This week in Real Cheap Eating, Serious Eats NY’s “Indian Week” featured some fine articles from our contributors. Jamie Feldmar sought out cheap Indian desserts in Jackson Heights.” Chris Crowley showed off the array of Bengali street snacks served up at Starling Coffee Shop in Banglabazaar Bronx, USA. Check out his guide to the neighborhood.

If you can only read one article this week, it should be Chris’s wrap-up of a celebratory dinner at Neerob. The chef was instructed to “cook what you would for your daughter’s wedding.” Our own James Boo played photographer, and Noah Arenstein can be seen in the slideshow, exhibiting how to shovel food in his mouth. Also in attendance were Real Cheap Eaters Jeff Orlick, Dave Cook, Tom Sullivan and Anne Noyes Saini. If you’re looking for fabulous food in the Bronx, Neerob absolutely should not be missed.

Meanwhile, back in Manhattan, Blondie checks out Domo Taco Truck’s “Japanese Nacho Tots” For dessert, Brownie attends the Treats Truck Stop’s opening day event.

Over on Midtown Lunch, Donny Tsang enjoys the egg salad sandwich from Macchiato Espresso Bar. Downtown, Andrea Heisinger is disappointed by overly chewy bread in a bulgogi sandwich at the Bob & Jo Truck.

On Eating in Translation, Dave Cook is exploring Chinatown. Besides trying a Western omelette at one of the lone remaining diners in the neighborhood, Cup & Saucer, Dave is hitting the street, eating taro cake from a vendor on Grand and Elizabeth and steamy peanuts.

In non-cheap eating, Nick Solares, the Beef Aficionado, pens an impressive list of his Top Ten Ribsteaks of 2012.

Outside the city, Feisty Foodie is taking the greater Washington DC area by storm. She finds little to like at Shake Shack imitation Good Stuff Eatery, but experiences excellent pho at Viet Royale in Falls Church, Virginia.

This week in cheap eating, Brownie celebrates the return of the Red Hook Ballfields Vendors with ceviche and pupusas. She’s also vetting bubble tea shops in Chinatown, and finds that Chatime on Canal and Center is strictly for tourists, although the bakery next door apparently serves a killer law mai chi, a glutinous rice ball stuffed with roasted peanuts and topped with shredded coconut.

Robyn Lee is also in Chinatown, diving deeper into her most recent Real Cheap Eats entry, Mei Li Wah, sampling some of the hits and misses beyond their famous roast pork buns, including a scary looking “fried salad.”

Dave Cook is uptown, trying a sour levain locale from Orwasher’s Bakery. Further afield, Dave finds balut in Jersey City.

Jamie Feldmar profiles the folks at Northern Spy Food Co. in the East Village for Edible Manhattan.

On the Bronx beat for Serious Eats NY, Chris Crowley praises Estrellita Pobalana 3′s weekend special of Pollo Enchipotlado Al Horno.

In Queens, Joe DiStefano overloads on foie gras, first mixed in with fried rice at Lan Kwai Fong in Flushing, then over poutine from the folks at M. Wells at Smorgasburg. He also dives face-first into a green eggs and ham banh mi at JoJu in Elmhurst.

Bed Stuy’s own David’s Brisket House had a very good week. Not only were they reviewed in the New York Times, but they’ve also just announced a second location in Bay Ridge at 7721 5th Avenue at 78th Street. If all goes well, it will open July 1st.

Happy Eating!

It was a busy week in Real Cheap Eating:

On the Queens beat, Joe DiStefano samples ramen, an elusive treat in Astoria, at Hinomaru. He also finds a breakfast to get excited about at Elmhurst’s Java Village– bubur ayam is rice gruel topped with fried chicken, garlic, onions and crullers. Make sure to add a salty, preserved egg to the mix.

In Chinatown, Feisty Foodie has a disappointing experience at Golden Unicorn. Reporting from the Bronx, Chris Crowley writes about a treasured Ghanaian breakfast dish, palavar sauce with fish and white rice, at Papaye.

Outside of NYC, Brownie is in Philadelphia, trying grilled chicken and falafel from Christo’s Cart. Writing for Travel & Leisure, Jamie Feldmar features 22 of the best fast-food chains in the world.

In Jersey City, Dave Cook tries the pine tarts at Guyanese bakery Bibi Caribbean Kitchen. Nearby, at Blue Ribbon Cafe, he finds pan de sal, a Filipino sweet roll filled with corn beef.

Dave also reports from the newly opened West Coast Thai spot Pok Pok NY, where he tries a mussel strewn “broken crepe.” Krista Garcia has her own report, focusing on the Mangalista pork neck with iced mustard greens. (I can attest, these are the two dishes to get.)

On May 12, Charles Bibilos is hosting a dinner at Jimmy’s No. 43 to support a young Mongolian performer. Those attending will get to try Mongolian dumplings, cheeses and cookies. There will also be a live auction and Mongolian entertainment. Check it out!

Have you been on Mars, in a cave, with your eyes shut and your fingers in your ears? If so, then you missed our Spring Edition featuring 22 Cheap Eats from Chinatowns across NYC.

Happy eating!

Dave Cook is in the New York Times this week, dedicating the $25 and Under column to Wafa Chami’s homey Lebanese cooking at Wafa’s in Forest Hills. Meanwhile, on Eating in Translation, Dave wonders how the differences between Hausa and Ashanti cultures in West Africa is manifested in their cuisines at Al-Baraka Palace in Staten Island.

In pork-centric news, Andrea H. tries the newest bao cart to hit Manhattan, Fun Buns, an offshoot of the Taiwanese food truck Bian Dang. On Eat to Blog, Donny eats pork in all its forms (but ultimately prefers the pulled pork) at John Brown Smokehouse in Long Island City.

