Real Cheap Eats NYC
Hi I am a div
Posts by: Chris H. - Midtown Lunch
- MAN
- QNS
- $2.00 per piece
There are mandoo (Korean dumplings) and there are wang mandoo, which roughly translates to “king-sized dumplings.” At Daheen Wong Mandoo, the first U.S. outpost of a popular dumpling shop in Seoul, Korea, jjin (steamed) mandoo are stuffed with peppery minced pork, tender sweet potato noodles and a fine mince of vegetables. One is enough for a snack, and two to three could be a meal. Despite the regal moniker, these hefty dumplings are only $2 a piece.
Daheen Wang Mandoo on Serious Eats NY
2 W. 32nd St. nr. Fifth Ave. (map)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 510-7332
153-24 Northern Blvd. nr. 154th St. (map)
Queens, NY 11354
(718) 321-2007
- MAN
- $9.00
At Don Antonio Neapolitan Pizza, owned by Kesté’s Roberto Caporuscio and his mentor Antonio Starita, there’s generations of pizza-making wisdom behind every pizza and panini—not to mention a very expensive (and very hot) Acunto oven imported from Italy. Despite all of this, they serve reasonably priced paninis, such as the Pagnotello, a hefty panini stuffed with sausage, bitter Italian rapini, creamy smoked, buffalo mozzarella and a touch of extra virgin olive oil. The paninis are baked in the Acunto, giving the dough a Neapolitan puffiness with an extra bit of char and chew. Lunchtime only.
Don Antonio by Starita on Midtown Lunch
309 West 50th St. at Eighth Ave. (map)
New York, NY 10019
(646) 719-1043
- MAN
- $6.95
- SPICY
It’s easy to mistake Turco Mediterranean Grill for your run-of-the-mill gyro joint, but there’s some authentic and very tasty Turkish food to be found inside. The meze (appetizers) and the pita bread are made in-house. If you order the lamb döner kebab, the staff will slice moist lamb meat off of the rotating spit, then pile on crunchy shreds of lettuce and cabbage. The massive sandwich is finished with a drizzle of cacik (a tangy, yogurt-based sauce) and a bit of hot sauce.
Turco Mediterranean Grill on Midtown Lunch
604 9th Ave. at 43rd St. (Map)
New York, NY 10036
(212) 510-8666
- MAN
- $8.00
- SPICY
Kimchi Taco Truck’s bulgogi kimchi bowl, which would be recognizable as dup bap in Korea, is simply protein and vegetables over rice. You could find a similar meal in Koreatown for about the same price, but the fact that a dish this fresh, filling and tasty can be served out of a food truck is a game changer. The rice is fragrant, while the grilled beef is meaty, juicy, well caramelized and complimented by pickled radish for crunch and zest. It’s topped with kimchi that’s made in house using Chef Youngsun Lee’s grandmother’s recipe, which utilizes red pepper powder imported from Korea. A meal that channels Grandma’s home cooking from a truck? I swoon.
Kimchi Taco Truck on Midtown Lunch
Check Twitter for truck location.
- QNS
- $8.99
Take one part water, two parts ox bones, three parts time, a dash of devotion and you’ll get a bowl of seolleongtang (bone soup), such as the version found at Gahwa, in Flushing. The dish is served with a bowl of salt and fresh scallions, for the diner to augment the soup to their taste. On the surface, its simplicity is deceptive, but fish around in the long-simmering milky bone broth, and you’ll encounter slabs of beef, light wheat noodles and tender white rice. Such simplicity elevates the clean flavors of the dish and reveals the patience and skill of the cook.
Gahwa
2932 Union St. at 29th Rd. (Map)
Flushing NY 11354
(718) 886-3223
- MAN
- $11.00
- VEG
- STREET
Editor’s Note: Since this dish was added to Real Cheap Eats, its price has risen past $10.00. It’s still a part of the guide as a part of our “grandfather” policy.
Almost nothing is lost in the transition from Taim’s West Village brick-and-mortar store to Taim’s street truck. The housemade hummus is still lavishly rich with tahini and a drizzle of olive oil, lusciously smooth and utterly satisfying. Drag a bit of their pillowly, za’atar-glazed pita through the dreamy hummus and you get a bite of food that’s so good you’ll swoon. The star of the show is Taim’s falafel, which sports a reliably crunchy exterior and fluffy interior. Served with a myriad of salads and sauces, it may be the best meal from a street truck—vegetarian or otherwise.
