Staying Fit
It’s easy to think that Manhattan is all about fine dining, thanks to an impressive 67 Michelin-starred restaurants and a profusion of marquee chefs, whom many New Yorkers follow with a passion reserved for star quarterbacks in other cities. Yet the real secret to dining in the city is knowing that while you can top out at $450 for the per-person prix-fixe menu at sushi temple Masa, a bowl of soup dumplings at the legendary Nom Wah Tea Parlor in Chinatown will set you back just six bucks. As New Yorkers know, look to the inexpensive ethnic restaurants and neighborhood eateries for affordable meals you’ll brag about back home. Also consider visiting during Restaurant Week — which are actually three to four weeks in winter and summer, when the city’s hottest eateries offer special three-course lunch and dinner deals.
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Ethnic eateries
Ethnic fare wins for diners watching their wallets. Where else can you eat your way through 33 global cuisines and still have cash to spare? Stroll lower Lexington Avenue, from East 32rd Street to East 23rd Street, to see why it’s called Curry Hill for its fairly priced Indian and Pakistani restaurants. Or head to Chinatown, below Canal Street, for Szechuan, Hunan and Cantonese food that transports you right to the home country. Nearby Little Italy may be touristy, but who cares when you’re tucking into steaming bowls of ravioli and pillow-soft tiramisu. Korean kimchi, hot pot and tangy barbecue don’t get any better than in Koreatown (that’s K-Town to locals), a mini Seoul that’s chockablock with affordable spots along West 32nd Street.
But why end your international dine-around there when you can sample everything from Vietnamese pho to Greek gyros, Indonesian rijsttafel to homestyle Dominican sancocho, hand-to-mouth Ethiopian dishes to tongue-tingling Jamaican jerk, Lebanese falafel to Brazilian feijoada? If only you had more time.
Pizzerias, delis and diners
Pizza — cheap, delicious and ubiquitous — is the city’s unofficial food. Thanks to generations of enterprising Italian immigrants, no food is more quintessentially New York than a great slice. But trying to find the best is a sure way to start an argument among locals. With no clear winner, just remember to eat your slice like a New Yorker: Pick it up with your hands, fold it lengthwise and bite.
Though slowly disappearing, the legendary New York diner still exists. (Tom’s Diner, of Seinfeld fame, is still slinging eggs and bacon.) Meanwhile, nothing says tradition more than a classic New York deli, where mile-high pastrami and corned-beef sandwiches still reign supreme, and the perfect breakfast is Nova Scotia salmon on a bagel.
