We’re also fairly flexible, as long as it’s in Manhattan. I just thought I’d narrow it down a bit, given how difficult my request seems to be already.
Well, you’re asking about a very large geographical area with probably thousands of restaurants that meet your criteria.
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Which is becoming ever more apparent, yes.
I shall slink off and dO mY rEsEaRcH & return with a few restaurants that sound promising to us.
Perhaps you lovely folks can then chime in with your experiences there.
Check the NYC Good Eats thread for ideas.
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How about Armenian? Regional Italian? Peruvian?
How do we feel about these places?
Hyderabadi Zaiqa
Cha Long
Kanyakumari
I Sodi
I wasn’t paying attention to the dinner part.
My bad
That said, Dinner is what Lunch is called in parts of North America, so Barney Greengrass or Sullivan St Bakery work for mid day Dinner.
Veselka is essentially a Ukrainian Deli. I was a regular when I lived in NYC for a year in my 20s. I’ve probably been 30 times. It used to be open 24 h. It’s had shorter hours for at least a decade now.
I probably wouldn’t travel to Chelsea or the UWS to the East Village for Veselka. I would walk 20-30 minutes out of my way, or take a 15 minute subway ride, for Veselka.
For Russian food and borscht closer to Chelsea, Mari Vanna on East 20th in the Flat Iron District is more conveniently located. It’s a fancier restaurant than Veselka.
The food hits the spot but it isn’t that delicious at Veselka, as Ukrainian or Russian food goes.
Recent subreddit on Ukrainian and Russian food in Manhattan
Your geographic borders mean nothing to me, I am such a ditz about that stuff but we were in NYC over Presidents weekend and enjoyed a couple of meals.
Lola’s was our favorite. Nice vibe, really interesting menu and good cocktail/wine list. We had naan with a garlic-y yoghurt with roast veggies, the bento (miso cabbage-yum), stir fried egg noodles and the crispy chicken, which was our least favorite item. It was good but the other 3 were just that much better. Most of the pictures are missing a few bites!
We enjoyed Bar Boulud for lunch but it seemed noisy to us.
Grand Brasserie at Grand Central was fine, nothing terribly special but worked for our schedule and seemed like they wouldn’t rush you out, if you wanted to catch up with your pals. They have a very impressive wall of whiskeys and a pretty good creme brulee.
We did breakfast at Buvette, had really good pizza at the Essex Market and enjoyed mussels and steak fries at La Bonne Soupe. Dessert there was a Dame Blanche, there was some good grown up chocolate on that ice cream!
Have a good visit
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Thank you! Lola’s looks intriguing!
We used to visit the city more often before covid, and it was already difficult enough to choose just two places for dinners & lunches.
Imagine having to narrow it down for ONE dinner only 
I’m confident the genial NYC crowd will have opinions on some of the places I mentioned in my latest comment 
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My favorite Vietnamese place in NYC is Madame Vo…some of the best pho I have had outside of Vietnam. Their wings are excellent as well. I’ve not had a bad meal there in the several times we’ve been.
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I added a few more… parameters here:
Hope that helps you help me 
I’m totally ignorant, of course, and this may tread on sensitive ground, but who or what is a “PIC”?
Partner in crime.
Whew! I thought, as per the Internet, you meant “Person/Parent/Pilot in Charge” and wondered what sort of person you were.
Between the two of us, nobody is in charge.
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Thx to @fooddabbler for recommending Cha Long.
Wasn’t that difficult after all. Yay!
I’d urge you to report back, but you’re not one to eat quietly, and run.
Jeez. It’s almost like you know me or something 
Do you have any bars to recommend nearby for pre- or post-dinner drinks?
Our Brooklyn friend suggested we meet at Bathtub Gin. Looks a-ok to us 
Sorry, I was traveling and didn’t see this earlier. I any case, I’m not the pre- or post- drinker my luminous/lubricated persona here might suggest, so I had nothing to say anyway. But it looks like you got a good suggestion.
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