On the opposite end of the neighborhood, Joe DiStefano enjoys the differing textures in a horse meat tartar sandwich made by Hugue Dufour at P.S. 1.

Clare Trapasso at City Spoonful has our vegetarian readers covered, exploring the vegetarian dumpling options, among other snacks, at Flushing’s Savor Fusion food court.

On the festival circuit, Chris Crowley checks out the food on offer at the Cambodian New Years Festival at Wat Jotanaram in the Bedford Park neighborhood of the Bronx.

For dessert, Feisty Foodie is a jelly donut at newly opened German bakery, Landbrot.

Finally, be sure to check out the site in the next few days for our Spring Update. It’s guaranteed to blow your minds.

In honor of opening day, Yvo Sin tells you what to eat inside Yankee Stadium, while Chris Crowley has got you covered if you want to explore the neighborhood instead. Pro tip: you can always bring your food into the stadium.

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, Donny at Eat to Blog checks out the rabbit stew at Sea Bean Goods at Smorgasburg. Likewise, Blondie waits in line for a fried fish sandwich from Handsome Hank and comes away happy. Close by in Williamsburg, Jamie Feldmar reports for Gothamist on Yuji Ramen, a small pop-up serving broth-less ramen studded with hyper-fresh sea food.

Back uptown, Dave Cook offers two taco options in Harlem. One is loaded with roasted peppers and a hardboiled egg, the other is covered in cheese and crema and features tot-like hash browns.

In Midtown, 696 Gourmet Deli, the very first NY deli at which your editor became a regular (meaning the staff knows your breakfast sandwich and coffee order without you saying a word) has a killer, juicy roast beef sandwich.

And Serious Eats NY puts the spotlight on our very own Jeff Orlick, following him around for one of his fabulous Roosevelt Avenue food crawls. Jeff led tour goers to Tortas Neza in Corona, which may serve the best (and biggest) torta in the city, writes James Boo.

Messy eating!

From Midtown, Blondie and Brownie offer another cheer for Schnipper’s cheeseburger. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that Schnipper’s is a solid Shake Shack alternative, so if you’re fiending for a burger, give it a shot.

Over in K-Town, Nick reports on some classic Korean-Chinese comfort food (black bean noodles and spicy/sweet/sour fried chicken) at Jjin Jja Rao at Food Gallery 32.

Taco standoff! Feisty Foodie’s TT recounts a meal at La Esquina, Dave Cook reports from the street on a sidewalk taco stand, and Donny Tsang pays a visit to Whirlybird for breakfast tacos and coffee in Williamsburg.

City Spoonful celebrates Passover with a food crawl through the Lower East Side, while even further downtown, Andrea H. puts in a good word for Phil’s cheesesteak truck in the Financial District.

Up in Queens, Jeff Orlick offers a guide to the Nepalese Thali plate at Real Cheap Eats favorite, Tawa Foods. Down in South Brooklyn, Tom Sullivan delivers an excellent roundup of Bensonhurst’s $10-or-less Italian food.

And beyond: Krista Garcia explores Dunkin’ Donuts’ Taiwanese menu items. Charles Biblios fulfills his quest to try Kazhakh cuisine by eating home-cooked pilaf from a Ziplock bag. And James Boo announces that he and Jeff have three food tours for sale on Rama Food, the food tour app just released for iPhone.

L’Chaim!

We at Real Cheap Eats like to think we’re above April Fools tomfoolery. So without further ado, check out these choice posts from our contributors.

For Serious Eats NY, Chris Crowley continues to eat his way through Muncan’s bacon offerings and also enjoys one of their apple bureks.

Blondie’s friends pretend to eat healthy at Shopsin’s, while Brownie makes no such claims in recapping her eating adventures in Colombia.

James Boo goes on a sandwich tour of Philadelphia, trying some of the city’s most famous roast pork sandwich purveyors, and finishes up with hoagie at Wawa.

Joe DiStefano is also on the sandwich beat. Despite the fact that it contained no roast pork, Joe still enjoys the banh mi at Lan Kwai Fong in Flushing. He’s also doubling up on burgers, first at the new Long Island City location of hotly-debated Corner Bistro, and then down the street at Petey’s. Ultimately, the Bistro Burger is declared the victor, but not without a fight.

In more sandwich news, the ever-intrepid Dave Cook is in Brownsville, Brooklyn eating a griddled steak sandwich with thick, skin on fries at Good Brothers Steak and Take.

Happy Sandwiching!

On Serious Eats NY, Jamie Feldmar reveals her favorite places to snack along Brighton Beach. Meanwhile, Chris Crowley is busy. From the Bronx, he’s penning an article on a slight Mexican grocery store, El Rancho Deli, in the Bedford Park neighborhood. Across the river, he’s sampling all of the world’s cured meats at Muncan Food Corp. in Astoria Queens. He’s also pondering the taxonomy of xiao long bao, in an extended article which includes an interview with Fuchsia Dunlop.

Our Midtown Lunch colleagues also did some heavy eating this week. On the downtown beat, Andrea H gets a thick schnitzel sandwich stuffed with fries at Hoomoos Asli in Nolita. Donny Tsang eats a steak and egg burrito at Midtown’s Egg Stravaganza cart. He enjoys the burrito, but sadly finds the fluffy egginess lacking. At Bouchon Bakery, Blondie comes in just under the $10 mark (pre-tax) with a braised shortrib on pan au lait with mushrooms, caramelized onions and fontina.

Also never one to shy away from a sandwich, Joe DiStefano tries a killer looking merguez sandwich at Harissa Cafe in Astoria. Further into Queens, Blondie and Donny Tsang shared a meal at Woodside Thai favorite SriPraPhai.

