Consider inverting and doing a splurge lunch instead.
Milos - $45 3 courses (if you haven’t seen Hudson yards yet they have a new location there)
Avra - $35 (2 newer locations, Madison Ave and Rock Center)
Empellon midtown - $42
Other thoughts (dinner):
L’Artusi (b’artusi nearby is a bit cheaper but a different ambience)
Il Buco A&V
Boqueria
Zaytinya
I’m a repeat customer to the Milos in Montreal. While the prix fixe at $45 provides 3 courses, I’ve perfected my Milos order for my tastes. Sometimes I get a dip or the grilled veg.
I typically order 4 mezes and share with a friend, which works our to around $45 each.
I’d order 2 mezes if I was dining solo. I typically order the stack of fried zucchini and eggplant ( the Milos Special), the Greek village salad (Milos calls it the Tomato Salad), fried calamari or the grilled octopus (I choose one).
The prix fixe at Milos (at least in Mtl) usually features salmon. If I’m going to Milos, I rather order gilthead sea bream, Mediterranean sea bass , red mullet or another saltwater fish from their display, but that will end up being a $100 meal. I’ve also had waiters in Montreal provide a much larger fish than necessary, to bump up that bill. So- I usually stick to my meze plan.
The Hudson Yards $45 3 course prix fixr lunch options look much better than the 3 course prix fixe dinner options offered in Mtl for years.
https://www.estiatoriomilos.com/Menu/NYHudsonYards
I adore the R+D rugelach!
Thanks everyone for the great suggestions and tips to get around town. I can find my way almost anywhere by train, but not by bus.
I’ve got a list of possibilities and once I get into town I’ll see (a) what shape I’m in (tired, very hungry etc) and toss a coin to see where I want to go. JK, I’ll probably have a plan and a back-up one as well.
I’ll try to report back soon after I get home but I’m sure I’ll leave happy and well fed.
Have a great weekend everyone!
I was about to suggest Ben’s as well … Not far at all from Times Square over at 38th Street & 7th Avenue. Coincidentally, my wife and I were visiting family in the city on Saturday and it was very convenient to Penn Station as we took the train into Manhattan from the ‘Jersey side’. Normally I’m a long-time devotee’ of Katz’s down on the lower east side which to me is kind of the Yankee Stadium or Madison Square Garden for deli afficianados — meanwhile a friend who worked many years in the garment district suggested Ben’s especially if our available travel time around midtown for the day was short; good food indeed, definitely not touristy IMHO, service was good, and prices were fair and reasonable so we were quite pleased. He also recommended I try the “hush puppy” on the menu for variety sake and something a bit unique beyond my usual Corned Beef/Pastrami sandwich selections ---- I really enjoyed it and will definitely have another next time I’m in the neighborhood. The staff kept our table supplied with plenty of Cole slaw and pickles throughout our meal, so hey what more could you want? +1 for Ben’s in midtown.
Thanks for the suggestion for Ben’s, I’ll keep it in mind. I have a pretty good idea of what I’m going to do but will wait til I land and check into the hotel to actually decide for sure.
Thanks again!
I got back last night and am reporting on what I ate/where.
First off, I had already decided to get pastrami and pizza for 2 of my meals. That’s what I really craved more than anything else. So off I went to Sarge’s the night I arrived (Tuesday). I loved the inside of Sarge’s, with the TVs showing different games and the memorabilia etc. Other than the service of the hostess/server and my beverage (more below on that), I can’t say much more positive than that. I really wanted to love the pastrami sandwich but couldn’t. I did remember to say “fatty” after I placed the order and the server said “of course it is,” but it wasn’t. It was pretty dry, thinly sliced (slicer machine?) and the bread so dry and tasteless, it practically fell apart onto my plate when I picked up the first half. The second half didn’t fare much better so I ate the pastrami without the bread and dipped it in mustard (that really helped the taste factor). Katz’s doesn’t have any competition with Sarge’s on that front. The 2 pickles and cole slaw were OK, not especially memorable but they didn’t have to be, the sandwich should have been. I will say that the server made an excellent chocolate egg cream, and she confirmed that she used Fox’s U-Bet, as traditional. She got a good tip just for that. Glad I went, won’t go there again for pastrami. Probably for breakfast and something else for lunch or dinner.
