I arrived in NYC this AM and will be here 8 nights. I am at the Bowery, visiting my DD who very recently moved to the East Village.

We have reservations at Perilla, Scarpetta, Gotham Bar and Grill and Pre theater at Aureole prior to In the Hieghts.

I am looking for some good creative fun French, Italian, Indian or Asian neighborhood restaurants that won't break the bank for either lunch or dinner. This weekend we will be mostly exploring in the East/west Village and along with other surrounding areas, so we are not restricted to any area. We will also most likley head to Brooklyn.

Also looking for a post theatre restaurant after God of Carnage on Tues as it over at 8:30pm.

Does anyone more familiar with the neighborhoods have any good foodie reccommendations to get a little off the tourist track!!!

Thanks in advance!!!

Sally

Also any comments on the res. that we have. My eyes are blury from going through chowhound, Zagat and menupages.

We also have res at Spice Kitchen.....

Here's a new favorite of mine, right in your neighborhood:

http://www.cacioevino.com/

Casual authentic Italian

Thanks for the quick reply. It looks great. i will check it out as we are out exploring tonight.

Here is a list I have posted a few times before and are mainly East Village

Filipino- Elvie's Turo Turo, great pancit, excellent food value

Indian-Brick Lane-Banjara, Mitali, Brick Lane

Inexpensive Italian- La Marca (3rd Ave. and 22 Street, only opened noon-10 PM, Mon-Fri) Great Value

Nicky's Vietnamese Sandwiches (limited seating)

Black Iron Burgers also have wonderful onion rings

Medium priced Italian- Cacio e Pepe, Gnocco, Supper (cash only), Luzzos (Wood burning pizza oven)

Expensive Italian- I Coppi (For dinner But great brunch

Inexpensive Eastern European- Veselka

French Bistro-, Casimir, Flea market (for atmosphere)

Greek-Pylos (little more expensive)

Tapas-Xunta. Tia Pol, Bar Carrera, Café Mono (more expensive)

Dessert-Veniero's, DeRobertis for the frozen lemon thing and tortonis.

Bagels- Ess-a-Bagel

Brunches-Five Points, Blue Ribbon Bakery ,Turkish Kitchen , City Bakery (18th off 5th), Cafecito (Ave C), Clinton Street Bakery (our favorite but must go during the week, weekend is a zoo)

Pizza-Lombardi's, Totonno's, Pizza Fresca (more expensive and fancier), (Gruppo On Ave B.good and convenient)

Pizza by the slice-Artichoke (14th Between First and Second) Bizarre service with a line because the pizza is good and the management is goofy

Hole in the wall-Stage (next to Stomp) great cheap home made soups

French fires-Pomme Frites

Seafood-Mermaid Inn

Ice Cream-Cones on Bleecker, Il Laboratorio de Gelato, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory, Cones and Sundaes (East 10th)

Chinatown-Big Wong. Joe’s Ginger, NY Noodletown

Dim Sum-Jing Fung, Golden Unicorn

Jewish Delis-2nd Ave Deli, Katz’s (These are expensive for sandwiches but worth every bite)

HAs anyone else been to Golden Bridge in Chinatown? One trip and the dim sum was excellent. The mechanics of ordering are confusing as the clientele were 95% Chinese and needed no explanation. Taro cakes, noodles, shu mai were all very good. Need to go at least once more before making a full recommendation.

The Smith in the East village. The tomato soup is divine. Also if they are still doing Burger and a beer on Sundays, it is a great deal.
Westville is great for lunch in the West Village Better than the 2nd one in the East Village and since it is tiny it is much easier to get into during the day.
For Thai, I like Cafetasia on 8th street.

Five Points in Noho is good.

Gotham and Aureole are wonderful!

If you're around Columbus Circle, Nougatine has an excellent pre-fixe lunch special - reservations a must.

We were in NYC last week(sniff, sniff) You will love "God of Carnage". The cast is changing 11/18 so you will see the best cast ever(I really cannot imagine anyone different playing any of those parts).

We very much enjoyed Perilla.

For tiny Italian with a different type of feel, we enjoyed Dell'Anima in the W Village. It's very small. The crostini can be delicious and the housemade pasta is very good. You absolutely need reservations.

Some other places we enjoyed
The Little Owl(only seats 28) but is open for lunch and dinner.It's in the village. Reservations essential.