Finally, we’d like to welcome Charles Bibilos of United Nations of Food to our growing list of contributors. Check out his blog.

Happy cheap eating!

Before many of you drink your faces off on this holiest of holidays, check out these cheap eats to gird your stomach for the day ahead.

If you should find yourself craving Irish delicicies in the Bronx after midnight, Brownie suggests you try the boxty at The Chipper Truck in Woodlawn. Sara Markel-Gonzalez has you covered if you want to spend St. Patricks Day eating Irish in Sunnyside or Woodside.

Dave Cook has been exploring Jamaica, Queens lately, eating candied fruits at El Quetzal, a Guatemalan grocery, trying biryani further down the street and revealing a curry featuring unripe turban bananas at Araliya, a Sri Lankan restaurant on Hillside Avenue. Further west, Dave has some good looking beef chili momos and other Tibetan dishes at Peace Cafe in Jackson Heights.

From our Serious Eats NY contingent, Chris Crowley takes advantage of the weekend Southeast Asian desserts specials at Penh-Nah Trang market on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx.

Joe DiStefano goes to the newly opened “Diverse Dim Sum” restaurant in the soon-to-be-closed Flushing Mall and declares the xiao long bao to be among the best he’s had.

James Boo goes to the hottest mall in Flushing, Savoy Fusion, and tries dumplings in all varieties at Steam Dumplings.

Feisty Foodie wonders whether the Brindle Room burger has gone downhill and also checks out Ramen Kuboya in the East Village.

And for dessert, Jamie Feldmar explains the history of the Transylvanian chimney cake, which can be found at a dedicated chimney cakery in Long Island City.

Happy eating!

This week’s contributor catch-up, by borough:

Brooklyn
-Robert Fernandez noshes on Garlic Knot “sliders” at Five Brothers Pizza.
-Elsewhere in South BK, soon-to-be contributor Charles Biblios discovers the taste of Uzbek horse meat at Aladdin Restaurant.
-Robyn Lee breaks all vows for the Ooey Gooey Butter Cake Ice Cream at Ample Hills in Prospect Heights.

Queens
-Joey D. reports on the latest in Lin-sane cuisine with this review of the Lin-sanity banh mi at Elmhurst’s Joju.
-The Feisty Foodie revisits Canton Gourmet. Fried rice with dried scallops and raisins? Sign up in downtown Flushing.
-Jared Cohee sits down for a comfy Brazilian meal and a game of futebol in Astoria, at Barraco Mineiro.
-Donny Tsang offers a favorable update on the Thai spread at Woodside’s Sripraphai.
-Dave Cook sheds light on the history of incaparina, a central American cornmeal drink, at Guatemalan panaderia La Benedicion in Jamaica.

Manhattan
-Midtown Lunch’s Rachel Goldner delivers a guide to Midtown breakfast sandwiches.
-Downtown Lunch blogger Andrea H. reports on a visit to the Financial District’s Turkish Coffee Cart.

Still Hungry?
-A trail of crumbs from Krista Garcia, including stops in Sunset Park, Bed-Stuy and Flushing’s New World Mall.
-A lifetime of dessert in one Entenmman’s coffee cake. Brownie digs into a square of “New York Style.”
-Go Go Curry opens in the West Village on Thursday, March 15. You know what to do.

Cooking by Heart: Jollof Rice from alana & paul.

What’s new in the Real Cheap Eats universe?

In the outer boroughs: Jared Cohee continues eating the world in NYC with a stop for bolon de chicharron (among other treats) at Elmhurst’s Mini Picanteria El Guayaquileño. Yet another loving ode to the soup dumplings at Nan Xiang Xiaolongbao hits the page at My Inner Fatty. And at the opposite end of NYC, James Boo spotlight some outstanding Russian bread at the bakery counter of Brighton Bazaar.

On the island: A solid peanut noodle meets Dave Cook’s chopsticks at Chinatown’s Shui Mei Cafe. Upstream, Feisty Foodie’s TT, a New Jersey native, points out that Moonstruck Diner offers coupons on restaurant.com and pays a visit for the sake of diner food.

In the kitchen: City Spoonful teams up with Cooking by Heart to share the above video, along with a family recipe on Nigerian Joloff Rice, a traditional staple that makes for serious eating. Meanwhile, our friend Charles over at United Nations of Food reports on a wonderful spread of Lao cuisine, courtesy of the Lao chef of Mangez Avec Moi.

And if you’re crazy about Girl Scout Cookies: Blondie and Brownie have you covered with this primer and directory for the arrival of another batch. We declare this week open season on all things tasty.

This week in cheap eating:

Andrea H on Downtown Lunch eats a delectable looking, high in fat porchetta sandwich at Di Palo’s in Little Italy. Meanwhile, City Spoonful finds jerk chicken with a sweet, spicy and well-balanced sauce washed down with a bottle of Ting (the nectar of the gods) way out in Canarsie at Dougie’s Jamaican Cuisine.

Jamie Feldmar continues her cheap eats explorations along Brooklyn’s Court Street this week on Serious Eats NY. Also writing for Serious Eats NY is Chris Crowley, who’s a fan of the Torta Hawaiiana at La Cocina Mexicana in the Bronx.

Feisty Foodie has a visceral loathing for the soup dumplings at Shanghai 456 in Chinatown (though the editors can vouch for the excellence of many of their other dishes), but finds solace in a dessert of churros and chocolate at La Churreria in Nolita.

Dave Cook is out and about as always. This week he tried a cherry-flavored coco Cubano at Kenny Bakery on the upper tip of Manhattan in Inwood. On the opposite end of the city, on Staten Island, he could be found slurping the weekend-only special sopa de caracol, a soup of yuca, green plantains and shellfish at Los Catrachos, a rare Honduran find in Stapleton.

