Fun Single Lunches?

[KarenSherwood]

I hijacked another thread to find a quick/good dinner in Times Square, but that's not my only question.

I'll be in NYC in 3 weeks, accompanying my daughter and her high school concert choir (who are singing at Carnegie Hall on 3/19!!!). While they're in rehearsal on Fri/Sat/Sun I'll have about 7 hours each day of free time. Now, I lived and worked in NYC 20+ years ago, so I at least know my way around and I have a few haunts I'd like to revisit. I plan to be in the Village and Soho one day, the Met Museum for one day, and, probably midtown on Sunday to do some shopping. Our whole group has dinner plans those days, but I'm on my own for lunch and would like to spoil myself at least a little. So, what's wonderful for lunch with a $30-40 daily budget?

Not sure I'll get there, but is East 6th St in the east Village (between 1st & 2nd) still a row of Indian restaurants? I discovered Indian on that block in the 80s.

Oh, preferences: sushi, northern Italian, Indian or Thai would be cool. And since I'm a Tony Bourdain fan, would either Les Halles be good for lunch?

Thanks! It will be good to 'come home' for a week.

[tupac17616]

What about a quick ride on the 7 train out to Sripraphai in Queens for some Thai food. You'd be hard pressed to spend even close to $30-40 on a meal there. Stick to what they do best (see eGullet thread) and you'll have a great meal.

[Luckylies]

People- can Karen do Jean Georges at lunch within her budget?

[Cleo]

What about a quick ride on the 7 train out to Sripraphai in Queens for some Thai food.  You'd be hard pressed to spend even close to $30-40 on a meal there.  Stick to what they do best (see eGullet thread) and you'll have a great meal.

←

I'm pretty sure that the 7 train is not going to be running at all for the next few weeks (months?), so that could be a problem.

[BryanZ]

People- can Karen do Jean Georges at lunch within her budget?

←

It's not clear if she has $40/day on lunch or $40/day to cover all meals. If the former, no problem. If the latter, she'll be blowing her entire day's food budget on one meal, probably with no wine or maybe one inexpensive glass. Nevertheless, it will be worth it.

[KarenSherwood]

I'm intrigued, please tell me more about Jean Georges.

I'm budgeting $30-40 per day for lunch. Luckily all of my other meals (except one dinner which we've already decided on) are paid for.

And, a shopping question....if you could only visit one, would you go to Balducci's or Zabars?

[BryanZ]

It's all in the Jean Georges thread. It's much discussed.

[Pan]

What about a quick ride on the 7 train out to Sripraphai in Queens for some Thai food.  You'd be hard pressed to spend even close to $30-40 on a meal there.  Stick to what they do best (see eGullet thread) and you'll have a great meal.

←

I'm pretty sure that the 7 train is not going to be running at all for the next few weeks (months?), so that could be a problem.

←

The problem is only on weekends:

http://mta.info/nyct/service/subsrvn7.htm

Karen, 6th St. is much more diverse than it was in the 80s. And we also now have some decent Indian restaurants, such as Madras Cafe on 2nd Av. between 4th ands 5th (if you like spicy food, ask for extra little green chilis in your utthapam or masala dosa).

And Zabars, no contest. (Where is the new Balducci's again?)