Are we in a recession? A depression? Insofar as we have $45 in the bank and a lease-to-own plan on our bicycle, we’re not sure how all this is going to affect us. We do, however, like to eat well, and for cheap.
Photo by Adam Au, Daphne Schlick, Roby Lehr
1. Shake Shack
The ultimate cheap meal in this city — in this country — is a good burger. And while there are a ton of respectable burgers in New York (not all of which are cheap), a trip to Shake Shack is the most enjoyable way to spend two hours — if you have an assistant to stand on line for you. Start with the Shack burger, made from a secret blend of brisket and sirloin, served medium. It’s topped with their secret sauce and some patriotic American cheese ($4.75). Add crinkle-cut fries ($2.75), a 16 oz. ShackMeister ale ($6), and polish it all off with a cone of the city’s best, egg-iest vanilla custards ($3.25). You’ve only spent $16.75 and can now sleep off the calories in your office for the rest of the day. Madison Square Park, 212-889-6600
2. Perry Street
Dinner at Jean Georges’ eighth restaurant, a chilly, modernist “neighborhood” joint in a Richard Meier tower overlooking beautiful New Jersey (remember, the buildings that brought Vancouver-style fishbowl living to NYC?), can’t be had cheap (entrees top $45). But lunch is a whole other story. While Georges’ eponymous flagship restaurant also has a lunch deal, it’s limited to a handful of dishes strikingly different from the real menu. Perry Street gives you a dozen savory choices at only $24 for two plates, plus dessert. Drink tap water and tip like Rachael Ray, and you can get your fill of some of the city’s most refined cuisine, for less than a Hamilton and a Jackson. 176 Perry St, 212-352-1900
3. PDT
At this speakeasy-style cocktail lounge — entry is by appointment and through a phone booth in Crif Dogs — some of the city’s most obsessive barmen wield a Jerry Thomas-esque prowess for drink creation and mustache grooming. As fall descends on the city, enjoy a nip of orchard-fresh apple in the Gran Treacle ($12), a bright, complex libation that’s nothing like an appletini. It’s crafted from small-batch tequila, upstate apple cider, agave syrup and Bittermens’ unpurchasable chocolate- and spice-flavored mole bitters. To make it a meal, you can order from Crif Dogs’ kitchen. What does one pair with such a rarefied libation? Order the Chang Dog ($5), named after the Momofuku empire-builder. The dog is wrapped in bacon, deep-fried and topped with David Chang’s own kimchi. $30 won’t get you a second drink, so have some tater tots ($4), fatty. 113 St. Marks Pl, 212-614-0386
4. Momofuku Ssäm Bar
Speaking of David Chang, the man makes some of the best cheap eats at his upscale-egalitarian spots, Noodle and Ssäm. At Ssäm, you gotta start with his steamed pork buns ($9), a symphony of pork belly on feather-light buns slathered with hoisin, cucumber and scallion. Then it’s on to his three-terrine banh mi ($10), which is basically a Korean burrito stuffed with meat that you’re better off not inquiring about. In fact, you’re likely to be snarfing on the parts that Sarah Palin leaves on the forest floor after she kills a moose with her bare, perfectly manicured hands. Delicious, though. Round things off with a nice, safe blondie ($6). 207 Second Ave, 212-254-3500
Photos by Robyn Lehr, Adam Au
5. The Habitat
This miniscule faux hunting lodge in Greenpoint is the kind of place that feels like it has a story… or will, before long. The stately, comforting woodwork is just too straight and too clean, but that’ll change soon enough. Let’s hope the food doesn’t. If your money isn’t going to booze (tsk, tsk — this is a bar!), try the pecan citrus salad ($7), in which orange, candied pecans and a citrus vinaigrette enliven the bitter, mixed greens. Next, nosh on some mini crab cakes ($8) — better than any wedding hors d’oeuvres you’ve been passed — with sautéed spinach, caper remoulade and Cajun shoestring fries. Aside from the two-for-one microbrews and dense sangria, the piece de resistance at Habitat are the Red Hook ball field-worthy empanadas, with beef and tomato, black bean and cheese, served Cuban-sandwich style ($2-$3 each, late nights), with arroz con pollo. 988 Manhattan Ave, Brooklyn, 718-385-5616
6. Radegast Hall & Biergarten