And for dessert, James Boo has a slightly caramelized Portugese Egg Tart at New Flushing Bakery in Flushing, of course.

This week in cheap eating, Dave Cook tries the pork, shrimp and sea cucumber dumplings at White Bear in Flushing. Noah Arenstein is also eating dumplings for Law & Food, returning with a recommendation for the bustling Tanxia Wang Fu Zhou Cuisine in Chinatown.

Chris Crowley reports for Serious Eats NY on the Baron Ambrosia led The Bronx Pipe Smoking Society’s Small Game Dinner, where he ate creatures big and small–from bear to katydid.

Midtown Lunch pens not one, but two reports on the newest truck roaming the streets of NYC, Phil’s Steaks, which serves authentic Philly Cheesesteaks. Meanwhile, City Spoonful tries a bubbling, homestyle Korean stew of gamja tang at Geo Si Gi in Flushing.

Further afield, Feisty Foodie reports from Montreal, trying Schwartz’s famous smoked meat sandwiches and assorted poutines at Patati Patata.

Finally, of great and reassuring news to us all, David’s Brisket House officially reopened this week after a 3 month renovation. Long live the pastrami!

Congratulations to Jess Bender, winner of our User Research raffle!

Jess will receive two free spots on the Queens Midnight Street Crawl, courtesy of Jeffrey Tastes and the RCE crew. The responses she turned in, along with 50+ responses and a handful of interviews we were lucky to have with real Real Cheap Eaters, will go a long way towards helping us figure out how to make our mobile app one of the most useful dining guides in town.

Meanwhile, we’re still scouring the streets for good eats (cheap and otherwise). Joey D reports from Astoria, giving the green light on El Mariachi’s eponymous torta. Elsewhere in Astoria, United Nations of Food (which you should check out if you haven’t read it before) offers a tribute to Queens’ “little Egypt” of Middle Eastern eateries.

Over in the Boogie, RCE selection Coqui Mexicano has closed. City Spoonful writes on the story behind its unfortunate exit from Melrose, along with news on the owners’ new plans to improve the state of food in the South Bronx.

Back on the island, Midtown Lunch continues waving the flag for the Jamaican Dutchy Cart, and Andrea H. of Downtown Lunch has a new go-to slice in Battery Park City. James Boo offers a kind word for the shiro miso ramen at Ramen Misoya in the East Village. Just a few blocks away in Alphabet City, Dave Cook does the same for a pork chop sandwich and fried chicken platter at Bobwhite Lunch and Supper Counter.

Reviews from the road: If you’ve got a mind to visit Massachusetts, Brownie’s found a mashed potato pie that’s worth your time. If you find yourself heading to Montreal, the Feisty Foodie’s got at least one of our poutine stops covered with this report on Resto La Banquise.

This week’s contributor roundup, in quotes

Nicholas Chen on Schnipper’s Quality Kitchen in Midtown: “Bitches love breadcrumb topping.”

Dave Cook on Masak in the East Village: “Singaporean dishes are a point of departure here: The cuisine’s spiciest, most pungent flavors have been rounded, and seasonal domestic ingredients, often local, are freely employed.”

Yvo Sin on a repeat visit to The Meatball Shop in the West Village: “There are just an infinite number of combinations available to mix and match for the perfect meal.”

James Boo on 456 Shanghai Cuisine in Chinatown: “I’m not one to turn down an excuse to eat soup dumplings or romanticize Doomsday.”

Nick Solares on chicken fried steak at Pies n Thighs in Williamsburg: “A skirt steak was substituted for the more traditionally used cubed round and it was tender and flavorful…Aided and abetted by some fluffy mashed potatoes and a generous slab of Texas toast the dish was a triumph.”

Chris Hansen on Tong Tong Tonkatsu in Flushing: “The pork is worth a try and the cod is worth several.”

Joe DiStefano, taking the spotlight as a profiled Midtown Lunch’er: “Bad Thai. It’s almost as if the operators of such places have this idea that ‘this is what we think you think Thai food is…you don’t know the difference any way. Eat up!’”

Anne Noyes Saini, with a video on Demystifying the South American Grocery Store: “We ask the rookie questions, so you don’t have to.”

And if you haven’t seen Serious Eats’ Doughnut Style Guide yet, do it now.

Happy eating!

The Chinese New Year (a.k.a. delicious new year) has begun, and we’re wasting no time in celebrating.

Looking back, Robyn has 16 “best of 2011″ recommendations for New Yorkers over on The Girl Who Ate Everything. Declaring open season on a new year of good eats, the folks at City Spoonful partnered with the author of Tasty Pursuits to produce a video guide to making ever beloved xiaolongbao (“soup dumplings”). Joe DiStefano, man of the people, rang in the year of the Dragon with a meal at Popeye’s in Elmhurst.

Representing on the Serious Eats front, Chris Hansen recounts 12 must-try dishes in Singapore, while Krista Garcia reports on the Midtown opening of Pie Face, the newest branch of an Australian meat pie chain.

Not to be out-pied (possibly not to be out-faced), our friends at Midtown Lunch also delivered a first taste of Pie Face, as well as some happy news from the world of street food: Kwik Meal’s lamb on rice is now under $10.

On the west side, James Boo put in a good word for the lighter (but no less flavorful) side of Pure Thai Cookhouse with a post on its grilled spicy beef salad on The Eaten Path. And down on the Lower East Side, in the bumping hole in the wall formerly known as Baohaus, Dave Cook gets in a fresh word on Pok Pok Wing, a James Beard Award-Winning import from Portland.

