wanderfar

Greetings.
We are planning a 5 day trip to NYC in August. This trip I'm trying to plan ahead for some of our meals. Many thanks to Neopatrick and Aduchamp1 for their recommendations to the lists I've started.
We are foodies - but more of the type who enjoy good food - fresh, local ingredients, good markets, etc. not the type that needs to eat at Per Se, Daniel, Babbo, etc. Not that we wouldn't like to eat at these places, but we tend to pack, eat and travel as budget travelers.

Restaurant Recommendations -Yeah or Nay - What do you think?

Our list so far includes - Roberto Passon - for lunch, Lupa, Five Points, maybe Cookshop or Hundred Acres, Spotted Pig, Asean, Nero, Apizz, Veselka or Little Poland, Clinton Street Bakery, Shake Shack, maybe 5 Napkin Burger. We'll be staying near 50th and 8th Ave but we will be traveling all over. I tend to lean toward vegetarian unless I'm pretty confident the meat is not industrial meat. Let me know your thoughts on this list. What's a hit? What can be missed? Any other suggestions would be greatly welcomed. I also looked at Ilili for Lebanese and Chola for Indian.

Cheap, but good Japanese restaurant recommendation?

I lived in Japan for several years and am looking for a good restaurant for something like Ebi (shrimp) Ten Don or Tonkatsu.

Fun,Local Bar recommendations - low-key, nice ambiance, decent-priced drinks - mostly beer.

As with restaurants, I know the options are endless, but looking for personal recommendations.
Have been to McSorley's. Found good recommendations for Old Town Bar and the Auction House on the UES. Love both Greenwich Village and the East Village. Also like the LES. Thinking somewhere to stop mid-afternoon for a drink and maybe an appetizer since it is likely going to be sweltering while we are there.

Food Tours of New York

If we have already been to the Chelsea Market a few times, would the Chelsea Market/Meatpacking District Tour be worthwhile? We are interested in knowing more about the Meatpacking District, but it seems much of the tour focuses on the Chelsea Market. Otherwise, we may do the Central Village/Soho Tour. We did the Greenwich Village Tour last year. FYI - we did this tour on Memorial Day weekend. The tour was ok but not as great as many of the raves I've read about the tour. I don't think we had a regular guide due to the holiday weekend.

Are the Eli Zabar stores/markets worth a look?

We love Zabars but have not been to any of Eli Zabars stores. We love markets and food shops and will be checking out some of the recommendations we haven't hit yet on Aduchamp's list. We've never made it to these shops on the UES and am wondering if they are worth the trip.

Any other thoughts or recommendations are welcome.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance!

Wanderfar

NeoPatrick

wanderfar, we didn't make it to the Five Napkin Burger, and it hadn't opened yet for lunch while we were still there. But I did read a couple of reviews. One "complaint" seemed to be that the burgers are absolutely gigantic, basically impossible to pick up and eat -- and there is only one size available, giant -- no smaller version. If you are more vegetarian and not into "industrial meat", I suspect it might not be for you!

Centralparkgirl

As far as a detour for Eli Zabar's on the UES (3rd and 80th St) - I wouldn't recommend it on your 5 day trip, BUT, if you are on the UES for a museum or shopping, I would then combine a visit to Eli's with some time in Central Park and lunch in one of the many restaurants on the UES or better yet, a picnic in the park. You could get everything you need at Eli's or Grace's or Citarella depending on where you are exactly.

mp

I think your list is really good. I'd advise getting to Spotted Pig on an off hour - it gets really crowded, but the food is top-notch. Great burgers there.

For vegetarian options, you might like Hampton chutney Co., which makes huge dosas with interesting fillings - or for authentic South Indian vegetarian, Chennai Garden.

I've heard Illi is on the way out . . but maybe it will still be around when you get here - for excellent, reasonably priced Middle Eastern food, you might like Moustache, in the east and west villages.

Hmmm cheap Japanese - Ramen places are very big here now - I'm not so much a fan, but if you check out chowhound, you will find lots of debate about ramen, tonkatsu and Tendon donburis.

