Name your favorite NYC cheap eats

I just meant when I am on that side of the City, as opposed to Brooklyn. Its been a while but I think it was a Metro-North train? I have driven the last few times.

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My girlfriend and I had dinner tonight at Spicy Village. Their Big Tray of Chicken is a delicious dish. My only problem with it is that the chicken they used tonight had a very noticeable cod liver oil taste. But other than that, it’s a great dish.

Well, you do make it seem worth a shlep - it still seems a little far from the subway but maybe I need to look more carefully at the maps. Thanks for the recommendation.

I have walked it from Columbia university area.

Its five or six miles, but on a nice day, not so bad. But that was 20 years ago. I was younger.

How about a slice or two of Di Fara’s pizza? Its cheap enough, and the flow is fast enough that slicing doesn’t hurt the pizza quality significantly.

recently I had to go to NYC via dreaded Penn Station a couple of times, and found that NY Pizza Suprema seems like the best cheap option in that area for sustenance. The Sicilian slice seemed especially good. Upside-down was a little bready for me, but still OK.

Ratgirlagogo, I completely agree with you. The old Veselka, with its funky decor, big portions, low prices, and European ambiance, was truly a hamische place where one could linger for a couple of hours over a bowl of borscht and a couple of pieces of challah. (Can’t recall ever seeing Allen Ginsberg there, but I did once see Philip Glass at the Kiev - does that count?) I go to the new Veselka once in a while, and the food’s still pretty good even if the portions are smaller and the prices are higher; but it just doesn’t have the same warmth.

Yikes! I think Liebman’s is where we used to take my grandmother for lunch when she was an inmate - er, resident - of the Hebrew Home for the Aged, back in the 1970’s and 1980’s! They made an excellent tongue sandwich.

Yikes.
Way better options if you walk a block or two from penn
Best closest cheapest is this awesome bagel shop on w 35th, literally one block away. Minimal seating, the morning line moves fast

I recently ordered in from Mazeish Grill on Rivington and was quite impressed. I got a combo platter* with falafel, pita, grilled vegetables (peppers, broccoli, squash, onions, mushrooms), hummus, green salad with cucumbers, basmati rice with raisins and shredded carrots, and fries. It was enormous - I got three meals out of it - and everything was good to very good. The falafel was crunchy outside and soft inside, very herb-y and with a bit of heat. I think they use mayonnaise in their hummus, which I usually hate, but I was amenable to it this time as the hummus was super-smooth. The fries were soggy (no points off for that because delivery) but otherwise respectable, dusted with spices. And the pita had a nice grilled flavor, although I found it a touch greasy. I’m very picky about this kind of food because I make it from scratch at home, but I’d order from these guys again in a heartbeat.

http://www.mazeishgrillnyc.com/home.html

*I actually ordered a combo sandwich, and they sent me a platter by mistake, which made the eats insanely cheap.

Another Sunset Park favorite is Yun Nan Flavour Garden, 5121 8th Ave, Brooklyn. This filling meal costs $5.25.<img src="//hungryonionstatic.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/original/2X/3/3a8e62c71be939bad0db654b28381a4ae37efc1f.jpg"

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Noodles w/ Spicy Meat

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Mayo in hummus is a crime.

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It is, but not as serious a crime as mayo in guacamole.

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Agata & Valentina (since you’re in New York I reckon you’d know of them) and Sabra add mayo to their baba ghanouj too. Nasty.

Just
So
Wrong
.

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Don’t get this CA born and raised girl started on the crimes against guacamole
(!!)
I can count on one hand and have fingers left over the number of places i will even order guac in nyc. Like they say, if ya want it done right then you gotta do it yourself ;))

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I’d have five fingers left over. I never order it as a stand-alone dish (although I don’t avoid it as a component). Not because I think no one makes it correctly, but because it’s so damn easy to make - and cheap, and easy to clean up after - that it seems shameful to pay for it.

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It sounds like we need to form a task force to counter this problem.

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Natural Tofu is still there and I have had only good experiences there, but recent reviews say they are slipping. I hope that’s not the case. There are still few standouts in the neighborhood, although we do love Salt and Fat. I wouldn’t call it cheap, though.

Mayo in guacamole is actually a great trick to enhance mouthfeel when your avocados are less than wonderful (a common occurrence if you live in the cold North). It’s totally unnecessary and undesirable when you have great avocados, though.