Party — or at least eat and drink — like it’s 1899 at this Williamsburg beer garden, a homey piece of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on North 3rd Street. With 12 drafts (by the pint, liter and pitcher) and 35 bottles available under the garden’s retractable roof, eating comes secondary for most patrons. It shouldn’t. As you tuck into a pint of Hofbrau Oktoberfest ($7), decide on the equally stick-to-your-ribs, expert, old school, heart-attacking beer-braised rabbit ($18) or veal schnitzel ($16). And those with a sweet tooth after so much hoppy brew and rich meat would be remiss not to try the unctuous apple walnut strudel with hazelnut ice cream. Last time I was here, I heard the languorous urgency of Franz Ferdinand on the sound system. I found it ironic. Everybody else was too busy overindulging to notice. 113 N. 3rd St, Brooklyn, 718-963-3973
7. Zabar’s and Central Park
New York is the greatest city in the world, in the freest country in the world (plus or minus), so you can do whatever you want here. (No dancing! No smoking! No photos!) You don’t need to eat in a restaurant like those ants running around and living small, meaningless lives, cogs in a corporate machine. Not you. You’re nothing like that. Which is why you know the most beautiful dining spaces in the city are in Central Park (suck it, East River Park!). And for the ultimate in picnic snack-age, you can’t beat Zabar’s. Avoid the yentas and pick up some small Moroccan black olives, gooey Epoise cheese (sure, it smells, but you’ll be outside and the taste is unbeatable), a baguette, some always-on-sale prosciutto and their terrific curry chicken salad. That, a $10 bottle of Malbec, a blanket and a perch overlooking the Boat Basin are all you — and preferably a special someone — need for a perfect NYC afternoon. 2245 Brodway at 80th St, 212-787-2000
Photos by Adam Au
8. Patsy’s Pizza
Just a handful of places spring to mind when you mention real New York City pizza. Some people have strong opinions about this. Having a bit more in my life to obsess about, I’ve never come to blows over a slice, and I can see the value in most of them, except the one blatantly using Wal-Mart-grade canned sauce who shall remain nameless. But you can’t go wrong with the classic pie at Patsy’s in East Harlem (the other locations are but pale imitations). Start with a Caprese salad ($9) if you want to try that yummy mozzarella and tomato raw before the pie. Oh, and what a pie it is: coal-fire crisp but still a bit elastic, swirled with cheese and sauce and dotted with basil. Salty, fatty, sweet, chewy. $15. Enough for two. Pizza may be the city’s best bargain, but there’s nothing humble about Patsy’s pie. 366 Columbus Ave, at 77th St.
9. Rack and Soul
This Morningside Heights hangout lists both a soul food chef and a barbecue pit master on its menu. That’s a call to action if I’ve ever heard one, so prepare to put up with swarming Columbia undergrads and make the trek uptown for some great Southern cooking. For $20 you get a combo of slow-smoked, pink-hued Memphis-style baby back ribs and the city’s juiciest fried chicken. The barbecue isn’t the best in the city — the chicken might be — but that $20 includes two sides. Get the soothingly bitter collards and sugary candied yams for a wallet-friendly antebellum feast. A $6 slice of Day-Glo red velvet cake will keep you under the limit, cheapskate. 2818 Broadway at 109th St, 212-222-4800
10. Food Cart Gourmet
Where would this city be without street carts? We have hot dogs and shawarma on every Midtown corner, not to mention all the tacos, dosas and coco helado scattered about. But you can also get a superior three-course lunch al fresco and on the move with a bit of legwork. First up is Tabla Bread Bar’s (Madison Ave near 25th St) new cart outside their restaurant on the east side of Madison Park. For $6, try a hearty portion of bhel puri — the addictive crunchy, tangy puffed rice salad devoured en mass on the streets of Bombay. Next, hitch a ride to one of Daisy May’s (50th St, between Sixth and Seventh Aves) three street carts for a greasy sandwich of Carolina pulled pork or chunky Texas chili.
Clean your face, get your butt over to University and 8th and take a deep breath. You’re at the Dessert Truck (University Pl, near 8th St), purveyors of the most addictive sweet out there, their $5 chocolate bread pudding: crusty, gooey Valrhona decadence, slick with crème anglaise. How does the divine transform into the sublime? Well, ditch that vanilla crème anglaise for their secret bacon variety. On second thought, don’t. Just make sure your insurance is up to date. Bon appetit. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
