Pandora Harper

Thank you all for your responses . As the only foodie on these frequent trips, I'm determined to try to eat food thats better then the crap I can usually get in my hometown. Due to the 3 hour window I expect to have when in Lower Manhattan, I really appreciate all your tips. And next time I'm there, I'll keep track of where I visit and what I eat. Thanks all!

First off, I was in the Little Italy/Chinatown district this last Friday, and had some great chinese food, and some awesome italian cookies. Since I'll be in the same area off and on in the coming months, looking for good eats is something I want to do before my next visit. Here's the deal: Leave Western Mass around 6 am. Hope to arrive in Lower Manhattan around 9 or 10 am. (We made it in 3.5 hours list last Friday). Leave Lower Manhattan between 2 and 3 pm. Arrive in Western Mass around 7 pm. While in Lower Manhattan, those of us (usually will just be myself and the guy driving, while my poor co-worker will be stuck in some office) will be staying pretty close to the NYC Court House, which is right around the corner from Little Italy and Chinatown. Since our time to walk, eat and snack is limited, we don't want to drive much farther out, try to find parking, etc. We are also on a budget, because these trips from Western Mass cost us $115+ round trip. We were lucky this last time to easily find metered parking, though next time we might use a garage. I've read elsewhere that good eats are generally not found in these so-called touristy areas, but I knew of great eats in the San Francisco Chinatown years ago, so surely there are exceptions to that rule in NYC. Difficulties include my lack of knowledge of asian foods (I'm always being forced to eat cheap chinese delivery and that has really turned me off asian food in general). I did really enjoy the simple meal I had during the last trip however. My companion is not a foodie like me, has little concept of how "extreme" he will find food in authentic asian resturants, and rarely knows the difference from mediocre food to great food. So I'm looking for some good, non-scary asian places, and if there are ANY good italian places, I'm all ears. Though frankly, mediocre italian food is not what I'm after, as I have to eat that often enough in Western Mass. Any other food in the general region (say 8 blocks in any direction around the NYC Courthouse area) is also cool. Budgets constrain us to keep under $15 bucks for entrees. I'm not scared of street food, but my companion is. Time is also important, as we must be able to return to the NYC Courthouse within 15 minutes of getting a phone call. I know I haven't indicated a specific interest in say, asian food, but I'm open to trying new things, while at the same time allowing my companion to order something that is more "familiar" to him.

I have a personal dish that (hangs head in shame) originally used Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup. Once I learned how to make my own chicken stock, I tried trying using a Béchamel sauce instead of that pre-fab soup mix. While the texture of my final dish is just what I need, the Béchamel sauce seems to absorb the other flavors I use in the dish. Flavors include fresh green onions, curry powder and fresh lemon juice. After several uses of Béchamel in my dish, I've tried adding: more lemon juice, more curry powder etc., ending up with a dish that is nowhere near the original. I’ve read someplace that a rice or white bean base can also create a low-fat white sauce, and I am wondering if either of these alternatives would allow the flavors in my dish to stand out the way they normally do. My original dish is so loved that it rarely lasts, and some friends call it my Chicken Curry Crack recipe, because it so addicting. Any thoughts on the rice/bean alternative? Not to mention Béchamel is not a low-fat sauce, and I’m working on cutting down the amount of fat in my recipes.