Taim Mobile Falafel and Smoothie Truck
Schedule available at taimmobile.com and twitter.com/taimmobile
- MAN
- $9.00
- (Photo by Veronica Chan)
Parm’s house roasted turkey is proof that this humble sandwich needn’t be dry or flavorless. Instead, thick cut slabs of turkey breast are blessedly juicy and flavorful from a long marinade in garlic, honey and other herbs and spices. Topped with a tangle of shredded lettuce, spiked with a spicy tomato-and-pepper dressing and sandwiched into a soft roll, this punched-up turkey sandwich is a game changer.
Parm
248 Mulberry St. at Prince St. (Map)
New York, NY 10012
(212) 993-7189
- MAN
- $8.00
Mooncake Foods doesn’t serve authentic Asian food, nor does it try. Instead, this Asian riff on a diner focuses on serving filling, fresh and affordable food in all three of its Manhattan locations. And they do sandwiches very well. Take, for example, the grilled porkchop sandwich: tender, thin slices of pork, brushed with a bit of sweet hoisin and quickly grilled, paired with a mango chutney and irresistibly crunchy, fresh bread. Add a drizzle of spicy chili oil and munch on the complimentary side salad with carrot ginger dressing, and you’ve got a very tasty and filling meal for well under $10.
Mooncake Foods on Midtown Lunch
359 W. 54th St. at Ninth Ave. (Map)
New York, NY 10019
(212) 262-9888
28 Watts St. at Thompson St. (Map)
New York, NY 10013
(212) 219-8888
263 W. 30th St. at 8th Ave. (Map)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 268-2888
- BK
- $9.00
- VEG
- (Photo by James Boo)
The marinara pizza at the newly opened Forcella doesn’t hide behind the cover of cheese or the forgiving flavors of Italian cured meats. It’s a three-component dish: a tremendously zesty, herbal tomato sauce amped up with garlic and spices atop a perfectly pliant, charred crust with a stray leaf of basil. Behind this blistery crust is the culmination of years of experience by pizzaiolo Giulio Adriani, top notch ingredients and a very hot Acunto oven. No matter how homely this pie may appear, such simple pleasures are not without their rewards.
Forcella
485 Lorimer St. at Grand St. (Map)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 388-8820
- MAN
- $9.00 for lunch, $11.00 for dinner
Editor’s Note: Since this dish was added to Real Cheap Eats, its price has risen past $10.00. It’s still a part of the guide as a part of our “grandfather” policy.
When it comes to Thai, diners on Ninth Avenue are faced with a lot of choices. Pure Thai Cookhouse (formerly Pure Thai Shophouse), however, may be the only place worth visiting. Try the assertively flavored pork broth in a bowl of Sukhothai pork noodle soup. Sweet slices of roasted pork are nestled amongst crunchy long beans and crumbles of ground pork, and as if it couldn’t get any better (or porkier), the dish is lavishly topped with crisp pork cracklings. Despite the dizzying amount of flavors and texture, the dish is remarkably clean on the palate. It’s a nearly flawless noodle soup.
Pure Thai Cookhouse on Midtown Lunch
766 9th Ave. at 52nd St. (Map)
New York, NY 10019
(212) 581-0999
- QNS
- $5.00
- SPICY
- STREET
Beef momos ($5.00 for eight) at the Potala Fresh Food cart may look a bit like Chinese soup dumplings, but these dumplings, which hail from Tibet, are a much heartier breed. Jammed with juicy ground beef and bound by thick, toothsome dumpling skin, each momo is kept wonderfully moist by a dash of beef broth. They’re served with a pool of violently red, fiery hot sauce, which will simultaneously punish the eater and leave him craving more. Taking down eight filling dumplings alone is actually quite the task, so bring a friend to share a Tibetan bite of meat and fire.
Potala Fresh Food
Broadway at 37th Rd. (Map)
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
- MAN
- $7.75
When Glaze Teriyaki Grill opened in 2010, it aimed to channel the best of Seattle-style teriyaki in its all-natural, homemade sauce. Glaze brushes this seriously tasty sauce over a variety of proteins, but the best value on the menu—or in all of Midtown for that matter—is the beautifully plump, juicy, organic teriyaki chicken thigh, served over white or brown rice with crisp and fresh side salad.
Glaze Teriyaki Grill on Midtown Lunch
638 Lexington Ave. at W. 54th St. (Map)
New York, NY
(212) 935-3400
- QNS
- $6.00
- STREET
There’s no shortage of amazing authentic Mexican street carts outside of the Roosevelt Ave. subway stop in Elmhurst. If you’re having trouble picking one, try El Gallo Giro, which serves up a whopping big torta (a type of Mexican sandwich) in a variety of flavors. While a base of chicken, sausage or pork may be a safe choice, adventurous eaters should order the torta de lengua, constructed with slowly braised and triumphantly meaty beef tongue and topped with queso fresco, lettuce, tomato and guacamole.