Last but far from least is a few minutes of fame: Jeffrey Tastes made his network TV debut on ABC’s “The Chew”! Jump to the the 14-minute mark of this episode to see our boy give the audience an international tour of Jackson Heights eats. That’s how you do it when braised goat is your riches.

In addition to delivering 22 new recommendations for our Winter Edition, Team RCE has been doing plenty of noshing around town.

On the Queens beat, Anne Noyes Saini over at City Spoonful writes about Korean comfort food at “My Mom’s Take Out”. Joe DiStefano treks to Astoria for a serious Italian combo, while Jeffrey Tastes provides a play-by-play report on the Savor Fusion Mall in Flushing. Elaborating on the borough’s Indonesian Palate, Jared Cohee writes about a lively meal at Elmhurst’s Mie Jakarta.

Back on the Island: Nick of My Inner Fatty characterizes Social Eatz’ bibimbap burger as a “mind full of fuck,” and Donny Tsang Howard Walfish of Eat to Blog decides that Legend’s “Tears in Eyes” lives up to its name. Bucking their cheap eats instincts, the Feisty Foodie and the Beef Aficionado document exquisitely upscale meals at Jean Georges and Osteria Morini, respectively.

Always representing down in South Brooklyn, Robert Fernandez takes on the $7 lunch special at Coney Island Taste in Sheepshead Bay. And always keeping track of the edible moment in NYC, Dave Cook offers his regular roundup of food-friendly events for the coming weeks.

A few of our contributors write home about their travels: Krista Garcia on Turkish cooking in Berlin, Robyn Lee on a holiday visit to Norway, and James Boo on South Indian snacks in California’s East Bay.

Last but not least: Blondie and Brownie are in the running for a trip to Seattle! Find out how you can help them win “So You Want to Be a Cakespy” by clicking a couple of buttons here.

Feisty Foodie gets xiao long bao at Chinatown favorite Shanghai Cafe Deluxe on Mott. She’s also rounding up her favorite slices in Queens for CBS New York. Surprisingly, the Flushing dark horse Lucia Pizza on Roosevelt Avenue is declared to be “near pizza nirvana.”

Joe DiStefano and friends crushed a delectable looking Sichuan hot pot dinner at Little Pepper in College Point, Queens.

Dave Cook is in the New York Times, showcasing three different Peruvian restaurants throughout the city. One in particular, Coney Island Taste, was one of our favorite vendors at A Taste of Sheepshead Bay last year.

On Serious Eats NY, Sara Markel-Gonzalez is at Sripraphai in Woodside for the vegetarian delight of “Crispy Chinese Watercress Salads.”

Meanwhile, on Chowhound, Real Cheap Eaters are spreading the word. Jeff Orlick gives some love to Phayul, one of the more popular Tibetan restaurants in Jackson Heights. He also talks up Zomsa, which features the heart-iest blood sausage around. Dave Cook is also on Chowhound, showcasing the new Fei Long Food Court in Sunset Park (and includes Shanghai Family Dumpling, specializing in xiao long bao). And finally, let it be known across the land that M & T Restaurant in Flushing (which our RCE’er Veronica Chan recommends) has changed ownership.

Dave Cook has a “Christmas Style” burrito with Hatch chile peppers at La Flaca on the Lower East Side. He also tried the pork leg and braised wheat gluten appetizers at Shanghai 456, where the author just had a delicious lunch of sheng jian bao.

Check out commenter John Kehoe’s in-depth discourse on Lanzhou hand pulled noodles in Manhattan’s Chinatown on Jared Cohee’s post praising the Mt. Qi noodles at Super Taste. As for Jared, he found a surprisingly good meal of jellied meats and potato salad, among other things, at the Estonian House in Murray Hill.

Still looking for something to do in NYC on Christmas Eve? Why not go to “Woks and Lox,” an event celebrating Jewish and Asian food and culture at the Queens Kickshaw, run by our very own Jeff Orlick and Veronica Chan.

Finally, a very big congratulations to Real Cheap Eaters Blondie and Brownie, who got a book deal this week!

The holidays are marching closer and closer. If you work in midtown Manhattan, Mamacita and the ML crew have put together a killer midtown happy hour guide to take the edge of yuletide madness. And if you’re looking for a tasty hangover cure, Brownie points to a $10 and under, no-bullshit brunch at Cafe Steinhof in South Slope, Brooklyn.

From there, hop on a train to Brighton Beach, where Robyn Lee and Noah Arenstein have just written up two of the best places in New York to sample traditional Georgian khachapuri (hand-made, cheese-filled, freshly baked bread): Georgian Bread and Brick Oven Bread.

If you find yourself in Queens, our man Joe DiStefano has channeled his inner Chowhound to bring you a fresh report from Flushing’s two newest food courts. The review beat at City Spoonful has some pointers regarding Korean takeaway in Flushing. And Jeff Orlick continues to offer New Yorkers a taste of the world in Central Queens, turning up this choice brush with the NYPD over the legalities of street vending on Roosevelt Ave.

Other Real Cheap Eaters have been writing in from the road. If you happen to be anywhere near Central California this holiday season, James Boo has some tips for you regarding an excellent Mexican ice cream parlour in Santa Maria. Jared Cohee has hit upon a fantastic Brazilian lanchonete in Newark and Kearny, New Jersey. And Patron Saint Dave Cook offers field notes from Boston, where he recently reported a handful of appetizing Vietnamese bites – from restaurants and at the local supermarket.

This week, Nick Chen over at My Inner Fatty delivers the full monty review of the monstrous Cookies-n-Cream Sundae at Dessert Club Chikalicious (featured in the fall edition of RCE).

Andrea H. tries the brown stew chicken at Veronica’s Kitchen on her downtown Manhattan beat, while Joey Deckle reconsiders his position on breakfast sandwiches after tasting an excellent egg and grilled cheese at the Queens Kickshaw.