We hopped on the #1 following curtain @ God of Carnage and were swiftly transported down into the village for dinner following the theatre. We ate @ Pearl Oyster Bar(one of our favorites-no reservations-lobster rolls are divine and I could eat their clam chowder probably every day of the week).
It's on Cornelia.

We also ate at Momofuko Ssam which is Asian fusion with a twist. No reservations but definitely a taste experience. Try the pork buns. It's a young hip crowd but welate 50's enjoyed it.

BTW~We never made it to Al di La in Brooklyn for dinner but wanted to.

Brooklyn restaurants
Marlow & Sons (Williamsburg)
Al di La (Park Slope- also open for lunch if you want to beat the crowds)
Frannys (Prospect Heights/Park Slope)
Saul (Boreum Hill on Smith St-has a $40 prix fixe during the week)
James (Prospect Heights)
Applewood (Park Slope)
No 7 (Fort Greene)
Po (Smith St)
Noodle Pudding (Brooklyn Heights)

Wow... thank you all for all the wonderful suggustions!!! We had an very good dinner/along with great service at Perrila last night.

We saw In The Heights tonight and thought it was fabulous! We had to cancel Aureole as my daughter had to work later with her firm's L.A. office.

We ended up at Robert Passion...It was O.K. The food was a little on the heavy/greasy side, but was O.K for last minute in theater area.

I have taken notes of all of your great rec's and will definitley try to get to some of them as my daughter is taking a 3 day weekend! And we have quite a bit planned during the days.

We have both the Spice Kitchen and Indochine reserved for tomorrow night as I am taking a few of DD friends and wanted a fun atmosphere with good food where we can all share! Any comments on Indochine?

PamSf I am also in my late 50ths and wanted to try Momofuko Ssam, but do hear it is quite a wait. also good "rec" for Italian!
Centralparkgirl...We also have res. on Wed. night for the Pre theater at Nougatine. "autum promotion".

K-brklyn...Great tips on Brooklyn.

Aduchamo1...Great list! Pylos and Brick Lane are on our list and have added some others!!!

Thanks to all for the great New York City list.

Any other great food local restaurants are welcome as my HB and I will be back for a visit... a little business in the near future and love to mix the local with more upscale!
Thanks and I will report back on our visit and restaurant experiences!!!

Keep them flowing...HB arrives Mon...I am here until Thurs. and bookmarking!!

Sally

sally~we ate at Momofuko Ssam @ 10:30 pm on a Thursday. We were seated immediately.

Also, if you have not already done so, check out my NYC and Berkshires trip report. It might also give you some ideas.

Haven't been to Indochine in years but I hear it's past it's prime. Have you considered Buddakan for tomorrow night?

I just had very good pizza at Motorino on East 12th Street in the EV. I would rank it just below Artichoke, but Motorino has tables and wait service. We arrived one weeknight around 6pm and there was no wait.

Aldea on West 17th is one of my relatively new current favorites.


http://www.aldearestaurant.com/

Re Nougatine's prix-fixe pre-theater dinner:

Try to ensure that your reservation is at 5:30, when this promotion begins. That way, you'll be able to dine without rushing. You can likely call them to change it, if necessary.

Tell your waiter that you're theater-bound (it's a relatively long walk from Columbus Circle to the theater district); you want to be out the door by, maybe, 7:15.

Also, understand that the menu is limited: four fixed courses--no choices. The current menu includes a tuna tartare over avocado appetizer, a slow-baked salmon course, a roasted chicken course, and their signature molten chocolate cake with ice cream for dessert. Amuses bouche before and mignardises afterward. All excellent. Coffee and wine extra, but they offer 3 oz tastes as well as 6 oz glasses, if you're inclined not to get a bottle.

Outstanding food and service. One of the great NYC dinner bargains.

bspielman - do I understand this correctly. The Nougatine prix fixe lunch has choices, but the dinner does not. If so, I didn't see the tuna tartar on the web menu.

Sallyho, their roast chicken is excellent and if as bspielman says tuna tartar is included - it too is great - it will be wonderful. Report back and tell us how it was.

CPG, the menu posted at www.jean-george.com appears to show choices for the three-course p/f lunch. I can tell you from experience (October 13) that the p/f dinner is fixed. BTW, the posted p/f menu is their summer promotion, not yet updated, though the p/f dinner menu seems to differ only in the appetizer. But considering the lack of an update, I wouldn't rely completely on the lunch menu as posted. It might be wise to call Nougatine.

Thanks all for the great information. I am on my way to the Tennement Museum and lunch. I will report back when i have a little time.

Thanks again
Sally