eating in lower manhattan

Like every good New Yorker, I love to go out to eat. There are so many options in the city that, for the foodophile, picking a place to eat dinner can be quite a daunting task. Being the impoverished and cheap student that I am this problem is somewhat lessened, since half of the places to eat in NYC I can't afford. I'm all about the cheap eats.

For those of you on a tight budget and in the East Village, I suggest Dumpling Man on St. Mark's Place. You can order a variety of yummy Chinese dumplings made fresh to order. The dipping sauces are tasty, too. A good snack option are the pumpkin dumplings -- seriously, it's like fried pumpkin pie. Too good!

Although I haven't eaten there, I did try the hookah at Horus Cafe (also in the East Village). My friend swears by the place. While I can't attest to the food, I can state that the cafe has a great vibe, decorating and a nice staff. Just don't order water there -- I did, thinking it was going to be tap water, and it wound up being a $2 bottle of Poland Spring!

There's another cheap joint that isn't half bad. No hookah bar though. I don't know the name of the place, but it is also located on St. Mark's Place and has the infamous 'eat me' hot dog sign out front. Anyway, it's cheap, has good hot dogs and you can get the most disgustingly greasy cheese covered tater tots there. I promise you will feel like throwing up afterwards, but in a good way.

Oh, and my new favorite food spot in the Washington Square area is the vegan friendly Temple in the Village, located on West 3rd Street near the NYU Law School. It's a buffet of all vegetarian friendly fare, and the owners make a point of listing if the foods are raw, high fiber, cooked in oil and any other conceivable thing. It's a tad pricey at roughly $7 a pound, but it is one of the better deals in the neighborhood, especially for the quality of the food. They also have tea specials for $1 when you get food there -- corn, barley and ginger tea, here I come! I actually prefer the place to Red Bamboo. (Although Red Bamboo has a much better atmosphere, more choices to pick from, and has a killin' appetizer section.)

Anyway, enough about food! More posts to come. The travel blog is due for an update, as well ...