Also you might also check out this week's NY Magazine - a whole issue about eating cheaply.:
http://nymag.com/restaurants/cheapeats/2008/

If you've already been to Chelsea Market, I would skip the tour - lately a few venues have closed and the nature of the place is changing (I do my shopping there, as I live 2 blocks away).

The meatpacking district - it's mostly high-end boutiques, overpriced restaurants, the Apple Store, the High Line and cobblestoned streets . . It is different from other parts of the city and it's good for a look around or as stroll through on your way to the Village or Soho. There are a few of the old meat purveyors still there, but only a couple, but you don't sound so interested in that . . .

I actually prefer Eli Zabars Vinegar Factory on East 90th Street and York Avenue, but it is incrdibly out of the way from the usual Tourist haunts, unless your exploring Gracie Mansion and Carl Schurz Park.

You might like the Union Square greenmarket on Mondays, Weds, Fridays and Saturdays.

check out addresses and menus on www.menupages.com
Have fun!

curiousgeo

A reasonable place for Japanese in midtown is Katsu-hama, a restaurant my family and I really enjoyed. We especially liked grinding the sesame seeds to add to the katsu sauce. Not as good as what you might find in Japan, but quite good for NYC and popular with Japanese business men.

It was in back of a take-out sushi shop, so you need to enter the shop and go towards the back through the curtain to get to the restaurant.

http://www.katsuhama.com/

mclaurie

I haven't done any of them, but I hear the foodsofny.com tour of Greenwich Village is better than the others, so I wonder... If you like pizza, what about the Brooklyn pizza tour?
http://asliceofbrooklyn.com/

Also, someone on chowhound has developed a self guided tour of the LES that's supposed to be great. That and more here
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/530587

I assume you know several places on your list are known for burgers (Shake Shack, Old Town Bar etc.) Obviously if you're going to eat vegetarian, give these a miss.

For someone who likes fresh, local ingredients, you might like Blue Hill in the village
http://bluehillnyc.com/.

mclaurie

Here's a list of places in Manhattan and Brooklyn for good beer.
http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowTour.asp?TourID=14

TwoFatFeet

My favorite bar in Manhattan is d.b.a. in East Village, 1st Ave btwn 1st and 2nd. Also Blind Tiger Ale House, Ginger Man, Waterfront Ale House. Blind Tiger and Ginger Man get insanely crowded at times, though.

totorofan

For Japanese food, my standbys in midtown are Sapporo on W. 48th Street, just east of Seventh Avenue, and Soba Nippon, on 52nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

Sapporo is a ramen place primarily, with 3 donburis on the menu - no tendon, but there's a katsudon and I get the oyako donburi. It's a quick-in, quick-out kind of Japanese place. http://menupages.com/restaurantdetai...=0&cuisineid=0

Soba Nippon is different - more expensive, more of a restaurant. Soba is of course their specialty, with tempura soba or udon, but no donburis. And they have tonkatsu.
Their menu: http://www.sobanippon.com/soba/menu_d.htm

I've never tried Katsuhama which was recommended above, but I definitely will soon!

And I also want to try Hakata Tonton, downtown in the West Village. It's Japanese fusion, specializing in tonsoku (pigs' feet). Here's their menu: http://tontonnyc.com/index.php?itemid=3

cindymal

WD50 is excellent.
Very creative food presentations in a casual enviornment

ciaony

You mentioned Cookshop and Hundred acres. I assume you know they have the same owners (they also own Five Points).
Right now it seems a stronger effort is being put into Hundred Acres. I've been having better meals there, though they both consistently receive mixed reviews by the media.

As for The Meatpacking District, go there for the scene and flash, not at all for the food, but do go.

From there you can walk to Balducci's on 14 and 8th to check out a good food market and then keep going to La Nacional for the best traditional Spanish food in New York.

Apizz is good but the neighborhood at night is full-on sketchy. My wife and I are lifelong NYers and we don't go there even in spite of the recent gentrification, which has plateaued.

Chola is delicious. LOVE the lunch buffett.