, I really enjoed Abraco for their 3 course lunch; it's really a great value.-----
Abraco
86 E 7th St, New York, NY 10003 -
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thew
Aug 10, 2010 07:52 AM
degustation for the tasting menu - you cannot go wrong, delicious and not expensive for what you get
naruto ramen - 850 for ramen - 650 on mondays
caracas arepas
pizza
cascabel taqueria
there are plenty options other than the top end places others are suggesting
can i ask what was the bad experience w/ indian? if you dont like the flavors that's one thing, but it would be a shame to blow off a rich a varied cuisine totally just because one place did you wrong
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re: thew
The noodles are always the wrong texture, either overdone or underdone. The broths are too salty. I go there because it's convenient, but there are so many other better options in Manhattan. I have had the cold ramen specials several times and I found them pretty dull. And the noodles were a bad texture.
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re: gutsofsteel
MVNYC
Aug 10, 2010 01:10 PM
I agree with this assessment. I go because I can walk there but would not recommend it to anyone out of the neighbourhood. Their Hiyashi Chuka is as dull as I have had it.
Cascabel I will second though. Their tacos are very good and not too pricey given the location. Try the lengua if you like tongue.
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Highly highly recommend Eleven Madison Park for lunch. Not only is it a bargain at lunchtime, but at lunchtime the room is just beautiful, with the sun coming in from the big windows. In fact I prefer to eat there at lunchtime.
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Eleven Madison Park
11 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10010›4 Replies -
I would also like to throw Convivio out there. They have a lunch prixe fixe for 2 courses $28 or 3 courses $40. Their dinner prixe fixe is fantastic and a bargain as it is 4 courses for $62. You'd be very hard pressed to find another restaurant offering that quality at that price in my opinion.
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Convivio
45 Tudor City Place, New York, NY 10017 -
Value in Manhattan is a hard thing to get :P. What is your price range?
For a brunch served until 4:00, I like Cafe Orlin on St. Marks. Here is the menu: http://www.cafeorlin.com/docs/brunch.pdf
Not dirt cheap, but does this seem reasonable?
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Cafe Orlin
41 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10003 -
daffyduck
Aug 9, 2010 10:17 PM
EMP also has a very good lunch deal. As well as SHO and Del Posto though I never tried them. I personally would do higher end places for lunch. Then maybe asian food and pizza for dinner. Some places I like are Viet-Pho Bang, Bahn mi-Baoguette, Chinese-Great Noodletown, Pizza-Keste, Japenese-15 East. 15 East is a higher end place but it is not too expensive if you don't do a tasting menu.
BTW I would trek to Flushing if you are interested in more asian food especially different regional chinese foods.-----
15 East
15 East 15th Street, New York, NY 10003Del Posto
85 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011 -
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