dining near 53rd and Lex

[mninj]

Trying to find a spot that will fill the tummy without emptying the wallet. Trying to stay carb-light, so don't want a noodle shop. Everything over there seems really $$$$. Are there any decent places that are less so?
Thanks.

[DivGuy]

Angelo Sosa's new fast food joint, Social Eatz, is quite affordable and its good dishes are good. The meal we had was spotty, but the hot dog was delicious, and the spring rolls and ribs were nice. (Avoid the bibimbap burger and the tacos.)

Oh, and also the yuzu cream puff dessert was excellent.

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Social Eatz
232 E 53rd St, New York, NY 10022

[jinglejangle]

Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecote for great, cheap steak and fries.
590 Lexington Avenue
http://www.relaisdevenise.com/

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Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecote
590 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022

[gutsofsteel]

It's cheap and it's fine for the price, but to call the steak "great" is a serious exaggeration. If that's "great," then what is Keen's, Wolfgang's, Strip House, Peter Luger? Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious?

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Strip House
13 E 12th St, New York, NY 10003

[jinglejangle]

I think for the $ (which OP didn't want to spend a lot of) the steak is pretty great., fulfills my craving w/out spending a lot. And skip the fries if you want to keep the carbs low. Of course there are plenty of greater steaks, but for the price, might work well.

[gutsofsteel]

I agree that it's a good value - but it's misleading to say the steaks are "great." They are not.

[Motosport]

Sip Sak over on 2nd Ave has great Middle Eastern food and is a great value.

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Sip Sak
928 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10022

[gutsofsteel]

Sip Sak is Turkish, and I agree it's good and a good value.

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Sip Sak
928 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10022

[Jane A.]

Going farther east, Panda on the corner of 54th & 1st is a neighborhood chinese; Taksim on 2nd bet. 54 & 55, is Turkish; there's a Tenzen japanese restaurant on 2nd about 52nd St. Angelo's pizza has great salads (w/ grilled chick) on 2nd @ 55th. And 53rd St. bet. 3rd & 2nd is restaurant after restaurant, not usually busy at night since they really serve the business district lunch crowd.

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Taksim
1030 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10022

Angelo's Pizza
1043 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10022

Panda
987 1st Ave, New York, NY 10022

[gutsofsteel]

Just have to say than Tenzan is atrocious. Avoid.

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Tenzan
988 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10022

[Jane A.]

Thanks for the info - I'm not a Japanese food person - only noticed that the place looked nice and clean, and not overly expensive. Anyplace in the nabe you suggest for Japanese??

[gutsofsteel]

What type of Japanese? Sushi? Yakitori? Kaiseki? Noodles? Izakaya? They all exist in that neighborhood.

Which of the other places you suggested have you been to?

[Jane A.]

I'm a regular at Panda & Angelo's. Less so at Taksim since they went all resto and sort of gave up the take-out display. I find it a bit noisy when it's crowded. As for Japanese - I don't do raw which is why I rarely go. I really haven't had someone walk me around that cuisine since my friends all eat sushi and don't explore much beyond that. Since I'm often on my own, the feasty Kaiseki doesn't really work, and I'm not all that much of a drinker so the Saki focus isn't necessary.

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Taksim
1030 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10022

[gutsofsteel]

You could try Hide-Chan Ramen, Restaurant Nippon, Ariyoshi, Tori Shin, Aburiya Kinnosuke, Soba Totto, Menchanko Tei, Tsukushi....none of those are sushi places. Japanese cuisine is highly varied - it's not all about raw fish.

You can find the menus for all of them on menupages.com

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Aburiya Kinnosuke
213 E 45th St, New York, NY 10017

Ariyoshi
226 E 53rd St, New York, NY 10022

Menchanko-Tei
131 E 45th St, New York, NY 10017

Menchanko-Tei
43 W 55th St, New York, NY 10019

Tsukushi
300 E 41st St, New York, NY 10017

Soba Totto
211 E 43rd St, New York, NY 10017

Nippon
155 E 52nd St, New York, NY 10022

Hide-chan
248 E 52nd St, New York, NY 10022

[Jane A.]

Thanks, I'll check them out.

[carcrash]

Don't know if they're the same, but I'm a big fan of the UES Tenzan. Very good rock shrimp with chili mayo, very good beef yaki udon. Can't speak to most of the rolls, but the shrimp ones have been good.

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Tenzan
1714 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10128

[gutsofsteel]

I think the UES Tenzan serves food that is borderline inedible. The chefs have zero skills, the fish is poor quality, the cooked dishes are not worth even discussing. And the service is ridiculous. I went twice (believe me it wasn't my choice) and I will never set foot in there again. It is seriously bad. The wasabi screams "food coloring!" So many things are obviously not made on the premises, like the astringent salad dressing... When you have Gajyumaru so close by...

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Gajyumaru
1659 1st Ave, New York, NY 10028

Tenzan
1714 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10128

[MMRuth]

I'm with you though, granted, it's been years since I went. We go to Gajyumaru pretty much every Friday night now.

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Gajyumaru
1659 1st Ave, New York, NY 10028

[thew]

last time i walked by gajymaru i thought i saw it had a different name now....

[MMRuth]

I saw something like that too -- some other words added to the name. But it is exactly the same, same people, etc.

[JungMann]

Heading eastward instead of westward provides you with more moderately-priced options. I prefer Asian cuisine myself, so I'd opt for Naya, Darbar Grill, Grand Sichuan, Gyu-Kaku, Ariyoshi or Kiran. If you're doing takeaway at lunch, the El Rey del Sabor carts are good options for Mexican, Korilla for Korean Barbecue, and Papa Perrone's for eggplant parm.

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Ariyoshi
226 E 53rd St, New York, NY 10022

Gyu-Kaku
805 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10022

Papa Perrone's
80 E 55th St, New York, NY 10022

Naya
1057 2nd Avenue, New York, NY 10022

El Rey del Sabor
E 60th St and 3rd Ave, New York, NY 10022

Darbar Grill
157 East 55th Street, New York, NY 10022

Kiran
159 E 55th St, New York, NY 10022

[gutsofsteel]

Grand Szechuan on 2nd Ave near 55th St. might work for you.

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Grand Sichuan
1049 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10022

[coasts]

Korea Palace could probably satisfy your low carb requirement, provided you avoid the rice. it's not Manhattan's best Korean, but it's fine.

Baotique just opened nearby, but i haven't been yet. i'm interested, though. Brick Lane Curry could also be an option.

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Korea Palace
127 E 54th St, New York, NY 10022

Brick Lane Curry House
235 E 53rd St, New York, NY 10022

Baotique at Covet Lounge
137 E 55th St, New York, NY 10022