Low to Mid Tier Eats in NYC

Totally agree. The only time I remember taking a taxi was a rainy day, there were three of us and we weren’t going all that far. Now I’ll grant you that going from the Upper UWS to Coney Island was quite a haul :slight_smile:

Sam’s Falafel - financial district

La Isla Cuchifrito - alcapuria, chicken, pernil

Casa Adela - mofongo con pernil, chuletas

Very expensive by cab!

Would never consider it :slight_smile:

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Katagiri Japanese Grocery on E. 59th for very good take-out sushi.

Thank you for coming.

Naya on 2nd Avenue for wonderful Lebanese mezze. We have less experience with mains.

Kokum for dosas. The delicious chutneys make this a superior choice to Saravanaa Bhavan.

I really enjoyed Kottu House today. Though I have very little experience with Sri Lankan street food, I thought the kottus on offer were delicious.

Also tried out Harlem Shake on 125th. I thought the fried chicken sandwich was very good, though it could have used a little spice.

Le Bon Choix
(Midtown East, 46th/10th)

French Onion Soup and 2 cornbread. $10 total. Perfect lunch for autumn weather.

Haymaker
(Chelsea, 29th/8th)

Short rib sloppy joe. $15

goa taco
LES on Delancey

Lamb shoulder taco, and pork belly taco, both good, wash either or both down with a jarrito. Get out of there for under $20, if you do all three, two out of three and its an easy $10 meal.

This spot any good though? I’ve been seeing lots of hype but I can’t trust Indian tacos…

I wrote about them back in the day on Chowhound when it was still a pop-up. It was good then, it’s still good now.

Sounds good to me. Gosh chowhound is annoying. I clicked on that link, was met with a popup forcing me to add a board before I could view your post. Bloody hell they destroyed something amazing…

It looks like I left Crepes Canaveral on St Marks Place off this list, but I went back a couple of days ago, and their great crepemaker is gone, so they’re no longer good. The bartender at the adjoining bar, where I got a nice Jura Origine, said that the great crepemaker is going to open his own place on 6th St. between A and B soon, perhaps by the end of the month. So everyone should look out for that, because his crepes are great.

That’s great news. Crepes Canaveral is fantastic.

Based solely on the really lovely lentil soup ($6, with bread) I had this afternoon, I recommend Francela on 3rd between 80th & 81st. Jungmann wrote it up on Chowhound a while back, but this is the first time I’ve had a chance to try it. The prepared foods looked gorgeous, especially the octopus and the braised leeks.

http://www.francela.com/

Moustache is another great economical place. My girlfriend and I went to their small East Village location tonight and had delicious baba ghanouj, mujadra and lahmajun.

Mamoun’s

A falafel sandwich ($3.50) and a mabrumeh ($2) all for the less than a cup of third-wave coffee.

And imminently more filling, and fulfilling.

Tonight, I had a late lunch at Pongal. Tasty Pondicherry-style masala dosai. My dining partners were happy with their food, too - a spinach dosai and a portion of aviyal. I tried the aviyal - it might have been more creamy than flavorful, perhaps, but I’m definitely willing to go back to this place sooner, rather than later (I probably hadn’t been there since my vegetarian-Indian-loving father died in 2011). Good spicy buttermilk, too, and their prices are cheaper than some other places - about $60 for 3 people, including tax and tip.