James Boo shares one of his new favorite dishes, clay pot rice at Chinatown’s Noodle Village, and re-lives Thanksgiving on a bun at Oxley’s Carvery. Around the way, Noah Arenstein reports on his first taste of Joe Dough’s “L.E.S. French Dip”.

On a more thoughtful note, Krista Garcia delivers a meditation on the end of Friendly’s, and food tour guide and friendly neighborhood blogger Brian Hoffman contributes an interesting slice of New York’s street vendor history to Midtown Lunch.

Oh, and Baron Ambrosia? Still ballin’. Happy eats this weekend, everybody!

Hey, Real Cheap Eaters!

We’re in the preliminary stages of building a full-fledged mobile app for Real Cheap Eats, but if you’re an iPhone user with iOS5, you can use Foursquare Radar right now to scope out the best cheap eats near you!

Click here to follow our list for Real Cheap Eats NYC, then set your radar to receive notifications whenever you’re near one of our recommended dishes. If you’re a Real Cheap Eats pro, you’ll seek out the 18 places that don’t yet exist on Foursquare, then mayor that shit so we can add all of them to our list.

That’s right, “mayor that shit.” I say things on blogs I would never say in real life.

Don’t forget, you can let us know what you think by following us on Twitter, joining us on Facebook, or leaving a comment on this blog.

Feisty Foodie checks out John Brown Smokehouse in Long Island City, where Barack Obama, Sully Sullenberger and our very own Joe DiStefano eat for free. She also returns to Brindle Room, which sells a dry-aged burger that comes in at $12 for lunch and $14 for dinner (with fries). It exceeds our under $10 mandate, but it’s still delicious and better priced than other dry-aged burgers around town. Speaking of Joe, he was in Astoria this week for a pre-Thanksgiving burger at The Burger Club.

Robyn Lee, writing for Serious Eats NY, has a lengua cemita at El Tenampa in South Slope, Brooklyn. Jeff Orlick enters a wonderland of pizza in the Bronx at Pugsley’s Pizza and Krista Garcia discovers a Keralan restaurant along the Queens/Long Island border at Taste of Cochin.

Dave Cook writes up East Harlem’s Agua Fresca for the New York Times and Blondie has a “healthy” salad at Coppelia in Chelsea which includes

Our own Chris H, writing for Midtown Lunch, declares BCD Tofu House’s soondubu jjigae “the best” in Koreatown. Meanwhile, Midtown Lunch also reports that the Norwegian Seamen’s Church on 52nd between First and Second Avenue is holding a holiday market that runs until this Saturday (the 19th) at 6PM. Try some Norwegian food while it lasts!

Joe DiStefano certainly had an extreme week of eating. First, he tried Woodside Cafe which offers Nepali, Indian, American, sandwiches, and of course, Italian food. Thankfully, he enjoyed the spicy kick of the spaghetti puttanesca– just like grandma used to make. It got even more extreme for Joe at Astoria‘s Ornella Trattoria, where he tried sanguinaccio, a chocolate pudding made with a hefty dose of blood, as well as casu marzu, an infamous Italian cheese that’s literally crawling with maggots.

Blondie finds crazy cheap, yet delicious California-style fish tacos at Taqueria LES on Orchard Street. Jared Cohee treks to East New York for Nigerian food and lots of goat offal at Festac Grill. Robert Fernandez has a Russian burger fail at Kouros Bay Diner on Nostrand Avenue, and James Boo sips on Venezuelan chica de arroz at Arepas Cafe in Astoria.

Everyone seems to be eating at Mtskheta Cafe these days, from Dave Cook to Noah Arenstein. However, as usual, Dave goes the extra mile and tries walnut filled pastries at Baku Bakery down the street. Also worth checking out are the “adults cakes” on their website.

Feisty Foodie tries some classic cheap eats at Waffle House and Bojangle’s Famous Chicken-n-Biscuits.

Jared Cohee tries beguiling Hungarian chimney cakes at the aptly named Chimney Cake in Long Island City, while Joe DiStefano has a dim sum blowout at the restaurant on the top floor of the New World Mall.

Jamie Feldmar does a round up of the best and worst muffalettas in the City.

Chris Crowley of Serious Eats New York gives Real Cheap Eats favorite Tawa’s Nepalese Hut the full writeup.

This is Real Cheap Eats’ weekly roundup of news, reviews, and tips from our contributors and from other sites we like.

Jeff Orlick made an incredibly useful guide to Ecuadorian street carts, and Jared Cohee travelled to Ridgewood in Queens for sauerbraten and spaetzle at Gottscheer Hall Tap Room.

Clare Trapasso of City Spoonful feasts at the Taste of Sunnyside, while Nick Chen of My Inner Fatty can’t help but order the Grand Slam at Go! Go! Curry!

Blondie was disappointed in her pierogi but ate great cheese blintzes in Greenpoint, while Brownie and Noah Arenstein agree that the clam pie at Zuppardi’s in West Haven, Connecticut is simply awesome.

James Boo revisited Kuti’s lamb shawarma in Morningside Heights. We’re left wondering whether Dave Cook tried the unfortunately named sucuk quesidilla he discovered in Sheepshead Bay, but he did enjoy the Calcutta ghugni ‘n puri at The Masala Wala on Essex Street on the Lower East Side.

Joe DiStefano ate a massive Chilean chacarero sandwich at San Antonio Bakery in Astoria. Speaking of sandwiches, everyone should peruse Serious Eats NY’s List of 31 Great New York Sandwiches before deciding what to do this weekend.

