Cheap and Good eats by Ganda of www.eatdrinkonewoman.com

Food:Here Ms. Ganda will group by location. Most of the places will be on the cheaper side as she is BROKE and can appreciate the art of the cheap eat.
Chinatown:
Dim Sum Go Go -- artful dimsum, fresh ingredients, excellent dipping sauces in a retrofuturistic setting
Sweet n Tart cafe -- light nosh with great tong shui and dim sum things. i like the soup dumplings, steamed rice roll, turnip cakes, chinese vegetable. Don't miss the shrimp and watercress dumplings in clear golden broth -- a perfect dish, and one of the best deals in town at $3.25.
NY Noodletown -- a classic NY Chinese joint, everyone goes there, open late. Get the sea bass with black bean sauce, sauteed snow pea leaf, duck congee, sauteed flowering chivesGreen Tea Cafe -- excellent hot tapioca tea, my favorite is black sesame tea with milk and tapioca
East Village:
Panya bakery -- Japanese style pastries, including whole wheat croissants, curry donuts (don't be a hater because you are going to thank me right before your artery clogs), and dainty little crustless sandwiches. Great place to pick up snacks for your Central Park picnic.
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Soy -- cheap homestyle Japanese food with emphasis on the great soybean, good hit if you're going to see a show at Tonic. Get the tofu salad, tofu avocado, meat gyoza, cod with ginger.
Union Square:
City Bakery -- best tarts, yummy cookies, excellent hot chocolate and lemonades. They also have an incredible salad bar with wondrous things like a yuba edamame salad, poached salmon with varied sauces, lots of items made with ingredients picked up almost daily at the Greenmarket.
Gramercy:
Les Halles -- classic french bistro, consistently good.
Soho:
Balthazar -- the best times to go are for continental breakfast (before 10:30 am), which is very civilized, or for the midafternoon menu (I like to get oysters at this time), or the late night menu. all other times are obnoxious and overcrowded. the food is consistently good and the desserts are excellent. don't miss the chicken liver and foie gras mousse.
Sullivan St. Bakery -- one of my most favorite snacks and my favorite pizza in NYC -- pizza pomodoro, potato pizza, pizza with champagne grapes, everything is incredible.
Lombardi's -- they claim to be the oldest pizzeria in the country, with their coal fired brick oven. Get the meatball pie, the clam pie with extra garlic. All pies are made with fresh mozz and a judicious amount of simple red sauce and come out of the oven with gorgeous blistery black edges.
West Village:
Pearl Oyster Bar -- midrange price, this is one of my most favorite places to eat in the world. the fried oysters are unbelievable, salt crusted shrimp, pan fried fish of the day, caesar salad with extra anchovy, butterscotch praline sundae -- everything is super fresh and super delicious.
Murray's Cheese Shop/Wild Edibles -- okay, you can't actually eat here, but you can pick up cheese and go to a friend's house or take them to the Botanical Gardens. It'll impress the shit out of your foodie friends, and if it doesn't, they don't deserve to be here and should be sent packing back to whatever sad town they're from.
Magnolia Bakery -- the first, always crowded, lots of fashion people -- you can go look at the marc jacobs stores while you're down there too. get banana pudding, carrot cake, devil's food cupcake with cream cheese icing.
Mamouns -- a hole in the wall falafel place -- get the falafel shawarma combo, it's the best in town.
Midtown:
Woo Chon -- my favorite Korean place, with different grills for different meats and hands down my favorite kimchee anywhere.any of the 24 hr. places -- if you're drunk and want to eat some late night food, korean always hits the spot -- and a lot of the places are open 24 hrs. just take a cab to 32nd st. and go into one of the restaurants.
Upper West Side:
Barney Greengrass -- I don't know much above 14th St., but this place is pretty amazing for smoked fish brunch. I love the nova scramble with onions and a bialy with cream cheese. A little pricy, but a very NY bourgie deli experience.
Fairway cafe -- if you're in this part of the world and you need a good lunch, there's a great cafe above the Fairway market that serves great burgers, steak sandwiches, salads etc.
Beard Papa -- this is a Japanese chain of cream puff places. 2 flavors per day, my favorite are vanilla and green tea. there's also a location downtown at Astor Place.
I'm going to work on a couple more guides as inspiration strikes: The Big Splurge, Brooklyn Eats, and What the Hell Am I Going To Do With My Parents For A Week?

By Ganda from http://www.eatdrinkonewoman.com/

I liked the above article hence adding to my blog.