caffe falai

chk pls:

$36 w/tip, 2 diners, $13/person

good price for the quality of food and decent service. great spot for coffee and dessert.

from the menu:

• polpettine vitello
  
• gnocchi

notes:

• highly recommend the gnocchi
  
• try the flourless chocolate cake for dessert
  
• perfect for bombolini w/your morning coffee

caffe falai

265 Lafayette St. below Prince

212.274.8615

pinche taqueria

chk pls:

$14 w/tip

decent and quick mexican option if you're in the neighborhood. nothing special.

from the menu:

• deep-fried rolled steak tacos
  
• carnita taco 
  
• bottled water

notes:

• deep-fried rolled tacos are good
  
• no silverware, just plastic

pinche taqueria

227 Mott St. b/t Prince & Spring

212.625.0090

'inoteca

chk pls:

$84 w/tip, 2 people, $42/person

i've dined here past 2am around 30 times. always gentle prices for the quality and quantity of food. i ordered way too much on this particular visit. usually breaks down to $25-30/person including a bottle of wine and tip.

from the menu:

• truffle egg toast w/bottarga (thick toast w/egg in the middle)
  
• heritage foods wagyu beef bollito (beef sandwich)
  
• polpette (meatballs)
  
• gamberoni (shrimp wrapped in bacon)
  
• glass of salice salentino, negroamaro

notes:

• excellent small dishes and panini
• big wine list w/several good reds in the $35-50 range
  
• service is consistently good
  
• few items on the menu changed after the exec chef left to man bar milano. avoid the new polenta

'inoteca

98 Rivington at Ludlow

212.614.0473

jack's luxury oyster bar

chk pls:

$420 w/tip, 4 diners, $105/person

highly recommend the five-course $50 tasting menu. simply amazing. you can easily keep your chk to $50-60/person w/tip and wine if you order from the menu.

from the menu:

• 3 five-course tasting menus
  
• fruit de mer six ways (chef selection of 6 different raw bar dishes)
  
• some sort of beef dish (we were really drunk so don't quite recall)
  
• clams and chorizo
  
• sea bass
• 2 bottles of ceja sauvignon blanc 2006, napa

notes:

• five-course tasting menu is amazing
  
• fun to watch chef brendan mcHale at work in his tiny setup
  
• small, quaint dining room and bar

jack's luxury oyster bar

101 Second Ave. b/t 5th & 6th

212.979.1012

the house

chk pls:

$280 w/tip, 4 diners, $70/person

good food and wine in a quaint, unique carriage house. spent way more than anticipated. regardless it's the perfect spot to drink heavily with your friends on a lazy saturday afternoon. 

from the menu:

• five cheese platter
  
• lamb burgers
  
• mer soleil chardonnay 2005, caymus, monterey
  
• carmen 2004 sandiovese, teruzzi & puthod, tuscany
  
• sauvignon blanc premstaler 2006, caldaro, alto adige

notes:

• can reserve the chef's table downstairs for parties of 4-8
  
• upstairs is a bit more formal
  
• highly recommend the lamb burgers

the house

121 E. 17th St. nr. Irving Pl.

212.353.2121

mercat

chk pls:

$258 w/tip, 3 diners, $86/person
chk quickly got out of hand after ordering enough for 4. we still had a great experience and got to sample a large variety of flavors. could easily keep the chk to $40-50/person.

from the menu:

• patates bravas (potato w/mayonnaise and paprika)
  
• croquetas de pollastre (chicken & mushroom croquetas)
  
• bombas (chicken, pork, beef meatballs w/alioli)
  
• 2 pa amb tomaquet (bread w/tomato)
  
• botifara (berkshire pork and foie gras sausage w/butter beans)
  
• truita (spanish omelet w/chorizo)
  
• bellota (acorn fed ham but not jamón ibérico)
  
• strawberry & sour chocolate dessert
  
• crema catalana (creme brulée)
  
• bottle of 2004 idus de vall llach
  
• bottle of 2006 tres picos garnacha

notes:

• amazing tapas, especially the truita and bombas
• great service from our server, runners and bartender
• cozy, candle-lit space; cool downstairs
  
• lively dining room, good crowd
• grab a quick bite and a glass of wine at the bar

mercat

45 Bond St. b/t Lafayette & Bowery

212.529.8600

savoy

chk pls:

$84 w/tip, 3 diners, $28/person
excellent lunch with quality ingredients in a historic townhouse. too steep for lunch to frequent on a regular basis.

from the menu:

• 2 burgers w/fries
  
• sausage
  
• fries
  
• carrot cake
  
• 2 coffees
  
• diet coke

notes:

• the sausage has great flavor and is cooked really well, fries are crispy and delicious. burgers are decent. the carrot cake is unbelievably good. 
• good service
  
• cool bar and café downstairs and quiet dining room upstairs
  
• working fireplace in the winter

savoy

70 Prince St. at Crosby

212.219.8570

doyers vietnamese

chk pls:

$45 w/tip, 3 diners, $15/person

go for hard-to-find vietnamese dishes prepared really well for the price. we could've fed one more person pretty easily.

from the menu:

• mi xao (fried egg noodle)
  
• bahn xeo (crepe w/shrimp, pork, sprouts)
  
• chao tom (shrimp paste on sugar cane)
  
• cha gio (vietnamese version of eggrolls)
  
• assorted vegetable dish
  
• vietnamese coffee w/condensed milk
  
• diet coke
  

notes:

• the best bahn xeo and chao tom in manhattan according to my friend. these dishes are hard to find in the first place
  
• bahn xeo takes a long time to prepare so might call ahead
  
• better cha gio than pho bang
  
• staples such as pork chop & shredded pork over rice are better than other joints in town
• service is pretty bad but that's chinatown in general
  
• cash only but again, that's chinatown in general
  

doyers vietnamese

11 Doyers St., West of Bowery

212.513.1527

golden unicorn - dim sum

chk pls:

$60 w/tip, 3 diners, $20/person

golden unicorn is slightly more expensive than other dim sum joints, but it has been consistently good. plus we ordered enough for 4-5 people on this visit. it's generally ~$15/person.

from the menu:

• shrimp dumplings
  
• pork & shrimp shumai
  
• shrimp shumai
  
• deep-fried taro 
  
• taro cake
  
• shrimp fun roll
  
• pork buns
  
• fukan rice (fried rice casserole w/seafood on top)
  
• sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf

notes:

• if you're not familiar with dim sum, just point to whatever looks good in the cart and most likely you'll love it. it's cheap enough where if you don't like it, you can set it aside
  
• a lot of the dishes contain shrimp or pork 
• arrive before noon on weekends to avoid a long wait
• with 2 stories of large banquet style dining rooms, it's perfect for large groups
• one of the few ctown joints that accepts cards

golden unicorn

18 E. Broadway at Catherine

212.941.0911

bar boulud

chk pls:

$204 w/tip, 5 diners, $41/person
chk is very reasonable for the incredible charcuterie and memorable dining experience.

from the menu:

• dégustation de charcuterie, large 
  
• fromage, 5 pieces
• pomme frites
  
• boudin noir (blood sausage)
  
• bottle of petit chapeau, côte du rhône
  
• 2 glasses of chardonnay

notes:

• boudin noir, charcuterie and fromage sampler are highly recommended. arguably the best head cheese and blood sausage i've had
  
• cool space
• chef daniel boulud was in the dining room
• service was noticeably out of sync throughout dinner but overall pleasant
• confusing wine list - avoid the petit chapeau

bar boulud

1900 Broadway b/t 63rd & 64th

212.595.0303