For today’s Thursday 13, I wanted to share 13 restaurants in the New York Metropolitan area that serve delicious food, at reasonable prices. They are in no particular order

1. Saigon Grill - The food is addictive. They are, however, in the midst of a scandal, along with a few other Manhattan restaurants, regarding the very low wages they paid their delivery boys, who will now stand outside each of their 3 llocations around dinnertime every day to shout, yell and/or jeer at any patron who enter/exits the establishment. It’s a pity really that they are embroiled in such a situation, because their food is really so delicious. If you can ignore this .. umm… situation, then you can enjoy some very well prepared Vietnamese cuisine. Otherwise, you can join in with others who are banding together to bring a change to the restaurant’s management.
2. Patricia’s Pizza and Pasta - simply the best Sicilian pizza I’ve EVER tasted in my life.
3. Mama Maria’s - My favorite here is the chicken francese.
4. Perlas Ng Silangan - The name means: Pearl of the Orient or Pearl of the East. This restaurant serves up delicious Filipino food, but the service is erratic. They also double as a music venue, and feature some wonderful bands. They also have special events when they have famous Filipino singers perform at the restaurant. Oooh, ooh they also have karaoke, which, if they have it on when you visit, can be very entertaining. Seriously, have you ever heard a thoroughly mispronounced, nearly indecipherable imitation of Blue Suede Shoes? littleQ is partial to the lumpia(mini-egg roll type things) served here.
5. Kystal’s Cafe - Personally, I like Perlas Ng Silangan’s food and environment just a tiny bit better, but if you’re looking for good Filipino food, this place fits the bill. Their Halo-Halo, however, beats any other I’ve ever tasted.. It’s simply DELICIOUS and you must try it if you ever have a chance to visit this restaurant. Apparently there’s also a location in the East Village. Oh, and you can karaoke here as well.
6. Green Tea Cafe - They offer a dim-sum type menu, plus some mini-meals, but what draws me to this Chinatown gem is the yummy bubble tea. My favorite is the milk and green tea bubble tea.
7. Hong Kong Station - Mmm, this place is the best! This is also located in Chinatown, and you get to choose the type of noodles and toppings (fish balls, beef, chicken, dumplings etc), then you can add hot sauce, hoisin sauce; and it’s all served up in a giant bowl. I don’t think you can go wrong here…. as long as you choose toppings that you’re a)familiar with and b)not afraid to eat. A plus is that for 6-7 bucks worth of noodles and toppings, you’ll be stuffed.
8. Kang Suh - I wasn’t a fan of Korean food until we visited this restaurant in Yonkers. Their food is soo good, and of course the restaurant is complete with grills built into the tables, so your food can cook right in front of you. If you don’t know what you’re doing, then your server will probably just cook it for you.
9. Tiny Thai - This Thai restaurant is located on Long Island, but is literally STEPS away from an Long Island Rail Road station (so it’s easy to get here from Manhattan). I live for their food. The restaurant is so tiny it’s almost absurd, being able to fit maybe 15 customers at any given time, but the food makes up for it. If you can handle HEAT then I suggest you try the “drunken noodles.” It’ll make your mouth burn, but it’s sooo worth it.
10. Koenig’s - This German restaurant is located in Floral Park, Queens. I honestly don’t even remember what it was that I ate the last time I went here, I just remember that I inhaled it like a famished pirate. I also devoured the red cabbage. They also have like, tons of beer choices or something like that. Obviously, I’m not a beer drinker.
11. Carlyle on the Green - Situated in the Bethpage State Park with wonderful views of the famous Black Course where the Open was held a few years ago, this restaurant offers gourmet food at relatively reasonable prices. Lunch is considerably less expensive than dinner, but dinner is absolutely worth it.
12. Wo Hop - Another place in Chinatown. This place has some crazy hours. They’re open from 8 am to like 4 am every day, something crazy like that. Anyway, this place isn’t anything fancy, but their peking pork chops and shrimp with almonds dishes are delicious, and certainly worth the pain of finding a parking spot and inhaling the fresh scent of garbage (not inside the restaurant, just outside!) that just never seems to go away.
13. Talia’s Steakhouse- This kosher restaurant is delicious. The service was really, really great (the server managed to make a very cranky littleQ giggle), and the dish I had - something that had “sweetmeats” in the name - was very delicious. I think that was a special that day though. mrQ had chicken if I remember correctly, and he’s picky when it comes to chicken, lol.

If you have a Thursday Thirteen post up, please leave a comment!

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