The next morning I overslept and missed the first train I was supposed to take so got to GCT with literally 5 minutes to spare for the next one. Ergo, I couldn’t hit up anything for a snack and luckily I had a protein bar to eat on the train. Had brunch with friends and then a late lunch with them that afternoon. My friend had a meeting that evening so I headed back earlier than expected, contemplated dinner options and decided on Kellari Taverna. I had the option of a table or sitting at the counter and after I told the hostess I had heard great things about the place, I was quickly seated at a table. I saw oysters on the menu and that was an easy decision to make. They were very fresh and while I don’t love it, there was mignonette as well as traditional cocktail sauce. Nice to see 2 spoons provided but no fish fork? Um, I’m not a fan of slurping oysters from the shell into my mouth so it was a bit sloppy using the spoons. A trio of hummus, radishes and olives came with pita bread. The pita was grilled and in triangles that was easy to dip in the hummus. I prefer grilled as you don’t always know if the hummus will be thick enough to stand up to fresh/warm pita. the radishes were hand cut and also good dipped in hummus; I don’t love olives so didn’t eat those.
I had decided this was to be a “light” dinner, coming sooner than usual after lunch, so I ordered the Roka Salata for my entrée, and really liked it. I would have preferred the red beets be sliced like the yellow ones (instead of wedges) but the salad was perfect anyway. I didn’t order the Greek salad listed as I can get that anywhere.
I did say I wanted a light meal and wasn’t counting calories or my bank account at that point, so I ordered dessert and coffee. I saw the chocolate lava cake and as a dedicated chocoholic, I almost ordered it. (I have a sign on my office bulletin board “I never met a piece of chocolate I didn’t like,” almost true but still…). Then I saw the Milk and Dark Chocolate Mosaic “biscuit cake” and knew I had to try that. That probably put 5 lbs on my hips but it was worth it. 3 thick slices of cake that probably was baked in a loaf pan, with a single strawberry sliced in half. The cake was so dense and really different-I almost ate the 3rd piece but couldn’t muster up the courage/no-guilt factor to do it. My only comment on this was that the presentation could have been a bit better (just powdered sugar), maybe a raspberry coulis or whipped cream, something other than the 3 slices and a single strawberry. Maybe I’m a bit picky, I know people eat with their eyes first but the presentation didn’t lessen my enjoyment of it.
Grand total w/out tax/tip was $65.00, pretty close to my budget but I wasn’t really keeping track. My only other comment is that my soft drinks came in a slim/tall glass filled with ice, so it had very little soda. Neither that nor my water glass were refilled. The service was good, not great but whenever I’m a solo diner, I tip well.
After that I walked around Times Square for the first time since I arrived and went to Joe’s Pizza to see if it would be a good option for lunch the next day before I took the train up to CT. At 9:30 at night, the line was out the door and down the block so I knew I couldn’t spare the time for lunch.
Thursday I ate breakfast in the hotel dining room, only because I had a food credit that could be applied to my room charge. It was a basic buffet, omelets made to order and some pastries but it helped the budget. After I checked out I headed to GCT and walked around the dining concourse trying to figure out my options. I ended up at Crispy Chicken, almost hidden at one end next to an escalator upstairs. I got a Greek Salad that looked so good and fresh in the counter display, and added chicken. It was really good for the $$ and location, and the amount of chicken beat anywhere I’ve ordered it–so much that I couldn’t finish it. Sometimes fresh and basic is the way to go. I didn’t find the Zabar location outside of the Grand Central Market but my knee started barking at me so I just had to sit down and wait for my train.
I didn’t get pizza in NY but did get it at my niece’s house that night. It was good, not exactly like NY greasy style (where if you bend the slice in half, the oil drips down), but it was pretty good for a suburb in the middle of CT. Saturday afternoon I had lunch with my son and his GF near the hotel we were staying in and I had a pretty good pastrami sandwich there. It wasn’t stacked high like one would have deli-style. This was a panini with melted cheese and sliced onion on a pretzel bun. Other than the bottom half being soggy, it was pretty dang good and tasty. My son and I ended up eating pizza again in the Jet Blue terminal food court on Sunday; we were a bit pressed for time after the drive back from CT. One slice was twice the size of a traditional one and again I couldn’t complain too much about it. Not exactly what I would have gotten at a pizzeria in Brooklyn but it hit the spot and budget.
Thanks again for all the suggestions. I truly appreciate the way everyone commented and suggested options for me. I wish I had more time to spend in NY and eat my way around the city; hopefully my next visit will be longer like it used to be. I didn’t walk as much as I would have liked and the knee only hurt a few times, mostly when I was practically running to GCT or walking around Time Square.
Til the next time, I hope all your meals are as wonderful as you want and you are never disappointed!
Really Hungry Gal