At Real Cheap Eats we know that no matter how hard we try, there will always be more great food than we can shake a guide at. So once you’re done scouring our site, check out a few of our go-to resources for those on the lookout for cheap and true eats.

Chowhound is the grandaddy of message boards, and sometimes it seems that nearly every new international eats discovery originates on the frequently updated Outer Boroughs board. From the warrens of Flushing to the shores of Brighton Beach, this site has you covered.

The same can be said of Dave Cook’s longtime blog, Eating in Translation. He documents the deepest corners of the city with unparalleled thoroughness and never-ending passion for food in this “collection of field notes.” Dave is also one of our contributors!

Two other contributors have prodigious blogs that we’d highly recommend for cheap eaters, even if we didn’t know them. Jeff Orlick‘s in-depth pizza explorations for The Real Pizza of New York have created an essential source of New York slice knowledge, and Jared Cohee‘s Eat the World in New York City illustrates the sheer variety of world cuisines available in the five boroughs. If you live in Queens, World’s Fare by our very own Joe DiStefano is the food blog to beat. And if you’re making your way in the Bronx (or simply enjoy appetizing television), then inspiring, entertaining food storytelling doesn’t get any better than Baron Ambrosia’s Bronx Flavor.

Maybe it’s not solely cheap eats, but Serious Eats NY is still one of our favorite food sites around. Their New York City coverage is all encompassing, from pumpkin buns in Chinatown to Le Bernardin (and some of us are contributors).

Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Josh Bernstein’s “Dollar Grub” column, a series of adventures on Metromix featuring everything you’d want to eat and some things you’d never want to eat – from pizza to chicken gizzards – for a dollar or less.

When our man in South Brooklyn, Robert Fernandez, told me about A Taste of Sheepshead Bay, I marked my calendar for a Q-Train adventure.

21 neighborhood restaurants and one bowl of complimentary mini Swedish Fish welcomed Noah and me at the local Knights of Columbus hall last night, nestled snugly against the Sheepshead Bay harbor. By the time we arrived, the banquet hall was in full tilt, filled with the clamor of jostling plates and decorated in advance for an impending All Hallow’s celebration.

Unlike other media-sponsored tastings, this was for locals and by locals. The scene, refreshingly un-scene, was more convivial than other events I’ve attended – but the entire affair was no less professional as a result.

The joint, however, was certainly packed. Table space in the dining room and barroom were so scarce that we took to dining with Dr. Acula in the lobby.

While not everything on offer fell into the category of $10 and under, the samsas from Nargis fit our preferences perfectly. Filled with moist chunks of fatty lamb and caramelized onion and served with a from-scratch sauce made of tomato, cilantro, dill, and cumin, these baked meat pastries (also available with pumpkin stuffing for $2.00 at the restaurant) were definitely a highlight.

What struck me most about the event was how earnestly it attempted to connect different members of the community. Organized through local news outlet Sheepshead Bites, A Taste of Sheepshead Bay resembled an especially open rotary party more than a press event aimed at “taste makers.” At the back of the hall, members of Brooklyn’s Turkish Cultural Center doled out pillowy bites of baklava and paper cups of Turkish coffee, telling locals about their upcoming cultural events and new developments at the Amity School, an international K-12 school with a heavily Turkish bent.

Cathy Erway first dove into the culture of food by Not Eating Out in New York for two years straight. The experience, which led to Cathy’s first book, The Art of Eating In taught her more than a thing or two about eating cheaply without ever having to eat poorly.

Cathy took a break from her current blogging project, Lunch at Sixpoint, to give us a few tips on how to get by when we’re not going out for grub. Let’s get cooking!

5 Essential Ingredients for the Real Cheap Home Cook

Are daintily packed mesclun greens and artisanal cheese giving your cooking habit a hard time? Imported avocados getting more oxidized and unsightly by the second? I won’t bore you with beans and rice, but here are a few staples in my kitchen that keep me going, on a dime:

Squid.

At about $5/lb on average, squid is a sustainable seafood that’s sustainable for your budget, too. Plus, it cooks quickly without fuss and can be added to your marinara sauce or grilled at your next barbecue all the same. Freeze it if you can’t finish it while it’s fresh, and it won’t suffer.

Tub o’ Miso Paste.

These things last in your fridge for up to a year – they’ve probably existed for as long as that already to ferment and age. Miso is definitely a healthy, less-expensive substitute for other umami favorites, like parmiggiano-reggiano cheese, and a versatile fix for salad dressings, marinades, sauces and soups.

Eggs.

A soft-cooked egg is a built-in sauce to add richness to just about anything, and a scrambled one, a binder for all the rest – be it in the form of a frittata, okonomiyaki, pa jeon, or a breakfast burrito. It’s a cheap protein even when you get the most responsibly produced (and most delicious) ones from a small farm, at about $4 a dozen.

Our contributors have set out to make Real Cheap Eats a true locals’ guide to New York’s cuisines. Layne Mosler of Taxi Gourmet and her band of writers take this idea quite literally to the street by sourcing their recommendations from cab drivers, then writing up the culinary adventures that ensue. We’re pretty excited to hear about a few of the highlights in New York – welcome to Real Cheap Eats, Layne!

RCL Enterprises – Sweet Potato Pie

• QNS
• $3.00
• VEG

I could just as easily wax poetic about the oxtails and turkey wings that cab driver Troy Johnson recommended at this soul food take-out spot near JFK airport, but RCL Enterprises’ sweet potato pie is perfection in a tin. The filling is smooth and rich, with just a touch of all-spice. The pale crust looks unimpressive, but is both flaky and buttery. I want this for Thanksgiving dessert for the rest of my life.