El Gallo Giro Cart
Roosevelt Ave. at 74 St. (Map)
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
- MAN
- $7.00
Deep in the East Village, there’s an unassuming bodega called Sunny and Annie’s with an ambitious sandwich program. Alongside turkey clubs and chicken parms, they dabble in combinations appealing to a variety of customers—the adventurous, the gourmet, or the stoner. Perhaps the most innovative (and tastiest), is the PHO Real. This sandwich uses fresh sliced Boar’s Head roast beef, basil, cilantro, sprouts, tomato, avocado, and a squirt of spicy sriracha and sweet hoisin to capture the essence of the Vietnamese noodle soup in sandwich form.
Sunny & Annie’s
94 Ave. B at E. 6th St. (Map)
New York, NY 10003
(212) 677-3131
- MAN
- $9.95
At City Sandwich, a Hell’s Kitchen newcomer featuring Portuguese and Italian inspired sandwiches, the ‘Nuno’ sandwich is the one to try. It’s an inspired concoction of morcella (blood sausage), broccoli rabe, mozzarella and fixins, scrunched between City Sandwich’s superbly crusty and fresh sandwich rolls. Texturally, it’s near perfect, brimming with flavor from an appealingly pungent morcella, earthy greens and creamy cheese.
City Sandwich on Midtown Lunch
649 Ninth Ave. at W. 45th St. (Map)
New York, NY 10036
(646) 684-3943
- QNS
- $3.00
- STREET
During the very first “Vendy Awards” in 2005, Sammy’s Halal took home the grand prize, and for good reason. Even after six years, they’ve not lost a beat, as they still serve one of the best plates of “street meat” in NYC with swagger. The lamb and chicken gyro, rife with large chunks of juicy meat, lovingly drizzled with a fiery red hot sauce and a creamy white sauce, and wrapped in a fluffy pita, is an absolute steal.
Sammy’s Halal
73rd St. at Broadway (Map)
Elmhurst, NY 11372
- MAN
- $6.00
- SPICY
The cheap eat that gets me hustling over to Tehuitzingo Deli and Grocery on 10th Ave. is the torta. It’s a hefty sandwich, its crusty and fresh roll wrapped around your choice of protein—ham, chicken, salted beef, chorizo, and the like. My go-to is the torta de pollo, which delivers a fistful of tender chicken, melty fresh quesillo, an appealing smear of avocado, and fiery pickled peppers. For $6, this sandwich reliably leaves me thoroughly full and rapturously happy, with a few beads of sweat on my brow from the spice.
Tehuitzingo on Midtown Lunch
695 Tenth Ave. nr W. 48th St. (Map)
New York, NY 10036
(212) 397-5956
- MAN
- $10.49
Editor’s Note: Since this dish was added to Real Cheap Eats, its price has risen past $10.00. It’s still a part of the guide as a part of our “grandfather” policy.
In Korean eating culture, weather often dictates what’s for supper. Kar-jaebi, a hearty soup made with sujebi (hand-torn flakes of dough) is appropriate for rainy days. However, the chicken kar-jaebi at Arirang is craveable on all days. This jumbo bowl of chicken noodle soup teases an unbelievable amount of flavor from the humble fowl. In fact, it’s so chicken-y, it serves as a reliable reminder of what the bird can and should taste like. Arirang is located on a non-descript, slightly divey feeling third floor space in Koreatown, but don’t you dare chicken out—the kar-jaebi here is the best in New York.
Arirang
32 W 32nd St. (3rd Floor) at Broadway (Map)
New York, NY 10001
(212) 967-5088
- MAN
- QNS
- BK
- $3.50-$7.00
Shake Shack has appeared on many a cheap eats list throughout the years, and with good reason. Danny Meyer’s nod to fast food serves up, pound for pound, some of the best burgers in Manhattan. At Shake Shack, order a Shackburger and you’ll receive a freshly ground Pat LaFrieda blend cooked on a sizzling flattop grill. These crusty patties are paired with screamingly fresh lettuce, tomato and a “Shacksauce” that puts McDonald’s secret sauce to shame. There’s usually a line at any one of the Manhattan locations, but it’s always worth the wait.
Shake Shack
Multiple Locations
New York and Elsewhere