RCL Enterprises on Taxi Gourmet
14122 Rockaway Boulevard at 142nd St. (Map)
Queens, NY 11436
(718) 529-3576

Tandoori Food & Bakery – Samsa 

• QNS
• $2.00

I never imagined that a $2 samsa from an Uzbeki kosher tandoori oven in Queens would remind me of the otherworldly empanadas of Argentina – but it did. The filling – chunks of beef and onions laced with cumin – is more subdued than that of most Argentine empanadas, but the dough – buttery and beautifully browned – has the same chewy crispiness that only a clay oven can produce. Tandoori Food & Bakery is one of a handful of kosher Uzbeki restaurants in an area of Rego Park known as ‘Bukharan Broadway,’ all of which are closed on the Sabbath (from sundown on Friday and all day Saturday).

Tandoori Food & Bakery on Taxi Gourmet
99-04 63rd Rd. at 99th St.

There are times when the Real Cheap Eats team is not eating. There are also times when we’re not drinking. During these depressing, non-comestible moments of our New York lives, The Outdoor New Yorker is here to put things in perspective. Her blog, a descriptive index of New York’s easy-to-forget outdoor spaces, shows us what happens when you tear yourself away from the computers, restaurants, street carts, bars, and monumental downtown protests of New York life and seek out this city’s more slowly digestable experiences.

Best of all: It’s a cheap way to spend the day with your loved ones (and possibly with ducks). It looks like we’ve got an amenable Fall forecast this weekend, so take a tip from Judy and get real cheap outdoors before snow begins to fall.

Manhattan: The Central Park Conservatory Garden

In contrast to the other parts of Central Park, this garden has a formal grandeur that reveals its beauty quietly. It is ideal for those who want the most privacy Central Park can offer in a lush setting. The garden is actually three separate gardens, each highlighting a different European style. The vast Italian garden through which you enter offers quiet reading spots underneath the canopy of trees to the sides. The French Garden to your right reveals a group of sprightly statues in its center. The more subdued English Garden to your left provides a calming waterlily pond for reflection.

The entrance to the garden is at 105th Street and Fifth Avenue. The closest train station is at 103rd Street on the 6 line. Admission is free.

Brooklyn: Greenwood Cemetery

Greenwood is the kind of place where nature competes so well with the headstones and mausoleums, you actually forget for a minute that its purpose is to house the dead. It is also one of the quietest outdoor spots you’ll ever visit (for obvious reasons).

Our Fall Edition features continue with another local food enthusiast who knows a thing or two for eating on a budget. Since foraying into the food space in 2008, Dan Delaney has traveled all over the country searching and documenting the best street food America has to offer for his web show VendrTV. Now back home in Brooklyn, he hosts and produces an online cooking show about strange and unusual ingredients called What’s This Food?!.

Dan loves old school eateries, bike riding and hot New Orleans street jazz, and he has a few go-to’s in Manhattan and Queens for the real cheap eater.
Take it away, Dan!

King of Falafel & Shawarma – Chicken and Shawarma Over Rice

• QNS
• $6.00-$7.00

Letʼs face it: Halal Chicken and Rice is as ubiquitous of a N.Y. cheap eats dish as the bagel or hot dog. While less commonly associated with The Big Apple, I think it packs more punch that the other two combined, and one tin of spiced grains and juicy chicken flies high above the rest. Proudly nesting on the corner of Astoriaʼs 30th St. and Broadway Ave., The King of Falafel and Shawarma might be the best Halal NYC offers. Seasoned with a well thought out blend of warm, earthy, and astringent spices, each bite of owner Fares Zeidaies’ platter will have you crying, “Yeah baby!”

Prosperity Dumpling – Fried Dumplings

• MAN
• QNS
• $1.00

I can’t make a cheap eats list without throwing a dumpling joint into the mix. While I haven’t had all of them, I’ve had most of them, and for me the winner is still Prosperity Dumpling at 46 Eldridge. While the neighboring Lan Zhou comes in at a close second (and probably has better ambiance) I dig how plump, juicy, and rich Prosperty’s dumplings are.

The Real Cheap Eats Team is no stranger to Serious Eats New York, the NYC arm of the Serious Eats empire. Many of us have dined with the Serious Eats crew and written for Serious Eats blogs, so we were excited to hear just a few of their essential cheap eats recs of the moment.

Let the feast of a thousand dumplings begin!

Salumeria Biellese – Roast Beef and Mozzarella (Mondays Only)

• MAN
• $7.75

Penn Station may be a food wasteland, but Salumeria Biellese redeems it singlehandedly. My favorite order at this century-old meat shop is their Monday special: roast beef and their own mozzarella on a seeded roll. Beefy juices poured over the top really make it. A six-incher is $7.75 and can easily make two meals. -Carey Jones

Tasty Dumpling – Fried Dumplings

• MAN
• $1.25

Of all the various sizes and shapes of dumplings around the world, guo tie, the thick-skinned, crisp-on-the-bottom, tender-and-chewy, pan fried potstickers from Beijing are my favorite. Luckily, they’re also the best budget-friendly snack to find in Chinatown. The ones at Tasty Dumpling on Mulberry street have got a nice gingery-sweet filling and come stuffed with plenty of juicy pork. At $1.25 for five, they’re a full quarter more expensive than most of the $1 competition, but trust me, they’re worth the extra 25¢. -Kenji Lopez-Alt

Golden Steamer – Pumpkin Steam Buns

• MAN
• $0.75
• VEG

Ever since SEHQ moved to Chinatown, we haven’t gone a week, maybe even a few days, without picking up some steamed buns from Golden Steamer around the corner. The buns here are as tasty, satisfying and cheap as the name of the place is good. (Golden Steamer just has a special ring to it, right?) They do steamed buns of all kinds: pork, veggies, steamed egg yolk—but what I really love is the pumpkin.